CVS Caremark receives honor from URAC

WOONSOCKET, R.I. Health care accreditation organization, URAC, has honored CVS Caremark with Platinum honors for Consumer Health Improvement, CVS Caremark stated on Thursday.

The honor was announced at the 2009 Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards Gala in Orlando, Fla. on April 1 to 2.

CVS Caremark was honored for its Drug Therapy Management program, which was developed to improve the outcome of drug therapy by providing patients with access to specialty trained clinical pharmacists for one-on-one medication counseling. Once enrolled in the program, an electronic record is developed and kept up-to-date for the patient, along with an individualized care plan and regular follow-up appointments via phone with their assigned clinical pharmacist.

"The Drug Therapy Management program provides those patients with complex pharmacy needs with access to personalized support from a clinical pharmacist who ensures coordinated communication and care between the patient and their health care providers," stated Howard McClure, president CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services. "This program is another concrete example of how CVS Caremark applies our Proactive Pharmacy Care approach to engage the patients we support in their pharmacy health care and provide them with the information they need to make educated choices."

A 27-member panel of independent judges - including experts in program evaluation, care coordination, health information technology, employer and purchaser decision making, and patient safety - evaluated 70 submissions.

Honors were awarded in six categories: Health Plans and Health Networks, Health Management, Health Information/Decision Support, Pharmacy Quality Management, Consumer Decision-Making and Consumer Health Improvement.