J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2020 Jul-Aug;60(4):e79-e85. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2020.02.008. Epub 2020 Mar 6.
To describe a pharmacist-delivered Medicare counseling service in a rural community health center for providing patients and community members with information and resources to facilitate informed Medicare plan selection(s).
Federally-qualified health center.
Health center patients and community members met with a pharmacist for individual Medicare counseling. The appointments provided an opportunity to educate clients on Original Medicare and private plan options for supplemental medical and drug coverage, compare specific plans, and assess eligibility for financial assistance programs.
Data were collected from client contact forms completed for individuals counseled between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2018. Data were then summarized with descriptive statistics and analyzed with Fisher exact tests.
A total of 47 appointments were completed with 31 unique clients. They were mostly women (n = 18, 58.1%) and aged 65 years or more (n = 17; 54.8%) but evenly divided between patients established with the health center (n = 15; 48.4%) and community members (n = 16; 51.6%). During appointments, the most common topic was an explanation of medical or drug benefits (n = 40; 85.1%) followed by comparison of specific plans (n = 25; 53.2%) and then screening individuals for Original Medicare or private plan eligibility (n = 27; 57.4%). There were no statistically significant differences when comparing topics discussed for current versus new Medicare beneficiaries. During follow-up visits, patients were less likely to be screened for Original Medicare or private plan eligibility (74.2% vs. 25%; P = 0.002), financial assistance programs (77.4% vs. 37.5%; P = 0.011), or have specific plans compared (71.0% vs. 37.5%; P = 0.034).
A pharmacist-provided Medicare counseling service in a rural community health center was used by both patients and community members. This may be an effective strategy to improve beneficiary understanding of Medicare benefits and enable the selection of better insurance plans in underserved populations. Further research is needed to assess individual-level outcomes and scalability to other settings.
在农村社区卫生中心描述一项由药剂师提供的医疗保险咨询服务，为患者和社区成员提供信息和资源，以促进他们对医疗保险计划的知情选择。
合格的联邦健康中心。
健康中心的患者和社区成员与药剂师预约进行个人医疗保险咨询。这些预约为客户提供了教育原始医疗保险和私人计划补充医疗和药物覆盖范围的机会，比较特定计划，并评估其获得经济援助计划的资格。
从 2015 年 7 月 1 日至 2018 年 6 月 30 日为接受咨询的个人填写的客户联系表中收集数据。然后使用描述性统计数据进行总结，并使用 Fisher 精确检验进行分析。
共完成 47 次预约，涉及 31 位独特的客户。他们大多数是女性（n=18，58.1%）和 65 岁或以上（n=17；54.8%），但在健康中心的患者（n=15；48.4%）和社区成员（n=16；51.6%）之间平均分配。在预约期间，最常见的主题是解释医疗或药物福利（n=40；85.1%），其次是比较特定计划（n=25；53.2%），然后是筛选原始医疗保险或私人计划的资格（n=27；57.4%）。比较当前和新的医疗保险受益人的讨论主题时，没有统计学上的显著差异。在随访就诊时，患者不太可能接受原始医疗保险或私人计划资格的筛查（74.2%比 25%；P=0.002），也不太可能接受经济援助计划（77.4%比 37.5%；P=0.011）或比较特定计划（71.0%比 37.5%；P=0.034）。
农村社区卫生中心的药剂师提供的医疗保险咨询服务同时被患者和社区成员使用。这可能是改善受益人群对医疗保险福利的理解并使选择更好的保险计划在服务不足的人群中得以实现的有效策略。需要进一步研究以评估个人层面的结果并将其推广到其他环境。
