ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Astrup Drug Stores has deployed a clinical solution that gives its pharmacists ready access to patient data from PharmaSmart International blood pressure kiosks.
PharmaSmart said Monday that Astrup, with 19 stores in Minnesota and Iowa, is using a solution that integrates its kiosks with the Rx30 pharmacy management system from Transaction Data Systems.
"PharmaSmart and Rx30 have teamed up to deliver a breakthrough in pharmacy care," Tim Gallagher, chief operating officer at Austin, Minn.-based Astrup, said in a statement. "Our pharmacists now have access to live, validated biometrics for all enrolled patients, all within standard pharmacy workflow. Because of the workflow-friendly design, the program can scale and be sustained. This is hard to achieve with disease management programs."
Besides Astrup, PharmaSmart has its blood pressure kiosks at 6,000 locations, including retail pharmacies such as Kinney Drugs, Bartell Drugs, Coborn’s, Nash Finch, Roundy’s, Associated Food Stores, Leader, Good Neighbor, Winn-Dixie, Big Y Foods, Harmons Grocery, Walmart Canada, Safeway Canada, Loblaws, Jean Coutu, Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall and Lawtons. The PharmaSmart PS Data Smart Health IT database stores more than 16 million targeted patient blood pressure readings.
"Rx30’s integration with PharmaSmart delivers validated patient biometrics directly within Rx30, allowing pharmacists to target not just adherence but actual clinical outcomes," Steve Wubker, president of Transaction Data Systems, stated about his company’s data integration partnership with PharmaSmart.
PharmaSmart also announced Monday that its blood pressure program was recently validated in two new, independent scientific studies.
The company said the December 2012 issue of Blood Pressure Monitoring featured a survey titled, "Are Kiosk Blood Pressure Readings Trustworthy?" The peer-reviewed survey recognized PharmaSmart as the only blood pressure kiosk device to produce evidence of compliance with the AAMI/ISO international accuracy standard, according to the company.
Another independent study, published on Jan. 9 in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, evaluated more than 8.4 million PharmaSmart blood pressure readings from 341 pharmacy locations. PharmaSmart said the researchers cited the public health opportunity presented by its blood pressure program. The researchers wrote that "approximately two-thirds of results obtained are elevated" and that "this may present a unique and important opportunity for the early detection of hypertension (or poorly controlled hypertension) in the community, particularly among individuals who do not regularly present to a physician."
PharmaSmart Clinical Director Mark Gelfer commented, "PharmaSmart has altered the scope of what a public-use blood pressure kiosk can deliver. They have combined peer-reviewed proof of accuracy, a cuff that accommodates nearly all adults, and an interoperable health IT platform that integrates the patient with their care team."
