Press Releases

LAS VEGAS — July 21, 2015 — During Cardinal Health’s annual Retail Business Conference (RBC), one of the nation’s largest gatherings of independent pharmacists, the company will introduce the  Adherence Advantage program, which features an expanded suite of solutions designed to help retail pharmacies improve medication adherence.

“The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics estimates that implementing improvements in medication adherence could mitigate $105.4 billion in avoidable costs that are incurred each year due to medication non-compliance,” said Myles Hoover, vice president of Marketing and Customer Solutions at Cardinal Health. “We’re pleased to introduce this expanded suite of Adherence Advantage solutions, because we believe that retail pharmacists are ideally positioned to seize this opportunity to help patients better understand and adhere to their medications.”

Hoover also said that three of the five pharmacy-related Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Star Ratings measures for health plans are based on medication adherence.

“An important criterion for pharmacies to be included in health plan networks is the ability to drive medication adherence among their patients,” said Hoover. “This expanded suite of services helps us work seamlessly with community pharmacists to help them ensure patients are on the right medications, using them the right way and achieving the desired results.”

The Adherence Advantage suite of services includes:

• Cardinal Health Repackaging Solutions: cost-efficient methods of repackaging prescriptions and over-the-counter (OTC) medications for patients.
   
• Consumer adherence products: help patients help themselves with medication reminders, tablets crushers and cutters, medicine spoons and droppers.
   
• Dispill^®: a low-cost, multi-dose packaging solution that makes it easier for patients to adhere to their medication regimen.
   
• Pharmacy Health Connect™: a smartphone app that allows patients to easily refill prescriptions, set medication and refill reminders; and view current pharmacy news, events and messages.
   
• Reimbursement Consulting Services (RCS): The improved dashboard summarizes a pharmacy’s key reimbursement and patient care opportunities, including visibility of available Medication Therapy Management (MTM) cases, which gives the pharmacist insight into patients who most need their assistance. In addition to MTM integration, the dashboard offers patient-level adherence reporting, so a pharmacist may improve their patients’ overall care, as well as performance on CMS Star Rating metrics.

In addition to the Adherence Advantage solutions, RBC attendees can learn more about the following new resources:

• We’re proud to offer the Deterra™ Drug Deactivation System that facilitates safe, proper disposal of prescription medications, and helps pharmacists prevent prescription drug misuse in their communities. The system deactivates prescription drugs, rendering them ineffective for misuse, and allowing for safe disposal in a standard trash can. 
   
• Cardinal Health’s inventory management technology, CIM, now makes it easier for retail pharmacies to participate in the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program by providing full visibility of all available 340B accumulated product in the pharmacy. It also allows users to place their 340B order directly from the application.
   
• Order Express app to enhance mobile ordering, receiving and physical inventory in pharmacy that is compatible with any smartphone or tablet, giving pharmacists’ freedom from leased hardware.
   
• Many new front-end solutions in the Medicine Shoppe and Medicap Pharmacy co-branded showcase, including the Retail Academy, which is a series of videos designed to help empower independent pharmacists to try new solutions, and take calculated risks.

About the Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference (RBC)

The Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference (RBC), held July 22-25 in Las Vegas, provides independent pharmacists and pharmacy franchise owners with the opportunity to network with and learn from thousands of their peers from across the nation, while gaining new insights to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their businesses. The annual event provides independent pharmacy owners, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy industry professionals across the United States with access to pharmaceutical manufacturers, buying opportunities, continuing education sessions and programs to help pharmacists reduce costs and improve patient care and efficiency. For more information, visit www.CardinalHealth.com/RBC or use #RBCWin on Twitter.

About Cardinal Health

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $91 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of 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 #26 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs 34,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at www.cardinalhealth.com and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.