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Rx care redefined at CVS Caremark
SAN FRANCISCO — CVS Caremark Corp. detailed the first phase of its “Proactive Pharmacy Care” model in a panel discussion at America’s Health Insurance Plans Institute 2008 here.
The presentation, “Improving the Value of Health Care by Redefining the Consumer Experience,” enumerated ways in which health plans can take a proactive approach to consumer health in order to consistently deliver the lowest overall cost and drive positive health outcomes.
Proactive Pharmacy Care, which CVS Caremark recently implemented chainwide, has a number of elements to improve patient engagement in managing prescription therapies. These include counseling for new-to-therapy patients to encourage compliance, and adherence outreach calls from pharmacies urging lapsed patients to restart treatment. The program also comprises automated call reminders to patients to refill prescriptions.
Proactive Pharmacy Care also addresses rising costs with a variety of new initiatives. Under one provision customers on maintenance medications have the option of paying mail-order rates/co-payments for 90-day medication supplies at any CVS outlet.
Also, an ExtraCare Health card will offer an additional 20% discount on flexible spending account–eligible CVS branded items and the opportunity to earn special offers and discounts tailored to cardholders’ health care needs.
Panel participants from CVS Caremark included vice president of marketing Bari Harlam, vice president of market strategy Asif Ally, vice president of analytics and outcomes Julie Slezak, and vice president of health services Mitch Betses .
“We are redefining the pharmacy continuum of care,” says Betses. “As a combined retail pharmacy and PBM, we can serve as a true pharmacy home to complement and support the medical home.
“Proactive Pharmacy Care enables us to inform and engage consumers in ways that are personalized, convenient and accessible so that we can positively impact health outcomes.”
CVS Caremark research shows that as many as 30% of people who fill a “new to therapy” maintenance prescription will decide to discontinue taking that medication before their first refill is due.
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