Long-Term Care

This course provides an introduction to the long-term care market in the United States and describes the particular medical needs and concerns of patients requiring long-term care. It also describes the types of facilities and services that provide this type of care. In addition, this course describes the financial arrangements that are used to pay for long-term care, including government programs, private insurance coverage, and managed care programs. Key strategies that a healthcare representative can adopt in approaching this market are also described.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to describe trends in the growth of long-term care; identify current demographic elements including the increasing population of the elderly and chronic diseases; describe how long-term care is paid for including Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies; discuss how patient characteristics and treatment goals are affected by pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in the elderly; explain the types of institutional and community-based facilities; and discuss the current role of the healthcare representative in long-term care. 

Who Should Take This Course

Sales representatives and managers who interact with those healthcare providers and others who work in long-term care settings. 

Career Applications/Benefits

The long-term care market in this country is growing rapidly for several reasons, but most importantly because the population of elderly persons in the United States is increasing dramatically. Therefore, long-term care represents an important opportunity for pharmaceutical sales. Most of the drugs prescribed in this setting are for common conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, pain relief, and infectious disease. This course will help individuals to effectively approach the long-term care market. Information provided in this course will help individuals to identify appropriate targets for sales calls and to present the appropriate features and benefits of products based on the unique patient populations, staffing, and reimbursement policies for each long-term care setting.

Chapter Content 

Chapter One: Long-Term Care Patient Population

  • Introduction to Long-Term Care
  • Patient Population
  • Pharmacotherapy and Long-Term Care Patients

Chapter Two: Long-Term Care Providers and Settings

  • The Continuum of Long-Term Care
  • Long-Term Care in the Institutional Setting
  • Long-Term Care in the Community
  • Long-Term Care Pharmacies

Chapter Three: Financing Long-Term Care

  • Government Programs
  • Private Long-Term Care Insurance

Chapter Four: Selling in the Long-Term Care Market

  • Role of the Healthcare Representative in the Long-Term Care Market

Course Consultants 

William Simonson, PharmD, FASCP, CGP
Independent Consultant Pharmacist
Past President of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists
Immediate Past Chair for Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy
Suffolk, Virginia

Richard G. Stefanacci, DO, MGH, MBA, AGSF, CMD
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
Course:
BUS-405
Credits:
3
Edition:
Fourth
Program(s):
CMR

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