URAC names CVS Caremark drug management program awards finalist

WOONSOCKET, R.I. CVS Caremark’s Drug Therapy Management program has been selected by independent accrediting organization URAC as a finalist in its Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards competition.

URAC will honor CVS Caremark and other finalists at the URAC 2009 Best Practices Conference & Exhibit on April 1 and 2 in Orlando, Fla.

“The Best Practices Awards and Conference provide a unique opportunity for leaders in health care management to learn what premier companies are doing to advance consumer protection and empowerment,” said Alan Spielman, URAC’s president and chief executive officer. “It is a one-of-a-kind conference, designed to inspire the industry as a whole to rapidly adopt proven practices that advance patient safety and empower consumers with improved decision-making tools.”

According to CVS Caremark, the goal of the CVS Caremark Drug Therapy Management program is to improve the outcome of drug therapy by providing patients with access to specially trained clinical pharmacists for one-on-one medication counseling. Patients who are taking multiple medications who have prescriptions from a number of different health care providers are invited to participate in an individualized counseling session with a clinical pharmacist to review their pharmacy health needs and identify any potential issues with compliance, efficacy, dosing and interactions. 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 the telephone with their assigned clinical pharmacist.

“The Drug Therapy Management program provides patients with personalized support from a clinical pharmacist who tracks their pharmacy health care needs and ensures coordinated communication and care between the patient and their health care providers,” said Elaine Manieri, vice president of clinical product management for CVS Caremark. “This program is another example of how CVS Caremark applies our Proactive Pharmacy Care approach in our interactions with patients to enable them to have the information they need to make educated choices about their pharmacy health care.”