IMPACT FINANCIAL CONSUMER HEALTHCARE ENGAGEMENT. The. (Or, How Easy it Really is to Save Someone a Buck in This Day and Age)

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1 The FINANCIAL IMPACT on CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT in HEALTHCARE (Or, How Easy it Really is to Save Someone a Buck in This Day and Age) How did the State of Kansas find a savings opportunity in excess of 18 million and start realizing hard savings dollars to the bottom line? Here s the case study showing how Rx Savings Solutions helped them do it. rxsavingssolutions.com

2 RX SS PG 01 We delivered a healthy dose of savings to State of Kansas employees.

3 INTRODUCTION The rising costs of prescription drugs have created a burden for employers and employees alike. R ising costs come at a time when healthcare plans are spending most on medications related to common diseases including depression, hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. As these conditions become more widespread, the cost of these drugs continues to climb and they re not getting any cheaper. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that the average copay for a preferred drug (a brand name with no generic alternative) has nearly doubled since Employers are forced to share these increasing costs with their employees, creating the need for employees to make well-informed decisions regarding their healthcare. While most consumers believe they re getting the best price available on monthly medications through their insurance, that s not always the case. When it comes to purchasing prescription drugs, consumers have the choice to shop around and fi nd a more affordable option to fi t their needs. Recently, governments and private industries have been saddled with the high costs of prescriptions. As a result, they ve sought to make pharmaceutical prices in employee health plans more transparent to the endconsumer by exploring cost-reducing solutions. Looking to cut excess spending on its employee health plan, the State of Kansas awarded Rx Savings Solutions a contract to provide pharmacy consumerism, engagement tools and consulting for the State of Kansas Employee Health Plan (SEHP) in February Kansas is one of the first states in the United States to provide this type of prescription drug savings tool as a part of an employee health plan. After spending six months analyzing and servicing the nearly 90,000 members on the SEHP, Rx Savings Solutions exposed approximately 18 million per year in potential savings on prescription drug expenses. Founded by pharmacist Michael Rea, Rx Savings Solutions provides patented consumer engagement software that delivers proven cost-saving results and valuable educational resources for both employers and their employees. With executive backgrounds spanning the pharmaceutical industry, Rx Savings Solutions knows how to help optimize therapy and reduce spending in organizations like the State of Kansas. Any organization public or private sector can implement the same service to its employees cutting unnecessary spending on highpriced monthly medications, which ultimately produces a direct impact to the organization s bottom line. R X P G S S 0 2

4 The SITUATION In 2014 the State of Kansas, like many self-insured organizations, was facing the threat of shifting healthcare costs to employees through higher copays and coinsurance. L ooking to confront increased healthcare expenses, SEHP leaders became proactive in searching for a costeffective, progressive solution for both the State and its employees. At the time, the State was currently spending about million per year on health benefits for their roughly 90,000 members and dependents. Almost 18 percent of that was due to prescription drug costs. With prescription drug costs more expensive than ever, the State of Kansas tapped Rx Savings Solutions to provide pharmacy consumerism tools for its employee health benefi ts plan. Through the Rx Savings Solutions platform, employees receive a customized report detailing opportunities to lower their prescription drug costs, which in turn saves on R X SEHP expenditures. In fact, for every dollar an employee saves on monthly medications, the State potentially saves an average of 5 to 6. From using therapeutic alternatives or generic brands to switching to a different pharmacy that is right across the street, Rx Savings Solutions understands how to help members save on prescription drug medications. With clinical backgrounds in pharmacy, pharmacy benefits and pharmacy benefits manager contracting, they re able to use their technology and expertise to deliver the best recommendation to optimize therapy and save money for both parties. For y high blood type 2 high example, an SEHP member taking 60 milligrams pressure diabetes cholesterol of duloxetine DR twice a day for 30 days for anxiety or depression would normally pay per month and cost the State per month. The Rx Savings Solutions platform suggested the member switch therapies by taking a similar medication 150 milligrams of venlafaxine ER per day for 90 days. The employee would pay per month and cost the State zero dollars. Annually, it saves the employee and saves the State 1, Rx Savings Solutions also offers materials to engage physicians in the decision-making process. Their goal is to augment the existing relationship between the member, their physician and pharmacist in an effort to facilitate optimal drug therapy. While Rx Savings Solutions provides clinical alternatives, another way to lower prescription drug costs is by shopping at a different pharmacy in the area. One SEHP user taking 20 milligrams of Atorvastatin once a day for high cholesterol normally paid 9.51 for a 30-day supply. Rx Savings Solutions report recommended the member switch to a 90-day supply of the same prescription and dosage and purchase at a different pharmacy within the community, which saved the member and the State annually. After using Rx Savings Solutions service, one member commented, Thanks for the recommendation to lower the P G S S 0 3 cost of one of my medications by going from a one-month supply to a three-month supply. Now, I m in the process of getting all my prescriptions changed to a 90-day supply because it works better for my schedule. I never knew I could even do that!

