Specialty Renal Pharmacy Delivers One Millionth Prescription

[okarol]

Press Release   Source: DaVita Inc.

Specialty Renal Pharmacy Delivers One Millionth Prescription
Wednesday August 27, 12:38 pm ET
DaVita Rx brings convenience and personalized care to dialysis patients nationwide

DALLAS, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DaVita Inc., a leading provider of kidney care services, announced today that its specialty renal pharmacy, DaVita Rx(SM), will deliver its one millionth prescription. The prescription will be filled today during a special celebration at DaVita Rx headquarters in Dallas. DaVita® Senior Vice President Gina Randolph and DaVita Vice President of Clinical Support Services Dr. David Van Wyck are on hand while the prescription is packaged for distribution.

DaVita Rx is a pharmacy specializing in the needs of people on dialysis, offering the convenience of dialysis center delivery service at no additional cost along with personalized care to make sure patients are able to receive and take all the medications they need. The Dallas location is its flagship pharmacy, and along with two other pharmacies, it serves over 13,000 dialysis patients in 33 states.

"I had trouble with pharmacies not having my medication ready when I went to pick it up, or my medication being out of stock, or going and they were closed," says a local dialysis patient who uses DaVita Rx. "With DaVita Rx I get it when I need it and I feel healthier."

On average, dialysis patients are prescribed more than eight medications to treat five co-morbid conditions. Research indicates dialysis patients adhere to the medication regimen prescribed by their doctors at a rate of 50-60%. DaVita Rx pharmacists work with DaVita's clinical teammates to drive medication adherence and improve patient outcomes and provides physicians with clear visibility of their patients' medication adherence. With that partnership in place, adherence rates can be 80% or higher.

DaVita Rx also provides kidney patients with an auto-refill program, flexible payment options, help with insurance and 24/7 toll-free access to DaVita Rx pharmacists.

DaVita Rx's one millionth prescription will be delivered to a dialysis center in Los Angeles, Calif. today by DaVita CEO Kent Thiry.

DaVita and DaVita Rx are trademarks or registered trademarks of DaVita Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About DaVita Inc.

DaVita Inc., a FORTUNE 500® company, is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, providing dialysis services and education for patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita manages more than 1,300 outpatient facilities and acute units in more than 700 hospitals located in 43 states and the District of Columbia, serving approximately 107,000 patients. As part of DaVita's commitment to building a healthy, caring community, DaVita develops, participates in and donates to numerous programs dedicated to transforming communities and creating positive, sustainable change for children, families and our environment. For more information about DaVita, its kidney education and its community programs, please visit http://www.davita.com.


Source: DaVita Inc.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080827/aqw052.html?.v=66

[David13]

  DaVita Rx is just another example of DaVita trying to capture every last dollar from the kidney community.  There is nothing altruistic about it.  They saw an opportunity to make money from yet another aspect of a kidney patient's care, namely their numerous prescription medications, and they jumped on it. 

The program also creates a great deal more work for the nurses and techs at the dialysis centers who are now responsible for distributing the prescriptions, and thus diverts their attention from providing good patient care.

[flip]

According to what I've been told, they can charge more for the drugs since they are given in a clinic setting.

[Zach]

Just another example of how a member of the "Caring Kidney" group make money off of the patients, without providing optimal dialysis (or optimal staffing).  But hey what the heck, they got their annual increase for dialysis reimbursement --and had patients pushing it in the halls of Congress.

[David13]