Study identifies emerging trends in managed care pharmacy

A new study conducted by the Foundation for Managed Care Pharmacy (FMCP) establishes a baseline for measuring emerging industry issues and trends. Areas of focus encompass emerging electronic health information technologies, including e-prescribing; interoperability and integration issues at point-of-care in physician offices and pharmacies; legal requirements for Medicare Part D medication therapy management services; consumer-driven pharmacy benefit plan designs; pay-for-performance initiatives; and formulary benefit design and other pharmacy management trends and practices. The study, called "Benchmarking New Frontiers in Managed Care Pharmacy—Emerging Trends Research with Managed Pharmacy Experts," was conducted among managed care pharmacy experts to determine what actions were being undertaken within both large and small health plans and PBMs in these key areas. One key finding noted that in spite of the hype surrounding e-prescribing technologies, only about half of the respondents to the study had begun the process of designing or implementing such a program. The study also revealed that "tremendous opportunity exists for managed care pharmacy experts to get out in front and initiate action on the activities critical to quality patient care," according to Cynthia J. Pigg, executive director of FMCP. The study can be accessed at www.fmcpnet.org.

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