Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / How MetroHealth is Using Pharmacy Delivery to Close Medication Access Gaps & Keep Patients Connected to the Prescriptions They Need

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How MetroHealth is Using Pharmacy Delivery to Close Medication Access Gaps & Keep Patients Connected to the Prescriptions They Need · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  - Well, hello, everyone. Thank you so much for
• 0:03
  - tuning in to the Becker's healthcare podcast series.
• 0:07
  - Today, we're talking about how MetroHealth
• 0:09
  - is using pharmacy delivery to close medication
• 0:13
  - access gaps and keep patients connected to the
• 0:16
  - prescriptions they need. And joining me for this
• 0:19
  - conversation today, we have two leaders with us.
• 0:21
  - We have Ryan Messinger,
• 0:23
  - the senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer
• 0:26
  - at MetroHealth,
• 0:27
  - and doctor Amit Geer, the CEO and cofounder
• 0:31
  - at Fox Health. Ryan, doctor Geer, welcome. Thank
• 0:34
  - you so much for being with us today.
• 0:37
  - Erica, thanks for having us.
• 0:39
  - Thrilled to have you both.
• 0:41
  - And before we get into the conversation, I
• 0:43
  - wanted to give you both the chance just
• 0:45
  - to
• 0:46
  - say a little bit more about yourselves and
• 0:48
  - the work that you're doing in health care.
• 0:51
  - Ryan, do you want to get us started?
• 0:54
  - Absolutely. Thank you, Erica. My name is Ryan
• 0:56
  - Messinger. I'm the senior vice president and chief
• 0:58
  - pharmacy officer at MetroHealth. We're a a county
• 1:01
  - safety net hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1:03
  - And part of that pharmacy service that we've
• 1:05
  - really expanded over the past,
• 1:08
  - ten years is really gaining access and medication
• 1:11
  - affordability for our patients.
• 1:13
  - We've done a lot of space in ensuring
• 1:15
  - patients
• 1:16
  - can, get their medications, stay adherent to their
• 1:18
  - medications, and really drive the adherence scores and
• 1:21
  - the outcomes for our patients. And
• 1:23
  - part of those ways is we've increased access
• 1:25
  - points we'll talk about, but also
• 1:27
  - getting the patients directly, prescription to their home.
• 1:30
  - One more convenient way and we've seen a
• 1:32
  - shift in since COVID of patients really not
• 1:35
  - wanting to go into stores and stay at
• 1:36
  - home and just have delivery service and that's
• 1:38
  - where I think we'll,
• 1:39
  - we'll explore in,
• 1:41
  - this content today discussing the different ways that
• 1:43
  - we can get patients medication to have better
• 1:45
  - outcomes for patients and really then bring pharmacy
• 1:48
  - to the core of of the healthcare team,
• 1:50
  - not only doctors, specialists,
• 1:52
  - auxiliary services, but have that pharmacy as a
• 1:55
  - core essential service within the health system.
• 1:57
  - Yeah.
• 1:58
  - Ryan, I appreciate you touching already
• 2:01
  - on some of the topics that we'll walk
• 2:03
  - through today
• 2:04
  - and
• 2:05
  - some of these changes that you've seen in
• 2:07
  - just the last few years.
• 2:09
  - But before we get to that, doctor Yehir,
• 2:12
  - tell us about yourself as well.
• 2:14
  - Yes. Thanks again, Erica, for having us on
• 2:17
  - and sharing our story. My name is, Ahmed
• 2:19
  - Geer. I'm the cofounder and CEO of Fox
• 2:21
  - Health.
• 2:22
  - I'm actually a internal medicine physician by trade.
• 2:24
  - I was working with Kaiser Permanente down here
• 2:26
  - in Southern California for close to a decade.
• 2:29
  - About six years ago, I left full time
• 2:31
  - practice to cofounder and expand, with Fox Health.
