The University of Wyoming has been selected to provide Drug Utilization Review (WY-DUR)
services to the state of Wyoming through a competitive bidding process administered
by the Wyoming Department of Health. Members of the P and T Committee, pictured at
their May meeting, from left, are: Committee Vice Chair David Sy, Committee Chair
Robert Monger, Program Manager Aimee Lewis and ex-officio member Cori Cooper. (Laura
Miller Photo)
The University of Wyoming has been selected to provide Drug Utilization Review (WY-DUR)
services to the state of Wyoming through a competitive bidding process administered
by the Wyoming Department of Health.
The university has provided WY-DUR services through the School of Pharmacy for more
than 25 years. The outcome of the current bidding process results in the continuation
of this service through UW for another five-year period.
“We are excited about the opportunity to continue to serve patients and providers
in Wyoming for another five years,” says WY-DUR Program Manager Aimee Lewis. “We are
proud to continue as the only provider of DUR services for Wyoming Medicaid since
inception of the program in 1992.”
The mission of the WY-DUR program is to enhance the quality of patient care by assuring
appropriate drug therapy and optimal patient outcomes, and by providing education
for health care providers. To accomplish this, WY-DUR maintains a Pharmacy and Therapeutics
(P&T) Committee made up of pharmacists, physicians and nurse practitioners from around
the state. The P&T Committee meets quarterly, and WY-DUR produces a quarterly newsletter
to keep providers and stakeholders informed on their proceedings.
Criteria and standards for drug therapy are developed by the P&T Committee using peer-reviewed
literature, compendia, guidelines obtained from professional groups and health care
providers, and data and experience obtained through the WY-DUR program. The committee
accomplishes this by using a consensus process that allows for public comment prior
to adoption. The cost of drug therapy also is considered once the relevant clinical
and patient considerations are addressed.
WY-DUR faces the unique challenge of understanding and serving the needs of providers
in a rural state. These challenges include provider shortages and long distances between
providers. WY-DUR works to create public comment processes that allow all providers
to participate and to design educational programs that will reach as many providers
as possible.
An advantage that comes with administering the program through the School of Pharmacy
is the access that the Department of Health has to the faculty in the School of Pharmacy
and the College of Health Sciences. This arrangement also provides the School of Pharmacy
with a unique understanding of the needs of providers in a rural state like Wyoming.
“The new five-year contract is an important part of the School of Pharmacy’s population
health activities for the state of Wyoming,” says School of Pharmacy Dean Kem Krueger.
“This is indeed a significant outreach activity to providers and patients across Wyoming.”
