VA and Commercial IDN Partnerships in Pharmaceutical Care

Bottom Line:

By strategically collaborating with commercial Integrated Delivery Networks on pharmaceutical management, the VA is unlocking new cost efficiencies, accelerating research, and broadening access to life-improving therapies for veterans, while IDNs gain access to unique patient populations and invaluable data.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is strategically partnering with commercial Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) on pharmaceutical management. These collaborations are a powerful mechanism for unlocking new cost efficiencies and innovation. A partnership with the VA carries significant reputational capital including a clear commitment to national service and a direct contribution to the well-being of veterans.

For the VA, these alliances offer a conduit to offering veterans with access to a broader range of life-saving or life-improving therapies. The strategic inclusion of VA patients in IDN-led clinical research initiatives also accelerates the generation of real-world evidence for the VA patient population, thereby bringing promising treatments to the veteran population faster. Beyond these direct transactional benefits, these collaborations facilitate the exchange of best practices and granular data on medication prescribing patterns. This process refines pharmaceutical management strategies for both partners, fostering a culture of continuous improvement in care delivery.

Conversely, commercial IDNs derive strategic advantages from these collaborations. The VA’s patient base represents a large and complex demographic, offering IDNs expanded access to unique patient populations. The VA also offers a vast repository of longitudinal healthcare data, collected over decades, and provides an unparalleled resource for in-depth data analytics. A critical component of these collaborations often involves shared data analytics platforms, which combine de-identified data from both systems. This enables the identification of high-value clinical research opportunities, supports comparative effectiveness studies, and strengthens medication safety surveillance across both organizations that can yield new understandings of drug effectiveness, safety profiles, and population-level health trends. These insights subsequently enable IDNs to optimize their own pharmaceutical management strategies and enhance patient outcomes.

Some examples of how large, nationally recognized IDNs and academic health systems engage with the VA to strengthen pharmaceutical management, research, and patient care include:

Mayo Clinic	Collaboration Area: Clinical trials and real-world evidence. Example: The VA has partnered with Mayo Clinic on oncology research and precision medicine initiatives. This includes VA patients being enrolled in Mayo-led studies, giving both systems access to diverse patient data and outcomes.
Cleveland Clinic	Collaboration Area: Oncology and specialty pharmacy. Example: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center has collaborated with the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System on cancer trials and pharmaceutical management strategies, particularly in complex oncology regimens.
Kaiser Permanente	Collaboration Area: Population health & pharmacy management. Example: VA has collaborated with Kaiser on population-level studies and medication adherence initiatives, particularly in areas like diabetes and hypertension where both systems manage large patient cohorts.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center	Collaboration Area: Oncology and specialty pharmacy. Example: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center has collaborated with the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System on cancer trials and pharmaceutical management strategies, particularly in complex oncology regimens.
Intermountain Healthcare	Collaboration Area: Best practices in pharmacy-led care. Example: Intermountain and VA have jointly examined medication management strategies, leveraging Intermountain’s expertise in outcomes-based care and the VA’s vast longitudinal data.
Geisinger Health System	Collaboration Area: Data-driven prescribing & medication safety. Example: Geisinger’s reputation for data analytics and EHR integration made it a natural partner for VA projects focused on optimizing prescribing practices and identifying adverse drug events through shared analytics.

The operational models for these partnerships are diverse and designed to maximize mutual benefit. For example, the pharmacist exchange programs facilitate the sharing of specialized expertise and best practices in medication management between VA and IDN pharmacists. Additionally, joint educational programs are developed to improve medication adherence and patient understanding of their treatment regimens. This cross-pollination of knowledge enriches each workforce with unique experiences in care management.

The VA’s strategic partnerships with commercial IDNs in pharmaceutical management represent an impactful avenue for advancing healthcare. By systematically addressing the identified challenges that exist in both health systems through collaborative governance, transparent data-sharing protocols, and a shared commitment to patient-centric outcomes, these collaborations yield significant benefits for both veterans and the broader healthcare systems.