• 2:34
  - Our mission is that every patient deserves the
• 2:36
  - best delivery experience no matter
• 2:38
  - where they live. And by working with health
• 2:41
  - system based pharmacies around the country,
• 2:43
  - we've helped fulfill that mission in helping patients
• 2:46
  - reach the ecosystem of services that these health
• 2:48
  - systems provide regionally
• 2:50
  - and across their footprints
• 2:52
  - and give them the the experience they deserve
• 2:54
  - when it comes to accessing their treatments.
• 2:57
  - Fantastic.
• 2:58
  - Well, eager to dig into access here with
• 3:01
  - you both. And, Ryan, I wanna start with
• 3:03
  - you and go back to some of what
• 3:05
  - you were touching on in your intro.
• 3:07
  - I know that several Cleveland area retail pharmacies
• 3:10
  - recently closed, and patients really did need another
• 3:13
  - way to
• 3:15
  - get their prescriptions.
• 3:16
  - So I'd like to learn how MetroHealth
• 3:19
  - responded
• 3:20
  - to those closures and these access needs.
• 3:22
  - What did it take to maintain their access
• 3:25
  - to care and their medications?
• 3:28
  - Oh, absolutely. With us being a county safety
• 3:30
  - net hospital spread out through Northeast Ohio,
• 3:33
  - when we started, we only had five retail
• 3:35
  - pharmacy footprints amongst, we have four hospitals and
• 3:38
  - 20 plus ambulatory clinics throughout Northeast Ohio.
• 3:41
  - We really didn't have a good access point
• 3:43
  - for patients to use our pharmacy services.
• 3:46
  - And as we saw time of the pharmacies
• 3:48
  - closing within patients neighborhoods,
• 3:50
  - we really looked at ourselves in a mirror
• 3:52
  - and said, what do we need to do
• 3:53
  - for our patients as medication adherence and
• 3:57
  - access is one of the critical ways for
• 3:59
  - us to provide the outcomes needed as a
• 4:00
  - healthcare system. So that's where we really went
• 4:03
  - to pen to paper, looked where our patients
• 4:05
  - were, where we needed to be and now
• 4:07
  - sitting last year, we opened their twelfth patient
• 4:09
  - basing retail pharmacy service
• 4:12
  - and now we're well,
• 4:14
  - ingrained into all our ambulatory clinics to ensure
• 4:16
  - patients can leave with medications in hand.
• 4:19
  - Even at discharge, we have a med to
• 4:21
  - bed service that delivers right to bedside to
• 4:23
  - ensure they're leaving with medication in hand.
• 4:25
  - Some of the benefits we've seen is obviously
• 4:27
  - as we see patients, we're identifying problems before
• 4:30
  - they even leave the clinic, but it's not
• 4:32
  - affordable.
• 4:33
  - If it's on back order, we can mitigate
• 4:36
  - that issue and have them leave with medicine
• 4:37
  - in hand.
• 4:38
  - But then then also flip the script on
• 4:41
  - the fact of when they need refills.
• 4:43
  - And honestly, with the refill process, our pharmacies
• 4:46
  - are not the most convenient and
• 4:48
  - we're spread out. However, we have the ability
• 4:50
  - to have a free home delivery service and
• 4:52
  - we wanted to expand upon that so when
• 4:53
  - the patients are due for refills, we can
• 4:55
  - take it right to their home and keep
• 4:57
  - them adherent to their medication therapy and that's
• 4:59
  - where this partnership came about where
• 5:02
  - now we have a true concierge service,
• 5:04
  - that it's...
• 5:05
  - We know it's leaving our clinic, it's going
• 5:07
  - straight to our our patient at home with
• 5:09
  - a really,
• 5:11
  - second than nothing service with our our deliveries.
• 5:15
  - And that's really helped us expand not only
• 5:17
  - the initial capture rate of prescriptions written within
• 5:19
  - our organization, but then the re... Refill retention.
• 5:22
  - And now we know patients
• 5:23
  - have true access, and we've seen the adherence
• 5:25
  - scores increase and improve
• 5:27
  - over the last few years by increasing our
• 5:30
  - face... Patient facing pharmacies, but also bringing that
• 5:33
  - service well rounded with having our home delivery
• 5:35
  - service as well.
