Stores Magazine - October 2007 - (Page 92) NUTS AND BOLTS / PHARMACY MANAGEMENT Community Outreach Kerr Drug strives to put the care back in health care BY LIZ PARKS R aleigh, N.C.-based Kerr Drug, a 102-unit chain of pharmacies that has won awards for what is often called its “visionary” approach to community health care, continues to implement a number of new technologies designed to enhance patient care and operational efficiencies. Kerr Drug is currently rolling out a pharmacy management system, McKesson Enterprise PMS, with a centralized database for patient, drug and physician information, as well as connectivity to its Relay Health communications network, which enables online consultations between physicians and pharmacists. Kerr also is participating in a number of emerging networks that connect pharmacists to physicians and working with a new technology developed by companies that are reimbursing Kerr pharmacists for providing patients with Through the CMTM electronic network, CCRX can identify plan members who are having medication problems and patients whose medications are not performing as well as expected. 92 STORES / OCTOBER 2007 medication therapy management (MTM) services. In partnership with Alexandria, Va.-based SureScripts, operator of the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, Kerr Drug is making it possible for patients to access their prescription histories even if a catastrophic incident such as a hurricane destroys the records at their local store. Since June, Kerr Drug patients taking cardiovascular medications have been able to securely access and download their own medication history utilizing a Personal HealthKey, part of a program involving SureScripts and CapMed, a provider of interactive patient outreach solutions. To focus specifically on medication therapy management initiatives, in 2005 Kerr Drug became the first drug chain to participate in CommunityMTM, a new electronic MTM health service network. As a secure web-based software service, CMTM links Kerr pharmacists with Alexandria, Va.-based Community Care Rx (CCRX), one of the nation’s largest Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now requires all prescription drug plans such as CCRX to provide an MTM program to patients who meet certain criteria.) The CMTM service provides an electronic standard to facilitate the secure electronic transmission of medication therapy management data and reimbursements between CCRX and participating pharmacists, says Mark Gregory, vice president of pharmacy and government relations for Kerr Drug. CCRX has one million Medicare beneficiaries and more than 60,000 pharmacies in its network and covers all but two of the top 100 WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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