Press Releases

DUBLIN, Ohio, June 25, 2014 – Cardinal Health recently introduced enhanced tools to make it easier for retail pharmacies to help their patients better manage their cardiovascular health and prevent heart disease – the leading cause of death in the United States.

Retail pharmacies that utilize Cardinal Health’s Specialized Care Center focused on Heart Health already have access to training, patient education, marketing tools, product and merchandising recommendations that help position them as a local destination for cardiovascular health needs.

Now, as part of the company’s continuing commitment to helping retail pharmacies offer patient care services and improve the quality of care their patients receive, pharmacies that utilize Cardinal Health’s Heart Health Specialized Care Center now also have access to:

• My Digital Health Coach™ patient tracking and reporting tools;
• New resources to make it easier to screen patients for cardiovascular risks;
• New continuing education courses to enhance their knowledge about effective strategies for improving heart health;
• Discounts on non-prescription products (also known as ‘front-end products’) that patients with cardiovascular conditions need, like home diagnostics and pain relief products, vitamins and specialty supplements;
• New print and electronic marketing tools to educate local physicians and employers about how community pharmacists can help patients prevent heart disease and improve heart health; and
• New print and electronic promotional materials to market their heart health services to patients.

Participating pharmacies will also now have the ability to offer their patients new resources to help improve their heart health, including:

• My Digital Health Coach™, an online health coaching tool that creates personalized health and wellness plans based on each patient’s unique goals and health conditions; 
• A monthly e-newsletter that contains tips and advice to help patients better manage heart health; and
• A patient kit containing heart health product samples and educational materials.

“As payers place an increasing emphasis on improving their performance on Medicare’s Star Ratings System, they’ll increasingly look to retail pharmacies to deliver services that help patients better manage cardiovascular risks and improve their overall heart health,” said Brad Tice, RPh, PharmD, MBA, FAPhA, product leader for Cardinal Health’s Medication Therapy Management Solution. “We’re excited to introduce these enhanced services, which will make it easier than ever before for community pharmacists to deliver heart health services to patients and to market these valuable services to physicians, employers and payers.”

For more information, contact HeartHealth@cardinalhealth.com.

About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $101 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products and services to more than 100,000 locations each day and is also the industry-leading direct-to-home medical supplies distributor. The company is a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company operates the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs 33,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at www.cardinalhealth.com and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.

# # #