June 17, 2021 – In response to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s request that business leaders help increase vaccination rates, four Ohio Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) – Buckeye Health Plan, Molina, Paramount and UnitedHealthcare – are partnering with Outcomes to leverage the expertise and trusted status of local pharmacists for vaccine consultation and administration, particularly in underserved communities.
Outcomes, recently launched by Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH), created a Needs Immunization service on the Connect platform to engage local pharmacists in personal outreach to Ohio Medicaid members who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccination.
In this proactive consultation, the pharmacist connects with a Medicaid member to address any specific concerns or questions the patient may have about the vaccine, explain how to receive the vaccine and if possible, administer the vaccine on the spot.
The Needs Immunization service also provides pharmacists access to best practices for addressing vaccine hesitancy. Participating pharmacies earn a medication therapy management (MTM) service fee for completing the intervention and documenting the consultation in the Outcomes platform, including vaccine administration date. If the vaccine is not administered at their pharmacy, the pharmacist follows up with the patient after their consultation to confirm they received the vaccine elsewhere.