Delfini Showcase: Regence Group Pharmacy Benefit Management
Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee Support Redesign & Critical Appraisal Appraisal Intensive to Help Improve Formulary Management

Evidence based Practice Training Intensive

Mission
Assist pharmacy benefit management staff to advance in evidence-based practice and technique with the goal of producing highly evidence-based monographs for Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee review. Help staff foster evidence-based deliberations among committee members through committee materials to achieve a true evidence- and value-based drug review process.

Evidence-based Drug Reviews
RegenceRx® has created a website which provides useful drug information. Included are recent drug class reviews along with reviews of high-profile therapeutic classes such as statins and antidepressants.

• RxNews for physicians
• Drug review summaries
• Consumer version

Concept
Train staff in essentials and advanced evidence- and value-based medicine concepts. Detail process methods and techniques for content development. Provide refreshers at select intervals to both support and deepen staff knowledge. Recommend modifications to monograph template to make the template more evidence-based and to achieve transparency and consistency. Goals for the monograph design were to focus attention on the evidence, enable auditing of specific outputs, facilitate committee education and promote an evidence-based approach during committee meetings. Provide just-in-time evidence-based training to committee members as an introduction and ongoing as needed.

Outcome
Leadership and staff are highly knowledgeable and skilled in the concepts, methods, processes and application of tools to create some of the most clear and solidly evidence-based drug reviews that Delfini has seen. Regence and Delfini came up with collective solutions to create a drug review format that helps manage P&T deliberations to foster an evidence-based approach. As a result, Delfini Group knows of no group today that is doing a finer job applying evidence-based medicine principles.

About The Regence Group
Created in 1996, The Regence Group is the largest affiliation of health care plans in the Pacific Northwest/Mountain State region. It includes Regence BlueShield of Idaho, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and Regence BlueShield (in Washington). Through these plans, Regence provides health, life, vision, dental and long-term care insurance to nearly three million members. The Regence Group and its affiliate plans are not-for-profit, independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. More than one in three Americans have coverage from the Blues. For more information, visit www.regence.com. For more about their Pharmacy Benefit Management Services, visit here.

Read about our solutions for Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committees

Helen Sherman, PharmD, Chief Pharmacy Officer for Regence and Mike Stuart, MD, President Delfini Group are interviewed about tougher standards being applied by insurers. Read the Managed Care Magazine interview

The Regence Group

...wonderful program...been to many of your programs and continue to learn, be inspired and stretch...already incorporating the information as well as your tools into our processes...

Reference Letter from Chief Pharmacy Officer click here

After Two Days Following A Delfini Training Retreat...
"Dr. Stuart and Sheri, I wanted to thank you both for the wonderful program you put together. I've heard all the same things echoed by the staff that were noted in the evaluations. For myself, I think I've been to more than six of your programs and I continue to be inspired and stretched each time. We are already incorporating the information you provided, as wells as your tools into our processes. We look forward to working with you again and further improving our processes with your knowledge and tools. Again, thanks for everything and have a great summer."
Helen Sherman, R.Ph., Pharm.D., Senior Director - Chief Pharmacy Officer Pharmacy Services The Regence Group, Portland, OR

"I have seen your program 3 times (make that 4 times) and I learn something new (ok, a lot new) every time. I really appreciate the way you constantly update your material to be relevant. I would sit through a day of your seminar once or twice a year." Program Attendee

The Regence Group Pharmacy & Therapeutics Efforts

Working with The Regence Group Pharmacy Benefits team has been a true delight. From leadership to administrative support, the group is pleasure to work with, demonstrating collegiality, skill and dedication. It's no surprise they are the best there is at this work! In our opinion, there are few to equal them, and no one does it better. This is certainly due to the efforts of all involved, but the tremendous success realized could not have happened without leadership being both committed to, and knowledgeable of, evidence-based medicine.

When we teach our programs on Becoming an Evidence- and Value-based Organization or on Evidence-and Value-based Clinical Improvement, we stress the importance of leadership support, and we make this a theme. And frequently — and unfortunately — leadership is frequently absent from these programs. The attendees tend to be those who understand the need for, and value of, an evidence-based approach, but who are not leaders — and then tell us they wish their leader was there. The efforts of these people are redoubled, at the very least, without the support of their leaders. And as a result, clinical quality suffers, and waste is increased.

Unlike these absent leaders, those leading The Regence Group Pharmacy & Therapeutics efforts are not only supportive, they are involved! And when we say involved, we don't mean at a distance. Not only do they guide their ship in an EBM direction, they are as knowledgable as staff in critical appraisal and utilize EBM on a daily basis.

We applaude The Regence Group Pharmacy Benefit Management leaders and staff. They are masters at an evidence- and value-based approach to clinical care.

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