Profiles in Medical Excellence
Pharmacy choices keep patients from harm
Just because a drug has a broadly advertised brand name doesn’t mean it’s right for the Group Health formulary. Our Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee weighs the research and evidence on about 50 drugs each year. These include new medicines as well as older drugs that have been FDA-approved for new uses. All must meet the burden of proof that they are effective and safe before they are included in our formulary. read more>>
Committee Chair Bruce Wilson, MD says the most important question he and his colleagues ask is whether a new drug with unknown long-term effects will create better overall health for members. “We like to take a very thorough look at the evidence of safety and effectiveness. The full extent of outcomes and safety are proven over time, in large populations,” he says.
“Often, the long-term effects of a drug won’t appear in the timeframes and test population sizes that the FDA requires to get approval. That’s why we tend to be conservative about drugs that don’t have a long track record, especially when there are good alternatives.”
Group Health is renowned for diabetes management, and has been careful in choosing medications to help our members control their blood sugar levels. Recent FDA warnings about harmful side effects from several well-known diabetes medications are a reminder that waiting for long-term evidence keeps thousands of our members from unnecessary harm.
The 15-member Pharmacy & Therapeutics committee includes Group Health and contracted network physicians, pharmacists, and a consumer to represent the views of Group Health members.
“Our ultimate responsibility is to members—to their health and safety,” says Dr. Wilson. “We want our work to be transparent to our members, and we want them to know we’re making pharmaceutical decisions as practicing doctors.”
A cover story featuring Group Health's Jim Carlson, PharmD, director of Pharmacy Clinical & Health Plan Services, is included in the October issue of Pharmacy Today, a publication of the American Pharmacist Association.
The article focuses on Carlson’s role in the development of Group Health’s evidence-based approach to selecting medications for its formulary. Carlson helped introduce the evidence-based focus about 20 years ago.
We've always understood the benefits of opening our doors as a learning system, Last year our teaching clinicians and trainers logged over 22,500 student hours and 5,600 teaching hours with visiting physicians, fellows, and residents; students from PA and midwifery schools; and with pre-med student shadows from many different programs. read more>>
David Kauff, MD, Medical Director for Practice and Leadership Development believes that our teaching scope will only keep growing. “As our national reputation grows, more and more people want to learn from our doctors in our system.”
This work strengthens our ability to recruit the best clinicians to work as Group Health Physicians. “As a doctor, teaching the next generation of providers is professionally satisfying and fun,” adds Kauff. “It reminds you of everything you know, what you don’t know, and reaffirms why we chose this profession.”
Interest in Group Health’s Family Medicine Residency is at an all time high. Today, about 70 percent of our residents choose permanent positions with Group Health Physicians.
by Amber D.
Sports medicine physician William Huff, MD
I drove to see Dr. Huff for my noisy knees. For their continued, increasing cricking and cracking and popping, for the worry that all the invisible pieces of mysterious matter floating around in the space around my kneecap are bits of bone that have flaked off like chunks of ice caps with no place to go.
The truth is, I've been grinding down the "what ifs." What if there comes a day when I can't run. What if the pain returns. What if I can't dance or jump or play. What if I have kids one day and I have to limp after them. So I sat on the tissue paper in the examination room with Dr. Huff and his kind eyes, telling him my concerns, and he listened. And then he looked at my knees and listened to them, too... read more
