INNOVATIVE PRACTICE FORM

Name: Joni Berry
Address: Independent Hospice
Phone #: 919-782-4454

Briefly describe innovation

Joni Berry started in Hospice pharmacy in 1980. Until 1990, she was not paid for her services. She is, currently, not involved in dispensing medication, but in consulting. Ms. Berry and what she calls an interdisciplinary team, consisting of health care professionals, review each admit patient and devise a care plan for each patient. She reviews the medication profiles for problematic patients, educates nurses, and provides one on one education along with her position on the interdisciplinary team. Ms. Berry, in her role outside of consulting pharmacist, goes on home visits, runs interference with doctors for nurses, and controls compliance with the Joint Commission by reviewing laws and regulations. She helps two other pharmacists in reviewing drug systems and cost of other hospices and telling them how they can cut cost. She was called into this partnership by running the lowest cost per day hospice in the nation in North Carolina. Ms. Berry has a 24 hour dispense and deliver pharmacy that dispenses the medication to her hospice patients. She says that her approach to running the lowest cost per day hospice is not cutting drug cost because that will never get any better, but by managing drug therapy to cut cost. In documenting her services, everything is written down. She begins on admission and performs a drug regimen review. Next, she documents by exclusion, which is when something is not a problem it is not documented. She, then, provides a service narrative of how the problem is solved.

Method of Reimbursement

Payor(s): Medicare, Medicaid, other third parties, and indigent free services such as churches

Reimbursement rate: Information not available.

Is documentation required? Yes, documentation is required but the form was not available.

Specialized training required? No.

Software/instrumentation required? Yes, the hospice uses HMS+ which is specific for hospices because of billing on-line, charting on-line, and care planning. There is no DUR involved.