University of Florida

• Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, 1989 – Auburn University Consultant Pharmacist (C.Ph.)
  

Mary Kay Owens is president and principal consultant for Southeastern Consultants, Inc., a national pharmacy and health care consulting firm. SEC provides services to government agencies, private health plans, academic institutions, pharmaceutical industry, and professional health care associations in areas such as disease management, pharmacoeconomic/outcome studies, pharmacy benefit management, claims data analysis, and Medicaid reimbursement, policy compliance, and auditing.

Ms. Owens holds a clinical affiliate faculty position at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Health Care Administration and served as a consultant to the Florida Center for Medicaid Issues, a health policy analysis and research institute affiliated with the University of Florida College of Health Professions. Ms. Owens also served on the Mercer University National Medicaid Advisory Board and recently served on the Florida Medicaid Reform Advisory Commission.

Ms. Owens formerly served as the Director of the 1.8 million-member Florida Medicaid Drug Utilization Review (DUR) Program and served as a senior health care claims investigator and reimbursement policy auditor within the Florida Medicaid Agency for Health Care Administration. She served a three-year term on the American Drug Utilization Review steering committee and formerly served as the committee’s national chairperson.

Mary Kay routinely presents at regional, state, and national forums for Medicaid officials, legislators, associations, and patient advocacy groups. The goals are to examine the demographic trends and utilization drivers in Medicaid populations including the implications for states of the MMA Part D benefit. Other topics include medical and pharmacy data mining and analysis techniques used to conduct predictive modeling, health outcome studies, and develop targeted disease and case management strategies in fee-for-service and managed care settings. Analyzing and interpreting the relationships between pharmacy costs and other medical costs are a primary focus of the forums. In addition, she routinely presents to various national health care audiences on Medicaid preferred drug list development, reimbursement policies, pharmacy benefit management in special populations, and disease/case management program development and implementation.

Mary Kay joined with the American Managed Care Pharmacy Association as the author of “Medicaid Pharmacy Benefit Management” published in the textbook Managed Care Pharmacy Practice, now in nationwide distribution. She also authors health care policy and issue briefs, pharmacy journal articles, and provides content for CD-ROM educational products and Internet sites.

Selected Publications :

• Owens, Mary Kay, R.Ph., C.Ph., “State Medicaid Resource Kit: Maintaining Quality and Patient Access to Innovative Pharmaceuticals in Challenging Economic Times,” National Pharmaceutical Council, Reston, Virginia, October 2004.
• Mary Kay Owens, R.Ph., C.Ph. and Linda Schofield, BSN, MPH, “State Medicaid Program Issues: Preferred Drugs Lists – Conducting a Cost Benefit Analysis,” National Pharmaceutical Council, Reston, Virginia, July 2004.
• Owens, Mary Kay, R.Ph., C.Ph., “State Medicaid Program Issues: Preferred Drugs Lists,” National Pharmaceutical Council, Reston, Virginia, December 2003.
• Owens, Mary Kay, R.Ph., C.Ph., Medicaid 101: An Educational Program for State Legislators [CD-ROM] National Pharmaceutical Council, 2003.
• Owens, M.K., R.Ph., C.Ph., “Medicaid Pharmacy Benefit Management,” in Robert P. Navarro, Managed Care Pharmacy Practice, Aspen Publishers, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, 1999, pp. 245 – 268.
• Mary Kay Owens, “Practice Forum,” Florida Pharmacy Today, statewide professional journal of the Florida Pharmacy Association, 1997-98. Articles included a five-part summary series on NIH HIV/AIDS Principles of Therapy and Treatment Guidelines.