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RALEIGH, N.C. — Kerr Drug has retained its title as the top pharmacy chain in Outcomes Pharmaceutical Health Care’s national medication therapy management (MTM) network.
With this most recent recognition, Kerr has been named the top pharmacy chain by Outcomes, an MTM services company, for three consecutive years.
Last year Kerr pharmacists provided thousands of MTM services to Outcomes-covered patients, documenting over $5 million in estimated savings, $2 million more than they documented in 2008.
“Not only has Kerr Drug continued to lead the way in pharmacist-delivered MTM services, but they have also significantly improved their performance over previous years,” says Outcomes vice president Brand Newland. “While Kerr Drug has been recognized again in 2009, great opportunity exists in 2010.”
Stretching the boundaries of traditional pharmacy to promote community health and wellness is nothing new for Kerr, which operates about 90 stores in North Carolina. For instance, in mid-November, the company opened what it envisions as the pharmacy of the future: a facility in Chapel Hill that includes a full-service pharmacy, a health care center and a natural food department.
The store provides MTM reviews, has a community health coordinator and an ADA Diabetes Research Center, holds daily and weekly health events and seminars, and offers custom-made orthotics. The pharmacy is staffed by clinical pharmacists, and the natural food area — dubbed Naturally Kerr — offers organic and homeopathic products.
It also has a room for pharmacogenomics, the study of how a patient’s genes affect medication efficacy. The store’s clinical pharmacists, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina pharmacy school, will initially use pharmacogenomics to study how patients’ genes influence their response to Plavix. The results can lead to dosing revisions based on an individual’s unique genetic makeup.
And in early February, the drug chain’s Kerr Health subsidiary launched a new web site (kerrhealth.com) that provides entry portals for patients, caregivers, health care professionals and employers to access information and resources on specialty pharmacy, long-term care, wellness, care management and health intervention.
Kerr Health’s service areas encompass specialty pharmacy and individualized care for people with chronic conditions; care management, including health and wellness education and intervention services; and outsourced pharmacy and long-term care, including pharmacy services for skilled nursing, assisted living and independent living facilities.
