In 2008 GHA was hired by the Maine Veteran’s Homes (MVH) to provide pharmacy consulting services. The scope of work involved around creating the clinical, financial and business case for the creation of an “In-House” pharmacy.

GHA’s clinical staff of pharmacists, physicians and analysts evaluated the full range of potential pharmacy services to be delivered, including potential cost savings opportunities by directly supplying residents with prescription medications through an MVH-owned pharmacy using discounted pricing available to Veteran’s Homes. Pharmacy expenditures from previous years were reviewed, pharmacy data, including average prices paid per prescription, annual volume and type of scripts, were examined and forecasted, wholesale acquisition options were examined, and a business model was constructed showing anticipated revenue, costs, margins and cash-flow requirements. A final set of recommendations were delivered to the MVH management team, which were then discussed in detail in a follow-up meeting.

GHA’s strengths in understanding current pharmacy best practices and current pharmacy reimbursement strategies were utilized to assess industry pricing challenges as well as the one-time and on-going costs of establishing a pharmacy. GHA consultants are consistently focused on implementing strategies for best practice management which can result in cost-savings and/or service efficiencies for our clients. Our consultants understand pharmacy billing policies and how systems are evolving so that we can focus our analysisin order to continue to provide the best possible recommendations. It is vital that prior to investing in the establishment of an in-house pharmacy a comprehensive return-on-investment analysis is undertaken as well as an assessment for future trends in the industry and potential growth.