• 5:37
  - Well, it's great to hear, Ryan, some of
• 5:39
  - the successes that you've seen from that integrated
• 5:42
  - approach
• 5:43
  - and really one that's touching patients from a
• 5:46
  - variety of points in the care journey. It's
• 5:48
  - just remarkable that you've already seen
• 5:51
  - outcomes in patient experience and satisfaction
• 5:55
  - related to
• 5:56
  - simply getting their medications
• 5:58
  - swiftly and safely.
• 6:00
  - So doctor Gere, I wanna turn it over
• 6:02
  - to you next,
• 6:03
  - when you reflect on this experience at MetroHealth.
• 6:07
  - From the retail pharmacy closures to how they
• 6:09
  - responded,
• 6:10
  - What does that show about the role of
• 6:12
  - delivery and what it can do when a
• 6:14
  - community pharmacy closes?
• 6:16
  - Sure. So when we first got into this
• 6:18
  - business of, you know, being logistics for health
• 6:20
  - system based pharmacies, the idea of a delivery
• 6:22
  - was sort of a nice to have. It
• 6:24
  - was seen as a convenience factor. But what
• 6:26
  - certainly has shifted and with Ryan's, you know,
• 6:28
  - pharmacies across MetroHealth is what shifted is just
• 6:31
  - the real value. It's gone from a nice
• 6:33
  - to have to almost a need to have.
• 6:34
  - And what I mean by that is this
• 6:36
  - patient's doses change,
• 6:38
  - they're a new start for treatment, or they
• 6:40
  - left the hospital and they, you know, they
• 6:42
  - need a a prompt,
• 6:44
  - new start to refill, you know, delivery became
• 6:46
  - sort of a, you know, vital aspect of
• 6:48
  - how we ensure patients get their medications.
• 6:51
  - So adherence, you know, a third of the
• 6:52
  - reason why patients are labeled as nonadherent as
• 6:55
  - as your audience may know is they don't
• 6:56
  - pick it up. So by curing that aspect
• 6:59
  - of adherence, a third of the reason why,
• 7:01
  - we help sort of fix that and solve
• 7:03
  - that.
• 7:04
  - And then we all know the multiple parts
• 7:06
  - of these social determinants of health, and transportation
• 7:08
  - is a big part of it. And the
• 7:10
  - humbling part about what we've done with Metro,
• 7:14
  - is we've seen patients leaving our feedback comments
• 7:17
  - after delivery that... How thankful they are that
• 7:20
  - they
• 7:21
  - got this delivery just because they couldn't physically
• 7:23
  - get to the pharmacy
• 7:24
  - or they had transportation issues or they're, you
• 7:27
  - know, they're elderly and homebound and prescription delivery
• 7:29
  - then once again becomes an example going beyond
• 7:32
  - just being a nice to have to a
• 7:34
  - need to have. So it's been a shining
• 7:36
  - example of what something as simple and innocuous
• 7:39
  - as delivery can do when it comes to
• 7:40
  - patient outcomes and the management and improvement on
• 7:43
  - their disease states.
• 7:45
  - Yeah. Doctor Gere, so important to highlight
• 7:48
  - the social determinants aspect here. And I apologize,
• 7:51
  - Ryan, were you going to weigh in on
• 7:53
  - something else too?
• 7:54
  - Yeah. I just wanna bring up a a
• 7:56
  - really key feature that we went with with
• 7:57
  - this partnership with Fox is when we first
• 7:59
  - designed this, I was thinking of maintenance meds
• 8:01
  - and getting patients refills and initial scripts to
• 8:04
  - home delivery, but we've been able to expand
• 8:06
  - this this partnership. And one of the great
• 8:09
  - examples I think we've seen is our antibrachibob
• 8:11
  - stewardship. We have patients that leave our ED
• 8:13
  - with an antibiotic.
• 8:15
  - However, after we see what the coverage would
• 8:18
  - be, we see that it's deemed that they
• 8:19
  - need a different antibiotic.
