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ROCHESTER, N.Y. — PharmaSmart International Inc. has introduced its next-generation biometric kiosk, the Model PS2000 Destination, following a pilot at Mariano’s, a Chicago-area food and drug chain.
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A pharmacy patient uses the PharmaSmart PS2000 biometric kiosk at a Mariano’s store. |
PharmaSmart said Wednesday that the PS2000 Destination is designed to help consumers monitor hypertension, obesity and diabetes.
The device measures left and right arm blood pressure, weight and body mass index (BMI), and it’s equipped with the option to upload patient glucose data. Patients get a printed ticket that displays blood pressure, blood sugar and BMI results, in less than three minutes. Patient data is also uploaded to a HIPAA/PIPEDA-compliant cloud server, where the data is made available to partner clinical systems, including major pharmacy software systems, physician EMR systems, PHR’s and consumer mobile devices.
The kiosk also features an interactive multimedia platform, compatibility with loyalty cards, couponing and the ability to provide virtual education on hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
"PharmaSmart has impressed us in recent years with important innovations in clinical accuracy and health IT," George Kowalski, vice president of pharmacy for Mariano’s parent Roundy’s Inc., said in a statement. "Because of their track record, we elected to pilot the new PharmaSmart PS2000 Destination kiosk inside one of our newest locations. We can see with this new release, PharmaSmart further enhances the patient experience and expands the clinical reach for our pharmacists."
Mariano’s operates 28 supermarkets, including 24 with pharmacies, in the Chicagoland metropolitan area. Overall, Roundy’s operates 148 retail grocery stores and 97 pharmacies under the Pick ‘n Save, Copps, Metro Market and Mariano’s banners in Wisconsin and Illinois.
"We see the PharmaSmart kiosk as a unique opportunity for Mariano’s pharmacists to incorporate validated biometric screening into our workflow, as it can positively influence a patient’s therapeutic outcome," Kowalski added. "This opens up important new clinical opportunities for revenue and empowers our pharmacists to go beyond conventional practice scenarios."
Ashton Maaraba, chief operating officer at PharmaSmart, called the pilot at Mariano’s "a tremendous success" and said the PS2000 Destination not only bolsters PharmaSmart’s product portfolio but also its clinical standing.
"We remain focused on delivering both a high-quality brand and revenue from easy-to-administer clinical services to all clients. We are grateful to clients such as Mariano’s for their commitment to deliver quality health care services by relying on the PharmaSmart brand," Maaraba stated.
"Pharmacy leaves millions of dollars on the table every year. Every interaction patients have with a clinically qualified kiosk is an opportunity to drive clinical services," he noted. "To convert this opportunity, pharmacies need an easy-to-use, reliable kiosk supported by clinically validated, peer-reviewed science. The entire process must be integrated into pharmacist workflow. Our product manufacturing, health IT and PS DataSmart data mining platform is earning the support of payers, providers and Big Pharma."
PharmaSmart said its PS DataSmart health IT database currently holds more than 30 million targeted patient blood pressure readings.
