CVS Caremark discusses role of health IT to optimize pharmacy health care

WOONSOCKET, R.I. CVS Caremark highlighted its Proactive Pharmacy Care approach during a discussion on health IT at the HIMSS09 Annual Conference & Exhibition this weekend in Chicago.

At the conference, Helena Foulkes, EVP at CVS Caremark, outlined how the company is evaluating and leveraging a variety of technologies to engage consumers and positively impact health outcomes and lower costs.

Her presentation, titled "Proactive Pharmacy Care: Leveraging Technology for Improved Outcomes," took place on April 5 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

"In today's wired world, consumers are exposed to a lot of information about their healthcare options from a variety of sources and in a number of different formats," Foulkes stated. "Given the complexities of the healthcare system in general, this fragmented approach can leave consumers confused and unsure about what they need to do to stay healthy. CVS Caremark's Proactive Pharmacy Care approach leverages a number of different technology tools to engage and educate our patients and their healthcare providers about their pharmacy health care needs earlier in the process."

Foulkes discussed how CVS Caremark implements technology to enhance health care outcomes and how the combination of health technology and customized face-to-face interaction can positively impact medication compliance and engage consumers in their own health care. The technologies Foulkes reviewed in her presentation include tools to help improve medication compliance, e-prescribing, electronic health records, and a proprietary tool to help CVS Caremark prioritize interventions and allow for timely, coordinated patient-specific health improvement and cost-savings opportunities.