• 8:21
  - Now you're trying to reach out to the
• 8:22
  - patient,
• 8:23
  - get them to go to a pharmacy.
• 8:24
  - Nice thing about this program now is with
• 8:26
  - FOX is we have as quick as same
• 8:28
  - day delivery. So now this antimicrobial stewardship program,
• 8:31
  - we can actually have that antibiotic shipped to
• 8:33
  - the patient's house within two hours of finding
• 8:35
  - out and start it and that's gonna prevent
• 8:37
  - an ED bounce back visit and this patient's
• 8:39
  - gonna be, on his way to a comeback
• 8:41
  - and an outcome that we desire as a
• 8:43
  - health system. So what we've been able to
• 8:44
  - do and expand with this this home delivery
• 8:47
  - has definitely improved. And just the the... An
• 8:50
  - increase in telehealth that we've seen, patients are
• 8:52
  - in their home seeing the doctor. Now if
• 8:54
  - it's a new start of therapy or new
• 8:56
  - drug, we can have it delivered as quick
• 8:58
  - as same day to the patient, and that's
• 8:59
  - that's unheard of now in day and age,
• 9:01
  - and we really wanna make sure we're taking
• 9:03
  - the next step to have great outcomes for
• 9:04
  - our patients.
• 9:06
  - Ryan, I so appreciate those add ons.
• 9:09
  - It's just another testament to how well this
• 9:12
  - initiative is going at MetroHealth,
• 9:14
  - both from an operational standpoint and in how
• 9:17
  - patients are receiving it too.
• 9:19
  - I do wanna talk a little bit about
• 9:21
  - the operational component.
• 9:23
  - Ryan, I know that MetroHealth
• 9:25
  - faced a potential loss of several $100,000
• 9:29
  - when a third party courier failed to document
• 9:32
  - internal medication transfers.
• 9:35
  - So what did that experience
• 9:36
  - reveal about the importance of chain of custody
• 9:39
  - and audit ready records?
• 9:41
  - Absolutely. Great question. We do a lot of
• 9:43
  - home delivery services with our specialty drugs and
• 9:46
  - different clear bag issues with our clinics.
• 9:49
  - With that chain of custody is key and
• 9:51
  - absolutely critical that certain logistics companies when they
• 9:53
  - pick up and they do the delivery, we
• 9:55
  - really have no sight of where that medication
• 9:57
  - is going until it's hopefully delivered to the
• 10:00
  - location desired.
• 10:01
  - Even with our specialty meds and our clear
• 10:03
  - bags, there's highly expensive medications.
• 10:05
  - And with this partnership now, we've been able
• 10:07
  - to see real time where the driver is.
• 10:10
  - And I know Amit may talk, Doctor. Yermiy
• 10:12
  - talk about this a little, but they have
• 10:14
  - geographic locations to where we can geo track
• 10:17
  - this shipment. So we have true chain of
• 10:18
  - custody when it's picked up from our pharmacy,
• 10:21
  - delivered to the clinic or delivered to the
• 10:22
  - patient knowing that it was at that location
• 10:25
  - and that there's protections in the software to
• 10:26
  - prevent that. And again,
• 10:29
  - this in the previous logistician,
• 10:31
  - we really didn't have that site of line
• 10:32
  - of sight which we really needed and moving
• 10:34
  - the medication is critical. So
• 10:36
  - by moving this realm, there's a true chain
• 10:39
  - of custody. We know from A to B
• 10:41
  - and what time it should arrive at C.
• 10:43
  - And it's allowed us to trust it and
• 10:45
  - verify the product that when it arrives, we
• 10:47
  - know who was dropped off to, where it
• 10:49
  - was dropped off, and who signed for it.
• 10:51
  - And it's definitely,
• 10:53
  - improved
• 10:55
  - our our ability to prove where that medication
• 10:57
  - is and, any kind of audit from insurance
• 10:59
  - company we've seen to be able to track
• 11:01
  - the signature and have the delivery, which has
• 11:03
  - been a big win for our organization.
• 11:05
  - Yeah. It's great to hear about that development,
• 11:08
  - Ryan.
