Client Overview

MUSC Health is the clinical delivery arm of the Medical University of South Carolina [MUSC]. The $4B health system is comprised of a large academic medical center, seven regional community hospitals, a dedicated children’s hospital, an NCI designated cancer center, hundreds of ambulatory clinics, and numerous community hospital affiliations. MUSC’s $710M Pharmacy department spans the system with services supporting both inpatient and ambulatory settings – its Specialty Pharmacy division was the focus of our work.

 

The Challenge

MUSC Health’s Specialty Pharmacy [SP] supports patients with serious health conditions that require complex medications and therapies. The SP team had effectively managed the highly regulated area and grown revenues and contribution margin; however, they were only offering services in a limited number of clinics. While SP leaders believed there was an opportunity to grow further, they had insufficient resources to expand and needed help to creating a viable business plan.

 

 

The Solution

KCG partnered with Pharmacy leadership to assess its SP operations, creating recommendations for optimization as well as a successful business plan that enabled SP to increase its investment and grow revenue >50% year-over-year in FY22.

Optimization of Current Clinics

  • Staffing: Assessed clinic staffing to ensure # of pharmacists and technicians aligned with patient and SP prescription volumes
  • Capture rate: Analyzed SP prescription orders vs dispensed metrics to develop clinic-specific action plans to increase capture rate
  • System support: Recommended transitioning contract management and revenue cycle activities to health system operations

Growth / Expansion Opportunities

  • New specialties: Developed priority list of specialties not currently covered by SP, considering # of SP prescriptions written, complexity of cases and potential margin
  • Regional hospitals: Identified opportunity to expand operations to support smaller, regional hospitals, offering patients access to SP medication in the convenience of their local market
  • Infrastructure: Developed a successful business case and ROI to secure 16 additional FTEs to staff additional clinics

 

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About the Author
Chrissie Hamilton
Manager

Chrissie Hamilton, Manager, joined KCG in Fall 2018. Her experience and interests align with engagements that drive operational or financial efficiencies and improvements. Notable projects include: the redesign of a client’s process and structure for completing its operating budget and the development of a strategic investment fund for a health system to invest in core initiatives and programs.

Prior to KCG, Hamilton spent six years in commercial banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Washington, DC area. As a Portfolio Management Officer, she was responsible for underwriting credit requests for a portfolio exceeding $900 million in loan commitments. Her clients covered both the public and private sector and spanned across various industries. Collaborating with her team, Hamilton worked with clients to understand their credit needs and deliver solutions to help meet their business goals.

Hamilton earned an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a BS in Business Administration from Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.