Key Messaging
How many times have you picked up a prescription and been asked if you have any questions for the pharmacist? You probably said no, even if you had questions. Maybe you didn't know if the pharmacist could answer them.
Pharmacists are health care professionals people visit most often – about one and a half to two times more often than they visit their physician1. Yet pharmacists are under-utilized as a resource of high-quality care.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) is looking to change that with our new innovative pharmacy program, More Than a Script, launching in May 2024.
Participating local pharmacies will serve as active partners in the health of Blue Cross NC members by offering free, voluntary enhanced clinical services that can happen whether a medication is being filled.
With More Than a Script, participating pharmacies will be reimbursed for providing these services to eligible members.
Pharmacists are medication experts, many of whom hold Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. As a trusted member of the community, pharmacists provide patient-centered care, ensuring patients receive the most effective medications and providing education tailored to the patient’s needs.
Blue Cross NC’s purpose to “make health care better for all” drives the vision for More Than a Script – allowing pharmacists to practice at the top of their license and providing members easy access to personalized enhanced health care at their local pharmacy with no out-of-pocket cost.
More Than a Script’s current goal is to improve our members’ overall health status, increase health equity, and reduce the total cost of care for two initial conditions: diabetes and hypertension.
More Than a Script allows members to easily access personalized enhanced health care at their local pharmacy, reducing the disparities in key health measures in our member population.
North Carolina has a diabetes and hypertension epidemic.
People with diabetes incur medical expenses at about 2.3 times higher than those who do not have diabetes (1).
And in 2018, hypertension caused or contributed to at least 27 percent of all deaths in North Carolina that year (2).
After program launch, participating pharmacies will have completed training and demonstrated commitment to offering these enhanced services, such as:Updated 03/27/2024
Diabetes treatment and self-management education
Hypertension treatment and self-management education
Adherence packaging
Medication synchronization
Chronic care management
Transitions of care
Participating pharmacies will then reach out to eligible members and begin scheduling appointments tailored to the needs of each member, which can be held in person, virtually via telehealth, or over the phone.
More Than a Script optimizes member’s care by expanding transparency between the member’s primary care physician and community pharmacist. Through transparency and collaboration, the goal of More Than a Script is to improve members’ access to medications while partnering with physicians to determine the best medication regimens. Through external stakeholders, Blue Cross NC has used best practices to ensure providers are well-informed of pharmacist recommendations.
Pharmacists will focus primarily on interventions of medication education and access while ensuring providers are aware of all recommendations and interventions.
A fax will also be sent from the participating pharmacy via DocStation to the physician of participating members. The fax will inform the physician of the member’s enrollment in the program and any updates and suggestions from the participating pharmacy for this program.
Any changes to medications would require physician agreement and a prescription written by the physician.
More Than a Script does not take away any decision-making from physicians or other providers.
This program will not negatively impact provider reimbursement.
More Than a Script plans to implement its second phase in 2025, expanding services to focus on maternal health.
Blue Cross NC has worked with a Pharmacy Advisory Group and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy to provide input and feedback into this program’s development.
DocStation is a cloud-based care platform that offers a single solution for providers and payers to collaborate and to get pharmacists paid for the services they are already providing.
DocStation will provide technical training to pharmacies to ensure program success. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will guide clinical training through live/recorded and asynchronous sessions based on industry best practices.
More Than a Script is truly a collaboration with North Carolina’s community, our partners, and Blue Cross NC.
For any questions, please contact Blue Cross NC at morethanascript@bcbsnc.com.