Health Care Innovation Awards: University of Southern California Project Profile

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Project Title: "Integrating clinical pharmacy services in safety-net clinics"
Geographic Reach: California
Funding Amount: $12,007,677
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $43,716,000

Summary

The University of Southern California aims to improve healthcare quality, enhance medication safety, and reduce overall healthcare costs for high-risk, underserved populations. These aims will be achieved by: 1) integrating comprehensive clinical pharmacy services in patient-centered medical homes, and 2) spreading the services to other organizations through workforce development and web-based two-way communication.

The model is serving the underserved and vulnerable populations of Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, and Garden Grove. The selected area represents the epicenter of uncontrolled chronic disease - almost half the population is foreign born and 47% of the population lives below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Providing comprehensive medication management and drug safety protocols to these chronically-ill populations is expected to reduce overall treatment costs and achieve net cost savings.

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