VHAN Clinical Pharmacist Lyndi Tarr knows how important it is to speak a patient’s language and relate to them as an individual. Recently, Tarr put this truth into practice when she veered off the usual path to help a patient who was struggling with medication adherence following a lengthy hospitalization.

Read the full story to learn how Lyndi tapped into a patient’s personal interests to help him understand his medications and improve his adherence.

Every January, many health plans change their preferred insulin products on their formularies, creating confusion and frustration for patients, prescribers and pharmacies. A few simple strategies can help make this shift more efficient for providers and patients. Read the full article to learn how you can tweak your prescribing practices to reduce delays and ensure your patients get the medications they need.

Studies show that cancer screenings have declined since the pandemic disrupted health care in 2020, and they haven’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Unfortunately, this will cause fewer cases of cancer and other serious illnesses to be caught early, likely creating sicker patients in the long run. VHAN has tools and resources available to help members increase cancer screening rates and educate patients about their importance.

In 2023, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing received a $3 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant to create a certification and training program for CHWs in Tennessee. The initiative, formed in partnership with the Tennessee Community Health Worker Association and Rural Health Association of Tennessee, is called the Community Health Worker Training Program of Tennessee (CHWTPT). Read the full article to learn more about how you can participate.

To bolster mental health awareness and education, the miniVHAN podcast chose Behavioral Health Through the Lifespan for its recent series. Expert guests offered insights to help providers and their patients better understand and cope with anxiety and depression, neurodiversity, trauma and grief.  

If you’ve missed any of the episodes, catch up on miniVHANpodcast.com.

Medication adherence is a key driver of patient outcomes. Any medication therapy is ineffective if the patient cannot access or take it consistently. In addition, adherence is a triple-weighted quality measure on Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts. To help VHAN practices improve medication adherence this year and place a greater year-round focus on this crucial quality measure, the VHAN Pharmacy Team recommends three strategies.

In October 2022 the FDA announced a potential shortage of ADHD medications in the United States. The impact continues to be felt a year later, with many alternative stimulants also experiencing intermittent shortages or limited availability. The VHAN Pharmacy Team put together helpful strategies you can incorporate to navigate the stimulant shortage successfully.

VHAN social worker Amber Colbert often supports Medicare patients who have been hospitalized and then moved to a skilled nursing facility (SNF). Sometimes these patients face difficult end-of-life choices. A recent case illustrated the vital role a social worker plays in this process and how collaboration between the social worker and other team members can ease pain and give patients greater comfort and a sense of peace.

As we approach the last quarter of the year, it’s essential to focus on triple-weighted measures on your Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts. These measures—related mainly to medication adherence, diabetes control, blood pressure control—count more towards your performance than single weighted measures in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) pay-for-performance Star Ratings system. Triple-weighted measures play a critical role in a health plan’s ability to earn four or more Stars, the threshold at which practices can achieve a higher proportion of shared savings dollars and quality bonuses. Learn more about how VHAN can help members succeed in these important areas.