New Spencer Health Vice President Expanding Pharmacy Partnerships
Spencer Health Solutions is leading the digital health market by addressing a critical need for healthcare providers to engage and support patients in their homes. During a program initiated last year by Catalyst Healthcare for its Canadian pharmacies to screen for COVID-19, patients responded to more than 90 percent of survey questions.
More than 90 percent engagement far exceeds industry averages, said Spencer Health Solutions Chief Scientific Officer Alan Menius, who spent 25 years leading advanced analytic teams at GlaxoSmithKline. Phone call survey responses often fall below 30 percent, and email even less. “Patient engagement of more than 90 percent for survey questions and more than 95 percent taking medications as prescribed demonstrates the high value patients place in interacting with healthcare providers through the Spencer smart hub device,” Menius said.
In addition to dispensing pre-packaged medications and surveying patients, the device hosts telehealth virtual visits with healthcare providers. Catalyst Healthcare deployed the Spencer device through a network of pharmacies to improve care with enhanced engagement and personalized patient care. The Spencer device integrates healthcare services on an easy-to-use device the size of a small kitchen appliance often placed on a kitchen countertop. During the pandemic, survey questions of patients after taking medications were designed to screen patients for COVID-19 symptoms.
“We have countless stories of how patient engagement questions have helped provide better care,” said Pharmacist Kristen Antunes, Catalyst Healthcare’s director of clinical outcomes. “Thankfully, none of the patients in this latest initiative tested positive for COVID-19, but other health issues were identified and patients were referred for additional care. Responses from patient surveys helped pharmacies identify new issues and provide advice to patients more than 800 times.”
From monitoring medication adherence to enabling patient surveys and automatically integrating data from other in-home medical devices, the Spencer patient engagement smart hub provides a wealth of data for pharmacists and clinical caregivers to support patient health. Data helps providers measure value and navigate for better outcomes. Menius said predictive analytics from the data generated during the pandemic initiative alerted pharmacists when further support was needed.
“We are helping pharmacists reach into the home to better care for their patients, helping achieve better health and remain independent,” said Spencer Health Vice President of Pharmacy and Packaging Solutions Shannon Strickland. “Such a high rate of patient engagement demonstrates the value patients place on keeping connected with pharmacies and other healthcare providers from their homes through the Spencer smart hub.”
Strickland recently joined the company to expand relationships with pharmacies. Previously, he served as client success executive for EnlivenHealth, a division of Omnicell, a leading provider of medication management and adherence tools for healthcare systems and pharmacies. Strickland has also held leadership positions for specialty and retail pharmacies, including Fred’s, Walmart and Sam’s Club.
“Providing technology to support a broad range of services is important, but the true value of the Spencer smart hub is the relationship patients build with their healthcare providers,” said Spencer Health Solutions founder and Chief Executive Officer Tom Rhoads. “The high level of patient engagement is proof of the value patients place on those relationships.”
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