CAQH Releases Inaugural Pharmacy Services Index

For the past decade, the CAQH Index has tracked the adoption of electronic administrative transactions between medical and dental providers and payers. In that time, it has become an authoritative source of information on our nation’s progress toward a more automated and efficient healthcare system.

To provide a more complete view of the transition to electronic business processes across healthcare, in 2019 CAQH launched the Pharmacy Services Index, which tracks the adoption of electronic transactions associated with verifying insurance coverage for pharmaceuticals and related services, obtaining authorization for care, submitting a claim and sending and receiving payments.

The goals in studying administrative transactions in pharmacy services are twofold:

• The pharmacy sector accounts for approximately ten percent of total US healthcare spending. By pinpointing areas where automation is lagging, the CAQH Pharmacy Services Index can serve as a roadmap for reducing manual processes and administrative complexity further.
   
• Based on our initial research, a greater percentage of pharmacy-related transactions are conducted electronically compared to other healthcare sectors. By tracking trends among the pharmacy, medical and dental sectors, best practices can be identified and applied across the healthcare industry to drive down administrative costs

To read the 2019 Pharmacy Services Index, click here.