• 11:09
  - And, doctor Gere, from where you sit, I'm
• 11:12
  - curious.
• 11:13
  - How does a pharmacy delivery program meet some
• 11:16
  - of these requirements that Ryan's speaking to when
• 11:19
  - it comes to chain of custody and audit
• 11:22
  - ready records.
• 11:23
  - We'd love to know what this looks like
• 11:25
  - from your seat and when you're advising organizations
• 11:28
  - on these processes.
• 11:30
  - Yeah. I was actually doing one of our
• 11:31
  - bimonthly check-in calls with Metro that we heard
• 11:34
  - about this pain point that that one of
• 11:35
  - their supply chain
• 11:37
  - providers wasn't able to document an internal transfer
• 11:40
  - of a large bulk of medications
• 11:42
  - just within the organization.
• 11:44
  - And so we thought, why not we just
• 11:46
  - create a sort of pseudo or temporary courier
• 11:48
  - company for Metro and let their staff use
• 11:51
  - the same technology we use around Cleveland,
• 11:54
  - but to be used basically down the hall.
• 11:56
  - So we created this, MetroHealth Clearback Courier Company
• 12:00
  - as we named it. We train their staff
• 12:02
  - on how to use our driver app for,
• 12:05
  - driver mobile app. And then the same process
• 12:07
  - that we use out in the field, their
• 12:09
  - team internally can use the same scanning, same
• 12:11
  - documentation
• 12:12
  - down to the Rx number, of where those
• 12:15
  - meds have been transferred within the facility.
• 12:17
  - And this is also as an adjunct to
• 12:20
  - the EMR. So the EMR did document that
• 12:22
  - these meds are being administered at the bedside,
• 12:25
  - but what the auditors were concerned about was
• 12:27
  - just that transfer from, you know, the inpatient
• 12:29
  - pharmacy,
• 12:31
  - to that bedside. And that's where the system
• 12:33
  - was also able to help, document,
• 12:36
  - completely
• 12:36
  - and help protect those audits, going forward. And
• 12:39
  - it was a good shining example of just
• 12:41
  - the flexibility.
• 12:42
  - And the most important aspect of our company,
• 12:44
  - which is the creativity that we push for
• 12:47
  - to solve new and unique issues for every,
• 12:50
  - health system like MetroHealth.
• 12:52
  - That's a great example, doctor Gere.
• 12:55
  - Thank you for elaborating there. And,
• 12:58
  - Ryan, I know we've touched on so many
• 12:59
  - positive outcomes so far in your pharmacy delivery
• 13:03
  - program,
• 13:04
  - and I also know that MetroHealth has reported
• 13:07
  - that its pharmacy capture rate has increased considerably
• 13:11
  - as well. So what drove that growth, and
• 13:14
  - what has it meant for patients and for
• 13:15
  - the health system more broadly?
• 13:18
  - Absolutely. It... It's... That's one thing we're very
• 13:19
  - proud of is is really creating a pharmacy
• 13:22
  - experience that's differentiated.
• 13:24
  - I think too many times now, pharmacy patients,
• 13:26
  - they've become numbers in organizations in my past
• 13:29
  - that really we don't know missus Jones,
• 13:32
  - like we did in the past. And that's
• 13:33
  - where we really
• 13:35
  - changed the mentality of where pharmacy is going
• 13:37
  - at MetroHealth. We didn't grow the cash rate
• 13:39
  - simply by just asking patients to use our
• 13:41
  - pharmacies. Yes, that was a piece of it,
• 13:43
  - but we want to remove the barriers or
• 13:45
  - why patients weren't filling prescriptions. We know forty
• 13:47
  - percent of scripts written don't even get filled
• 13:49
  - by patients as an access issue or affordability
• 13:52
  - issue.
