Medco brings SOCRxATES program to New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions is implementing a program in New Mexico designed to close such medication-related gaps in health care as nonadherence among state employees with chronic conditions, the company said Wednesday.

Medco announced that it had brought its SOCRxATES program to the state, under a collaboration with the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, the New Mexico Pharmacists Association and several state authorities, including the State of New Mexico General Services Department, Risk Management Division, New Mexico Retiree Health Care Authority, New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority and Albuquerque Public Schools. It originally launched the program in Illinois in 2009.

Medco found through research that more than 1,800 state employees, retirees and their dependents with chronic or complex conditions were not taking all the medicines they needed to stay healthy or following their doctors’ instructions.

“The SOCRxATES program addresses several vital aspects of real healthcare reform,” Medco chief medical officer Glen Stettin said. “It transforms traditional competitors into collaborators; creates a partnership across private business, public employers and local colleges of pharmacy; and leverages advanced pharmacy technology to efficiently identify and effectively close gaps in care for patients who are suffering chronic and complex conditions — patients who account for 96% of all drug costs and 75% of all medical spending.”