Financial analysis of cardiovascular wellness program provided to self-insured company from pharmaceutical care provider's perspective

Objectives: To perform a retrospective financial analysis on the implementation of a self-insured company's wellness program from the pharmaceutical care provider's perspective and conduct sensitivity analyses to estimate costs versus revenues for pharmacies without resident pharmacists, program implementation for a second employer, the second year of the program, and a range of pharmacist wages. Design: Cost-benefit and sensitivity analyses. Setting: Self-insured employer with headquarters in Canton, N.C. Patients: 36 employees at facility in Clinton, Iowa. Interventions: Pharmacist-provided cardiovascular wellness program. Main Outcome Measures: Costs and revenues collected from pharmacy records, including pharmacy purchasing records, billing records, and pharmacists' time estimates. Methods: All costs and revenues were calculated for the development and first year of the intervention program. Costs included initial and follow-up screening supplies, office supplies, screening/ group presentation time, service provision time, documentation/preparation time, travel expenses, claims submission time, and administrative fees. Revenues included initial screening revenues, follow-up screening revenues, group session revenues, and Heart Smart program revenues. Results: For the development and first year of Heart Smart, net benefit to the pharmacy (revenues minus costs) amounted to $2,413. All sensitivity analyses showed a net benefit. For pharmacies without a resident pharmacist, the net benefit was $106; for Heart Smart in a second employer, the net benefit was $6,024; for the second year, the projected net benefit was $6,844; factoring in a lower pharmacist salary, the net benefit was $2,905; and for a higher pharmacist salary, the net benefit was $1,265. Conclusion: For the development and first year of Heart Smart, the revenues of the wellness program in a self-insured company out weighed the costs.