COVID-19 vaccine stopping domino effect.

Hospice Pharmacy Insights April 2021

New This Month: Hospice Listed as COVID-19 Vaccine Administrators, Drug Pricing Issues in LTC Related to Omnicare & PharMerica, Deprescribing Revisited, & an Updated Drug Shortage List.
Regulatory

Hospices Are Listed as COVID-19 Vaccine Administrators

On March 15, CMS announced that “effective for COVID-19 vaccines administered on or after March 15, 2021, the national average payment rate for physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, and many other immunizers will be $40 to administer each dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

This represents an increase from approximately $28 to $40 for the administration of single-dose vaccines and an increase from approximately $45 to $80 for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines requiring two doses.

The exact payment rate for the administration of each dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will depend on the type of entity that furnishes the service and will be geographically adjusted based on where the service is furnished.” Hospice providers are listed as an eligible provider type to administer vaccines. Vaccine providers are prohibited from charging patients for giving the vaccine.

for your consideration

Pricing Issues in Long-Term Care Related to Omnicare & PharMerica

In the middle of January, it came to our attention that there were some commonly used medications, being billed through Omnicare, that were rejected for price. The claim in question was for ondansetron 30 tablets for $400. Typically, this prescription would be less than $20.

We began an investigation and discovered that Omnicare had changed their pricing structure as of January 1, 2021. This change resulted in price reductions for many generic drugs but lead to a significant (as noted in the above example) price increase in other generics. Our team began a review of all Omnicare claims from January 1st to January 21st and found additional examples of claims that were extremely high. Wise Hospice Options leadership immediately contacted Omnicare and negotiated a contract that lowered prices on these drugs to more reasonable levels, and our client services staff reviewed all claims that were out of the ordinary price range and requested rebilling at the negotiated rate. Our negotiation did not bring these drugs back to pre-January levels, but they are more acceptable. 

The bigger issue is with PharMerica. They too changed their pricing structure on January 1, 2021. We contacted them to discuss negotiating more reasonable pricing on these high-cost generics. As of the publication of this newsletter, PharMerica has been unwilling to renegotiate for more reasonable pricing. ​Be assured we will continue to work to get more reasonable pricing through PharMerica and are monitoring this situation closely.  

Drugs of particular concern: ondansetron, omeprazole, olanzapine, donepezil, quetiapine, esomeprazole, levofloxacin.  We are monitoring both pharmacies closely to see if other drugs not on this list see this level of price increase.

If you have questions about this situation, please contact your hospice’s account manager. 

for your consideration

Deprescribing Revisited

According to the American College of Cardiology “Deprescribing, an integral component of a continuum of good prescribing practices, is the process of medication withdrawal or dose reduction to correct or prevent medication-related complications, improve outcomes, and reduce costs. Deprescribing is particularly applicable to the commonly encountered multimorbid older adult with cardiovascular disease and concomitant geriatric conditions such as polypharmacy, frailty, and cognitive dysfunction–a combination rarely addressed in current clinical practice guidelines. Triggers to deprescribe include present or expected adverse drug reactions, unnecessary polypharmacy, and the need to align medications with goals of care when life expectancy is reduced.”

Historically hospice clinicians have been very good at deprescribing with the main goal being the highest quality of life for their patients facing the end of life. Recently there has been a surge of research and development in deprescribing in the general health care realm. This has led to the development of protocols and algorithms for the safe deprescribing of drugs in multiple categories. Listed below are some of those drug categories that may be considered for deprescribing.

Identifying medications that are appropriate to deprescribe requires that we consider

1) Benefits no longer outweigh the risks for adverse events.

2) Time to benefit is longer than life expectancy.

3) Treatment target no longer aligns with the patient’s goals of care. Remember deprescribing is a trial… medications can be restarted.

The Easy Discontinuation

  • Vitamins, multivitamins, antioxidants
  • Supplements
  • Bisphosphonates

The Statins

  • No difference in 60-day survival rates.
  • No difference in cardiovascular events.
  • Improved quality of life.

Eye Drops

  • If eye pain, redness, or blurriness return restart eye drops.

Antiplatelets/Anticoagulants

  • Bleeding risks greater than long-term benefits especially in frail elderly.

Insulins/Antihyperglycemics

  • Tight glycemic control can significantly increase the risk of hypoglycemia.
  • If needed, consider the cautious use of short-acting insulins.

Antihypertensives

  • Goal of B/P <140/90.

PPIs

  • Long-term use associated with fractures, C. diff, diarrhea, vitamin, and electrolyte imbalance.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors/Cognitive Enhancers

  • Cognitive +/- decline over the past 6 months.
  • No noticeable benefit.
  • Severe dementia.

Antipsychotics

  • Treated for >3 months with symptoms controlled or no response.

Antiepileptics

  • AED prophylaxis had no significant preventive effect on seizure incidence or seizure-free survival in patients with brain neoplasms.

This article provided a very brief overview of the categories of medications that may be considered for discontinuation at end of life. We will take a look at each of these categories in more depth over the coming months.  

Updated

Drug Shortage List

These shortages are due either from manufacturing delays or shortage of raw ingredients. This is not an inclusive list, but the listed drugs may be used for hospice patients, especially in the inpatient setting. For a complete list of drugs on shortage follow this link:

https://www.ashp.org/drug-shortages/current-shortages/

About the Author

David Bougher

Senior VP of Regulatory Affairs

David is a seasoned veteran of the hospice world and an essential member of the Wise Hospice Options clinical team. 

Education:

RN, BSN

Experience:

  • Former hospice COO
  • 20 Years of education & training experience
  • 10 Years of experience at Wise Hospice Options

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Wise Clinical Leadership

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Tino Vilches

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Senior Vice President
Clinical Services

tvilches@wiseop.com

(800) 856-9757:
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Deanna Rice

PharmD
Vice President
Clinical Services

drice@wiseop.com

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