LAS VEGAS, March 05, 2012 - At the IMS Managed Markets Services/Data Niche Conference in Las Vegas on March 1, Walgreens National Medical Director Robert London, M.D., outlined how Walgreens research has demonstrated the ability of face-to-face pharmacy and Take Care ClinicSM programs to drive better health outcomes across a number of conditions and disease states. Dr. London also highlighted the benefits of these types of programs for the Medicaid population in particular.
In his presentation titled, “Leveraging a New Delivery Paradigm to Improve Quality in the Medicaid Population,” Dr. London discussed why traditional disease management efforts have shown to be lacking. He then highlighted the advantages that the new offerings provided by Walgreens have shown, including:
- The ability of Walgreens face-to-face pharmacy and Take Care Clinic programs to improve Stars and HEDIS quality scores through customized patient education, increased patient access to clinicians and improved physician coordination.
- The impact of pharmacist-led intervention programs for diabetes patients, which through face-to-face counseling have been found in a recent study to drive a statistically significant reduction in levels for A1C, blood pressure and LDL.
- The impact of community pharmacy on influenza immunizations, where a recent retrospective study showed that in 2009-10, more than one-third of Walgreens flu immunizations were administered in pharmacies located in medically underserved areas (MUAs). In states with the largest MUAs, Walgreens provided up to 77 percent of its flu shots in MUAs.
- The effect of pharmacists educating at-risk patients on the importance of receiving a pneumococcal vaccination. The study found 4.88 percent of the at-risk population immunized for pneumococcal disease, compared with 2.90 percent of at-risk patients in a traditional care benchmark population. The difference is an increase of 68 percent over benchmark.
“The power of pharmacist and nurse practitioner-led, face-to-face programs is clearly demonstrated,” said Dr. London. “Whether delivered through a community pharmacy, retail clinic or worksite health center, these interactions allow for an individualized approach to disease management while meaningfully improving health outcomes.
“The Medicaid population in particular stands to benefit from these types of outcomes-driven, face-to-face programs. With a huge expansion in the Medicaid eligible population looming, cost control becomes even more important. It will be vital to find solutions such as those offered by Walgreens to help improve patient health while ultimately reducing costs.”
Dr. London was named Walgreens national medical director in October 2011. Previously, he served as senior vice president of health care management at Anthem West, Chief Operating Officer at United Healthcare, Chief Medical Officer at the TriZetto Group and Chief Medical Officer at ikaSystems, Inc.
The three-day IMS conference took place Feb. 29 through March 2 and covered topics including health care reform, contracting, rebates and validation.
About Walgreens
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion. The company operates 7,830 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.
for Walgreens
Dan Zacchei, 212-446-1882
DZacchei@sloanepr.com
http://news.walgreens.com