• 13:52
  - So really for us, it was putting pharmacy
• 13:54
  - where patients receive the care, provide the free
• 13:57
  - home delivery,
• 13:59
  - improve affordability so we are treating patients with
• 14:02
  - what they need, not their wallet,
• 14:04
  - and then really integrating our pharmacy as part
• 14:05
  - of the care team. That's one of the
• 14:07
  - reasons we also expanded our retail operations to
• 14:09
  - a 20365
• 14:11
  - at our main campus
• 14:12
  - pharmacy to ensure that we are there when
• 14:14
  - a patient needs prescriptions.
• 14:16
  - And it's really resolved in a stronger, continued
• 14:18
  - care for our patients and a more sustainable
• 14:22
  - pharmacy model,
• 14:23
  - just by being the easiest and most successful
• 14:25
  - place for patients and their meds.
• 14:27
  - I know today we're sitting, ninety five percent
• 14:30
  - of our patients getting discharged have prescriptions in
• 14:32
  - hand now. And it's just an expectation now
• 14:34
  - of our health system to make sure that
• 14:36
  - patients going home with the meds they need.
• 14:38
  - And even our ambulatory scripts were over a
• 14:40
  - sixty five percent capture rate of initial scripts
• 14:42
  - written
• 14:43
  - and eighty percent refill retention rate, just really
• 14:46
  - making sure that patients are responding and they
• 14:48
  - deserve this type of pharmacy experience we're providing
• 14:51
  - now. And it's really shown what a a
• 14:53
  - pharmacy can bring to a health system is
• 14:55
  - is given this true three sixty patient care
• 14:58
  - model by having us available to them and
• 15:00
  - knowing that pharmacy is is part of our
• 15:02
  - care team, not just auxiliary service.
• 15:05
  - Yeah. Ryan, that comes through so clearly from
• 15:08
  - everything that you've shared.
• 15:10
  - This program has made so much possible,
• 15:14
  - not just from a logistical standpoint and patients
• 15:17
  - getting their medications,
• 15:18
  - but in what that affects
• 15:20
  - downstream
• 15:21
  - in terms
• 15:23
  - of adherence, patient satisfaction,
• 15:26
  - revenue, and other outcomes for the system.
• 15:29
  - So I just wanna thank you again for
• 15:31
  - highlighting all of this for our listeners.
• 15:33
  - And
• 15:34
  - before we wrap, I wanna turn it back
• 15:36
  - over to you both for some final thoughts.
• 15:39
  - What is one thing that you each want
• 15:41
  - health system leaders to understand
• 15:43
  - about pharmacy delivery?
• 15:45
  - And what should they do next to improve
• 15:48
  - patients' access to medications?
• 15:51
  - I think the biggest thing is pharmacy leaders
• 15:54
  - need to understand that pharmacy delivery, it's not
• 15:56
  - just getting a prescription. It's really part of
• 15:58
  - the patient care journey.
• 15:59
  - Too many times we look at just when
• 16:01
  - the prescription was written, but what about that
• 16:03
  - year's worth of treatments that they prescribed for?
• 16:05
  - Ultimately, we've really got to realize that that
• 16:07
  - pharmacy
• 16:09
  - needs a disruption and that we need to
• 16:11
  - change what we bring to the system
• 16:13
  - in a pharmacy realm. And I think we've
• 16:15
  - done a really nice job here at MetroHealth
• 16:17
  - in partnership with Fox is to really reinvent
• 16:19
  - what pharmacy has done for our organization.
• 16:22
  - And it's not just financial piece, it's the
• 16:23
  - outcomes, the adherence level scores. There's a lot
• 16:26
  - of potential here for health systems to really
• 16:29
  - invest in their pharmacy technology and softwares and
• 16:32
  - employees and patients
• 16:34
  - to bring a better outcome to our patients.
• 16:36
  - It's it's almost become a a requirement of
• 16:39
  - health systems even though we should have been
• 16:40
  - doing this from the start to really show
• 16:42
  - that pharmacy can differentiate outcomes for a health
• 16:45
  - system.
• 16:46
  - I mean, you know, the idea of delivering
• 16:48
  - is pretty straightforward and, you know, we really...
• 16:51
  - The the most something we made to be
• 16:52
  - was
• 16:53
  - honestly nothing
• 16:55
  - unique.
