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Is Your LTC Facility Missing Out on the Benefits of Health Tech?

Operators behind the technology curve could be wasting valuable time and resources

The rapid pace of technological improvements continues to fuel the development of novel solutions in the long-term care industry. These new products and services deliver new opportunities for skilled nursing and long-term care (LTC) facilities to cut costs and improve processes by deploying technologies designed to address the specific needs of LTC providers.

This article looks at the various benefits of implementing health tech in long-term care facilities now that prime operators for adopting future innovations, including:

  • Reducing work hours dedicated to repetitive tasks
  • Identifying savings opportunities in real-time
  • Delivering understandable data that informs management decisions
  • Reducing reliance on third parties and improving autonomy

One new area where technology can significantly improve processes and outcomes for LTC operators is drug costs and pharmacy management, which make up major cost burdens for the vast majority of LTC and post-acute facilities. Today, there are health tech solutions available that help reduce net costs and maximize savings through automation in combination with human expertise and oversight. Here are the ways health tech innovations are benefiting operators.

Automation

Automation has never been more widely understood nor as advanced as it is today. In health care, software developers have created solutions for LTC pharmacy management that use varying degrees of automation to take over complicated, repetitive tasks and increase staff bandwidth.

By having up-to-date digital records and digitized invoices, operators can cut costs and increase their savings by utilizing these technologies. Such solutions replace the need for dedicated teams scouring through thousands of line items—on a pharmacy bill, for instance—to find possible savings hidden within dense invoices. In many instances, the number of work hours required to identify such savings vastly outweighs those potential savings and is considered an unviable use of time.

In the world of drug manufacturer rebates, health tech like SRX automatically scans LTC pharmacy invoices and checks against databases of known drugs eligible for rebates. These valuable rebates are then submitted in real-time on behalf of the facility operator. Rebate checks, often in the order of tens of thousands of dollars or more, are then delivered to facility operators each quarter.

Acceleration

For LTC operators, optimal productivity begins with the ability of a facility’s personnel to do meaningful work and deliver quality care. The right health tech helps staff focus on their care duties, freeing up hours previously consumed by manual audits and reviews, delivering better results with fewer errors, faster.

Identifying managed care drug exclusions is one example where the amount of time needed to find these exclusions is incredibly prohibitive. Solutions like SRX provide facilities with real-time data about eligible exclusions and reimbursements, accurate down to an individual resident’s coverage. Facility staff is notified of new exclusions as they happen and can act quickly to ensure opportunities for savings are realized and non-eligible drug alternatives are avoided, all while delivering quality patient care.

Two dedicated dashboards built into SRX’s software give executives and C-suite officers increased visibility, live-tracking exclusion, and reimbursement data for their facilities. Billing operators work from their own dashboard, gaining pinpoint insight into exclusions they should be claiming. This software automatically collates the documentation required to submit these claims without the need for a manual review of coverage contracts or exclusion sheets.

As managed care models see increased adoption, solutions like those offered by SRX will be essential to helping facilities rapidly capitalize on exclusion reimbursements, free up staff time dedicated to hunting down exclusions, and lower net costs in both staffing and drug expenses.

Evolution

A new generation of operators is already using hyper-local data to manage their facilities with greater acuity. These proactive managers are allocating operating costs based on data from comparable regional operations and shifts in local-market costs delivered through health tech platforms.

In the modern long-term care industry, a matter of miles can mean a world of difference in operating models. Smart analytics display real-life data so decision-makers can react quickly to changes in the blend of residents being admitted and any upcoming regulatory changes. This level of detailed data allows regional operators to run facilities with a greater awareness of what is changing in their state or county. 

A handful of large operators have taken it upon themselves to create internal staffing agencies based on their pool of existing staff. Made possible through connected Human Resources (HR) systems, an RN in one facility needed across town can quickly meet that staffing demand without the need to involve any third party. In turn, CNAs from another facility come in to fill the gap where more skilled care isn’t immediately needed.

Solutions for Tomorrow, Today

SRX enables LTC operators to achieve unrivaled savings in drug costs and deliver the most efficient pharmacy management model in the industry. By combining our proprietary technology with expert advisors, operators achieve significant savings through automated drug rebates and managed care exclusion reimbursements. 

Our pharmacy management experts help operators negotiate the best possible terms with pharmacy partners, increasing clarity in contracts and nailing down beneficial terms. We implement review processes powered by technology that reduces waste and suggest cost-effective alternatives whenever possible. 

The net outcome is lowered costs, greater trust in pharmacy partners, and improved financial security, knowing quarterly rebate checks are paid on time, every time, with no out-of-pocket cost.

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Related Articles:

5 Ways to Take Control of LTC Facility Drug Costs

Taking Back Time Through Transparency in LTC Pharmacy Management

How to Simplify LTC Prescription Drug Spend with Adjudication


SRX is a unified drug cost management solution for long-term care operators. We achieve unrivaled drug cost savings by combining our proprietary technology with expert advisors. SRX’s solutions automate drug rebates, optimize pharmacy management practices, increase managed care exclusion reimbursements, and provide cost-effective employee prescription benefits. SRX guarantees quarterly rebates are paid on time, every time, with no out-of-pocket cost.

Learn more about SRX’s cost-saving solutions


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