5 the very real world of very real prescription savings realized by REAL KANSAS EMPLOYEES anxiety high blood pressure type 2 diabetes high cholesterol S AV E D S AV ED S AV ED S AV ED which saved the state an additional RX SS 22 4,115 IMPLEMENTATION AND PROGRAM LAUNCH Rx Savings Solutions implemented its turnkey system with the State of Kansas Employee Health Plan on July 1, T he solution relies on algorithms to help analyze massive amounts of data and pharmacy claims, while still allowing for personal interaction to service members effectively. Registration is easy all members who are eligible for the health benefit are automatically enrolled in the Rx Savings Solutions program. Employees receive an notifying them of the opportunity and potential savings. The Member Services team at Rx Savings Solutions proactively reaches out to employees to answer questions and find the best solution for their needs. Average Member Services phone call response time is three seconds. By being hands-on in handling registration, Rx Savings Solutions provides an effortless and transparent process for all employees. Once registered in the system, the software analyzes thousands of clinical recommendations, price variances and uncovers the alternative therapies that are most affordable. It then creates a personalized savings report for each user outlining opportunities to lower their prescription drug costs. Using the pharmacies near the members homes, Rx Savings Solutions patented algorithm provides members with personalized options for the best clinical and financial therapies. And when new savings tailored to their drug regimen are available, Rx Savings Solutions actively engages the employees through , text messages, phone calls and other personalized outreach programs. For example, an SEHP member taking 100 milligrams of Januvia once a day for 30 days for Type 2 Diabetes would typically pay per month and cost the State Through the Rx Savings Solutions platform, the user would receive a report detailing savings opportunities available. By switching therapy to two milligrams of glimepiride twice a day for 90 days, the user has annual potential savings of and it saves the State 2, PG 04

6 I was impressed that someone from your company would take the time to visit with me. I can t wait to use the card I printed off of the report when I fill my next prescription to see how much money I will be able to save and reallocate to my new car fund. Average response time 3 sec. PROGRAM ADOPTION AND MEMBER ENGAGEMENT R X P G S S 0 5 Early success of the program is due to the rapid adoption by many State of Kansas employees. I n order to drive employee engagement and enrollment, Rx Savings Solutions has developed an awareness strategy to educate and empower state employees and their families to be consumers of healthcare. To help them make better informed decisions when it comes to their monthly medications, Rx Savings Solutions program went beyond prescription drug price variances to provide clinical guidance and recommendations. During the first six months, the Rx Savings Solutions team proactively engaged with members to ensure a positive experience and help drive savings results for employees and the State. In fact, Rx Savings Solutions had 15.5 percent of members who took medications engage with the program in the first six months. This start has led to great momentum for the program as Rx Savings Solutions and SEHP leaders continue to work together to drive engagement. While Rx Savings Solutions easy-to-use platform is powerful, directly communicating with the members has been essential to maximizing its effectiveness. Understanding that 90 percent of adults are mobile phone users, Rx Savings Solutions knew they had to meet employees where they re most engaged their mobile devices. Distributing simple, concise correspondence through s and SMS messages has been instrumental in increasing participation. Working directly with the state leaders and over 400 human resources offices has also helped accelerate adoption of Rx Savings Solutions approach and technology. By offering clinical recommendations and savings reports, the Rx Savings Solutions team has been able to personally reach out to employees who haven t registered but have significant savings available to them. With many certified pharmacy technicians on staff for Rx Savings Solutions, they are able to work side by side with both employers and employees to help answer specific questions about monthly medications and create an open, ongoing conversation during every stage of the process. One SEHP member commented, Thank you for your phone call and today. I definitely wasn t expecting that level of customer service. I was impressed that someone from your company would take the time to visit with me. I can t wait to use the card I printed off of the report when I fill my next prescription to see how much money I will be able to save and reallocate to my new car fund.