• 16:56
  - And to go find software to track other
• 16:58
  - people delivering something from a to b also
• 17:01
  - not unique. But what health systems around the
• 17:03
  - country and a MetroHealth is a shining example
• 17:05
  - of that is they really need to work
• 17:06
  - with a partner who has controls the technology,
• 17:09
  - controls the logistics
• 17:10
  - for one important outcome, making sure the patients
• 17:13
  - get their meds. And through our understanding internally
• 17:15
  - of the clinical needs of patients, whether it
• 17:18
  - be their hospital at home program, their access
• 17:20
  - needs, as Ryan's example about a change in
• 17:23
  - antibiotic,
• 17:25
  - type due to a,
• 17:26
  - culture result. These are sort of the insights
• 17:28
  - that we are sort of unique of having
• 17:31
  - because of where we... How we are founding,
• 17:32
  - you know, physician founded.
• 17:34
  - And our perspectives when I went from, you
• 17:36
  - know, discharging patients to home based programs to
• 17:39
  - actually delivering meds,
• 17:40
  - to patients on home based,
• 17:42
  - programs.
• 17:43
  - So we really had to remain flexible to
• 17:45
  - health systems needs,
• 17:47
  - work with their specialty and retail pharmacies, our
• 17:49
  - internal pharmacies, and really be a true partner
• 17:52
  - in understanding understanding what that takes.
• 17:55
  - And what keeps me motivated about this continuously
• 17:58
  - is seeing the patient's feedback.
• 18:00
  - After every delivery, we ask them to rate
• 18:01
  - our delivery service on a common five star
• 18:04
  - scale, and we also ask them to rate
• 18:06
  - their pharmacy experience on a net promoter scale.
• 18:08
  - This is that question of how likely are
• 18:10
  - you to recommend, you know, a product to
• 18:12
  - service or company to a friend or family.
• 18:14
  - That question somewhat... Sometimes seen after leaving a
• 18:16
  - hotel or department store. And what we ended
• 18:19
  - up capturing was the pharmacy had a net
• 18:21
  - promoter score in the nineties, and that's unheard
• 18:24
  - of. Most companies, you know, even like Apple
• 18:26
  - is in the seventies.
• 18:27
  - But to capture a a net promoter score
• 18:29
  - that high for a pharmacy,
• 18:31
  - that's become probably the highest rated department in
• 18:34
  - the organization
• 18:35
  - just by virtue of working with a partner
• 18:38
  - like MetroHealth, building this network of, accountable tech
• 18:41
  - enabled delivery, and then capturing that patient satisfaction
• 18:44
  - the moment,
• 18:46
  - it's perceived and and shared with the with
• 18:48
  - the leadership. So that's the part that always
• 18:50
  - gets to me, and that's the only metric
• 18:52
  - we use internally is that patient satisfaction.
• 18:54
  - Because if we know we've earned five stars,
• 18:57
  - the hope is everything we've done upstream
• 18:59
  - from
• 19:00
  - the pharmacy's counter to the patient's front door,
• 19:03
  - has been five stars.
• 19:05
  - Well, it's been so wonderful learning about MetroHealth's
• 19:08
  - journey, Ryan, and
• 19:11
  - doctor Gere.
• 19:12
  - What's motivating
• 19:13
  - Fox Health's strategy
• 19:15
  - on this front? It's been a great conversation.
• 19:18
  - I just wanna thank you both for sharing
• 19:20
  - all of these insights and successes with our
• 19:23
  - listeners.
• 19:24
  - Thank you, Erica, for the opportunity to share
• 19:26
  - our story. Yeah. Thank you, Erica. It was
• 19:27
  - a great conversation.
• 19:29
  - It was a great conversation,
• 19:30
  - and we also want to thank our podcast
• 19:33
  - sponsor for today, Fox Health.
• 19:36
  - Listeners, be sure to tune in to more
• 19:38
  - podcasts
• 19:39
  - from Becker's Healthcare
• 19:41
  - by visiting our podcast page at beckershospitalreview.com.