The Connection Between Telehealth, Pharmacy and How it Affects Self-Funded Employers

Briana Contreras, an editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, had the pleasure of catching up with MHE Editorial Advisory Board Member, Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, who is a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Healthcare beyond the doors of the doctor’s office has the potential to offer more care to more people. But payers need to think about how to ensure that care is consistent. Regardless of the setting, care decisions must be based on evidence-based content and supported with strong patient education.

In this month’s episode of the "What's On Your Mind podcast," Peter Wehrwein, managing editor of MHE connects with the now Chief Clinical Officer of OptumRx Integrated Pharmacies, David Calabrese. In this conversation, David touches on his transition in January as OptumRx’s former chief pharmacy officer and market president of health plans and PBMs to his new role as Chief Clinical Officer where he now focuses more on things such as specialty pharmacy to home delivery — with an overall goal of creating whole-patient care. Throughout the conversation, Calabrese also touched on the market’s hot topic of insulin prices and behavioral health services within the OptumRx community, among other topics.

Cindy Gaines, MSN, RN, chief clinical transformation officer at Lumeon, addresses the current status of electronic health records in the healthcare industry and how automation is filling in its gaps through technology.

Interoperability has been an aspiration in the healthcare IT world for many years. The finalization of new rules means they finally have a chance to prove its merits.