Pharmacy technician helps heart transplant patient save $12,000

Rattana Hofeling, an advanced pharmacy technician in the Heart Failure and Transplant Clinic at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT, understands she can make a lasting impact on a patient’s life through her day-to-day work.?

When patients go through the Heart Failure and Transplant Clinic, it’s understood they’ll be regular patients for the rest of their lives. Diagnoses are life-long and can be taxing emotionally, physically, and financially.?

As an advanced pharmacy technician, Rattana’s role can’t be understated. During routine appointments, which include vaccinations, workups, and an overall health check, pharmacy technicians ensure patients are taking important medications and aren’t experiencing any barriers to life-saving medications as part of their overall care.?

So, when Dave, a heart failure patient at the clinic, came in for his biannual appointment, it wasn’t different than any other day for Rattana.??

“He was just on my list to get a medication reconciliation done,” she said. “From what we were able to pull from the fill history, I noticed one of his important medications, even though it was on the list, wasn't being filled. I was worried he wasn’t taking it.”?

During their consultation, Rattana asked Dave about this medication and realized he’d been paying for it out of pocket.??

“The insurance wouldn't pay for it because it's a diabetic drug, but it’s also used for heart failure, which I have,” said Dave. “She said, ‘No no, no — I'm going to go fix this’ and spent a day and a half on the phones until she got it done.”?

Rattana knew she could help Dave and went to work calling the insurance company and commercial pharmacy.?

She realized Dave had been paying out of pocket for 14 months for a total of over $12,000. She coached the commercial pharmacy on how to submit an override and give a 90-day backfill reimbursement and even helped with paperwork to get the rest of his reimbursement and ensure a zero-dollar?payment for the year.?

“It was important, at least for me personally,” said Rattana. “Cost is one of the biggest hurdles we run into with our heart failure patients. They already have a lot of medical expenses with having to see the doctors and specialists as often as they do. If a patient isn’t taking their medication because they can't afford it, they're going to go into heart failure, or we'll have more hospitalizations.”?

Through her vast experience, rapport with community health providers outside of the Intermountain network, and understanding of preventative care, Rattana truly embodied helping Dave live his healthiest life possible.?

“She didn't have to do that since she was just doing a routine check,” said Dave. “You guys are truly the best. It makes me realize that not only do you care about my heart because that's your job, but you care about me as a person.”?

Rattana wants all caregivers to remember they make a difference. “As a pharmacy tech, you're kind of the last man on the totem pole,” she said. “But we can make big differences in our patients' lives. I feel that we’re a bridge between the pharmacy, the doctors, and the patient to help them bring them all together.”?

This is just one example of many times our pharmacy teams have worked with patients, payers, and other pharmacies to dramatically reduce the financial impact of life-saving medications. Caregivers consistently demonstrate that we are partners in health, we consistently do the right thing, and we are trusted resources to our patients and communities.?