CareALERTS closes healthcare gaps including raising immunizations rates among seniors and adults
On National Pharmacist Day, XiFin celebrates pharmacists and urges all U.S. states to recognize pharmacists as providers
OmniSYS, the pharmacy division of XiFin, Inc., announced its 2023 end-of-year CareALERTS™ data, demonstrating how pharmacists as providers are closing healthcare gaps at the point of care. CareALERTS was developed to increase immunization rates among adults and seniors, and in 2023 it successfully increased companion pneumococcal immunizations by 28% among participating pharmacies. This helped patients avoid preventable disease and unnecessary hospitalizations, reducing healthcare expenditures. OmniSYS released this data on National Pharmacist Day to celebrate pharmacists and urges all U.S. states to recognize pharmacists as providers of clinical services who can help address physician shortages and improve healthcare access for the nation’s most vulnerable and underserved communities.
Recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate a pressing challenge to increase adult immunization rates. During the 2021 – 2022 influenza season, only about 49.4% of U.S. adults were vaccinated against the flu, with a considerable number of these immunizations occurring in retail pharmacies. Adult vaccination rates for other significant vaccines, like those for pneumococcal disease and shingles, were markedly lower.
“We deeply appreciate the vital role pharmacists play in enhancing the well-being of Americans, especially seniors facing healthcare challenges. Our advanced technology empowers pharmacists to optimize resources, deliver superior care, and reduce costs,” said XiFin executive chair and CEO Lâle White. “We are dedicated to ensuring a sustainable and effective healthcare ecosystem by including pharmacists at the forefront of driving optimal patient outcomes.”
CareALERTS utilizes one of the pharmacy industry’s most comprehensive immunization databases and proprietary data mining to deliver prompts that are both patient and vaccine specific, enabling pharmacists to address these needs at the point of care. Examples of how the ability to identify patients in need of immunizations enabled pharmacies to deliver additional care include:
- A major national pharmacy successfully administering over 100,000 immunizations to eligible but underserved patients generating incremental revenue of over $17 million
- A large national grocer providing 45,000 immunizations to identified patients, equating to just under $7 million in revenue
- A regional grocer protecting nearly 5,000 patients who otherwise would have been overlooked, resulting in $1 million in revenue through additional immunizations.
This strategy not only champions healthcare equity by reaching underserved populations but also serves as a means to optimize the capabilities of pharmacists, creating a valuable revenue stream for pharmacies. Simultaneously, it contributes to the broader goal of lowering healthcare costs within the national healthcare system.
“The role of the pharmacy continues to evolve as millions of Americans rely on pharmacists as first-line providers of healthcare,” said XiFin chief pharmacy officer David Pope, PharmD, CDE. “CareALERTS supports patient access and the operational health of the pharmacy via timely, relevant, and personalized health notifications. Furthermore, it encourages patients to consider immunizations not just during the flu season, but throughout the year—which can effectively guard against preventable diseases and create a pathway for better health.”
CareALERTS Works to Streamline Pharmacy Workflow
CareALERTS leverages multiple data sources, including 56 state and jurisdictional registries and vaccine data across multiple settings of care, and applies a sophisticated rules engine that considers clinical eligibility, financial coverage, and business requirements to identify eligible consumers in real-time. CareALERTS maximizes clinical service delivery and streamlines workflow through integration with CareCLAIM®, OmniSYS’ medical billing solution, to reduce administrative burden when many pharmacies are grappling with staffing shortages. As a claim is being processed, CareCLAIM becomes interoperable with the pharmacy management system (PMS), enabling a CareALERTS prompt to notify the pharmacist—in workflow—of a vaccination opportunity. This creates greater convenience for consumers, who can now receive a reminder of vaccine eligibility from an accessible and highly trusted healthcare provider: their pharmacist.