7 THE RESULTS Through its consumer engagement and transparency software, Rx Savings Solutions delivered a plan to save the State of Kansas 5 million annually and uncovered an additional 13 million in savings for the State Employee Health Plan. R x Savings Solutions clinical team evaluated and analyzed approximately 850,000 actual paid pharmacy claims from the roughly 90,000 SEHP members. Within the first six months, Rx Savings Solutions generated over 8,300 savings reports totaling 12,228 savings recommendations. Of those reports, 65 percent were clinical recommendations for optimizing therapy. For individual members with a savings opportunity, the estimated average savings is per report. Based on these initial findings, Rx Savings Solutions specifically identified tangible savings of 5 million by recommending simple, cost-saving formulary RX SS changes for the SEHP without sacrificing the care of its members. The State has seen the value and effect of the program through these proven results, and will continue to work with Rx Savings Solutions consumer engagement platform to help save the employee health plan an additional 13 million annually. Rx Savings Solutions will continue to examine millions of claims and stay ahead of the cost-curve by driving member education, engagement and ongoing savings for the State of Kansas and SEHP members. SEHP members can save 4,425,590 that s about 530 per member which saves the state of Kansas a potential 18,404,863 50% higher than originally anticipated PG 06

8 What will you do with the money you save? Key lessons learned during the first six months have impacted Rx Savings Solutions approach for the State of Kansas in As the State advances the program, education will be important in driving engagement as well as dictating the amount of potential savings delivered for both the State and employees. Moving forward, Rx Savings Solutions is looking to engage the member base in new ways such as webinars and direct communication campaigns, as well as incentives to increase the amount of savings. Possible ideas that have piqued interest include wellness points, giveaways, gift cards for participation and even a reduction in monthly premiums. Most people don t realize they have a choice when it comes to purchasing prescription drugs but they do. Through Rx Savings Solutions platform, employees can take ownership in their healthcare and employers can relieve some of the burden of prescription drug costs. As more governments and corporations continue to deal with growing prescription drug costs, Rx Savings Solutions offers an affordable, turnkey solution to organizations. It has proven to deliver member education and engagement, CONCLUSION and return on investment, while simultaneously helping employees live better, healthier lives for less money. Their exclusive, patented software possesses the ability to analyze thousands of claims, data and information, which no other organization has done in the past. By utilizing Rx Savings Solutions consumer engagement software and services, the State of Kansas and other businesses can successfully engage employees in managing their cost and care of prescription drugs, ultimately leading to savings for everyone. R X P G S S 0 7 i The Kaiser Family Foundation, NORC at the University of Chicago and Health Research & Education Trust,. Employer Health Benefits: 2013 Annual Survey. The Kaiser Family Foundation, Web. ii State of Kansas,. State Of Kansas Comparison Report: The FY 2014 Governor S Budget Report With Legislative Authorizations. Topeka, Kansas: State of Kansas, Web. iii Pew Research Center s Internet & American Life Project,. Mobile Technology Fact Sheet. N.p., Web. 2 Apr

9 About Rx Savings Solutions Rx Savings Solutions offers an innovative, patented engagement software system activating employers and employees to be educated consumers of healthcare. Founded and operated by a team of pharmacists and software engineers, Rx Savings Solutions supports a collaborative, cost-saving solution for purchasing prescription drugs. Using their clinical backgrounds, Rx Savings Solutions delivers personalized recommendations on how to optimize therapies to members while achieving savings results for both employers and employees. Located in Kansas City, Rx Savings Solutions currently serves self-insured businesses and their health plan members nationwide. For more information, visit rxsavingssolutions.com. Want to find out how much you can save? Contact Michael Rea or Drew Komenda mrea@rxsavingsllc.com dkomenda@rxsavingsllc.com rxsavingssolutions.com