Category: Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy
Biosimilar Access to Reduce Biologic Spending in the United States: A Policy Brief
July 10, 2020Biosimilars were initially projected to save as much as $150B in the specialty pharmaceuticals market. However, product launches have not kept pace with approvals, and numerous barriers to entry have become apparent. Some examples include financial disincentives for providers to administer biosimilars over originator products; lack of provider understanding of the efficacy, safety, and interchangeability of biosimilars; and finally, anticompetitive strategies employed by manufacturers to subvert biosimilar access. This combination of challenges makes launching a biosimilar product difficult.
UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy collaborates with UNC Health Care to improve, optimize patient care
October 29, 2019Researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Center for Medication Optimization, in collaboration with UNC Health Care’s Pharmacy Services team, are coming together to improve and optimize patient care delivery, pharmacy analytics and outcomes. The partnership, called Optimizing Care Delivery, is a unique collaboration between an academic research center and a health system in North Carolina. The goal of the program is to develop, test and evaluate clinical pharmacy services that facilitates proactive, coordinated and connected care, especially for patients who manage chronic conditions. Optimizing Care Delivery will allow pharmacists and physicians to work hand-in-hand to address unmet needs … Read more
Curtis Media Group’s Rick Martinez interviews CMO Director Jon Easter
January 29, 2019Curtis Media Group’s Rick Martinez recently interviewed Center for Medication Optimization Director Jon Easter after the center’s recent Medication Optimization Summit in January at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC.
CMO Summit Takes On Medication Mismanagement
January 22, 2019The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the School’s Center for Medication Optimization brought together leaders from across the health care industry to highlight the multi-billion dollar problem of medication mismanagement and develop collaborative medication optimization strategies that aim to transform health care. More than half of the U.S. population takes multiple medications daily to help treat one or more chronic conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes. Other serious conditions, like cancer and HIV, have extremely complex regimens that must be coordinated. And when these medication regimens are mismanaged by health care providers and patients, it can lead to unnecessary medical … Read more
CMOPP Changes Name to Center for Medication Optimization
August 15, 2018The Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is now the Center for Medication Optimization. “This sharper name better reflects our focus on collaborative research that both informs systems change and prepares our students to be leaders in pharmacy practice,” said Jon Easter, director of the center. The Center for Medication Optimization’s mission is to bring together health care stakeholders to create impactful real-world research, generate evidence, disseminate best practices and advance education that integrates medication optimization into value-based care delivery and payment models. We do this by serving as a neutral, … Read more
Ray joins CMOPP as Health Policy Fellow
July 25, 2018Amber Bivins Ray has joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as the new health policy fellow in the Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy. As the inaugural CMOPP health policy fellow, Ray’s objectives will be to strengthen her policy development, analysis and impact evaluation skills; engage stakeholders to inform health policy research; and advocate for policy change and methods for advocacy implementation. Ray earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and holds a Masters of Public Health in health policy and management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She earned … Read more
Blanchard Joins PACE, CMOPP as Research Assistant Professor
June 29, 2018Carrie Martin Blanchard, Pharm.D., M.P.H., has joined the Division of Practice Advancement at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as a research assistant professor. Blanchard’s primary role will be as a member of the School’s Center for Medication Optimization through Policy and Practice where she will lead the educational and research development for the center. Balnchard’s research interests focus on how to implement and scale medication optimization services and value-based care models. Blanchard said she is passionate about learning how these innovations can impact health outcomes, solve current public-health issues and lead to policy change. Her work includes researching the … Read more
Whitepaper: Enhanced Pharmacy Services Offer Quality and Cost Improvement for Medicaid
May 23, 2017Policy recommendations issued by the Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill call for Medicaid reforms to optimize the benefits of medication and include community pharmacists as an important part of the health-care team. Building on existing efforts in North Carolina, the recommendations include the following: Using models developed from the growing Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network to allow health plans to develop community pharmacy pay-for-performance models focused on overall cost of care and quality. Testing the community pharmacy enhanced services care management model within health plans and comparing plan … Read more
Jon Easter Joins School as Director of CMOPP
March 7, 2016Jon Easter has joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as the director of the Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy and a professor of the practice. The center, which is embedded within the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and launched in April 2015, seeks to solidify the role of pharmacy practice within value-based health care payment and care-delivery models by building a hub to support internal and external collaboration, research and education. Easter said CMOPP will develop a robust, real-world-practice research capability by securing a variety of grants, facilitate strategic collaborations with interdisciplinary partners to … Read more
UNC Pharmacy Receives $2.4 Million from ACCP to Study Comprehensive Medication Management
November 25, 2015The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been awarded a $2.4 million grant from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy to study the implementation of comprehensive medication management in primary-care medical practices to improve results for patients. Comprehensive medication management focuses on patients and all the medications they are taking. Each medication is regularly assessed for appropriateness, effectiveness, safety and convenience. CMM includes an individualized care plan developed by the health-care team and the patient to achieve the goals of the therapy. The award comes from the ACCP and the ACCP … Read more