McKesson's medication adherence network

At their recent ideaShare event, McKesson highlighted its Sponsored Clinical Services Network for hundreds of independent retail pharmacy owners and community pharmacists who are focused on increasing their role in healthcare delivery, improving patient outcomes, and finding new reimbursement avenues, the company said in a release. 

The Sponsored Clinical Services Network is the largest active patient-support network that has experience with implementing adherence support programs, according to McKesson.

“McKesson is committed to helping community pharmacists achieve their goals with pharmacy-based adherence programs centered on the patient,” said Brian Tyler, president, McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical. “With McKesson’s partnership with many of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the industry, pharmacies active in the McKesson Sponsored Clinical Services Network have been assuming an even greater role in providing patient care and services, in addition to growing their revenues. In fact, in 2011, pharmacies in our … [n]etwork earned $1 million in service fees for providing patient support services and supported an estimated quarter of a million patients.”

The network’s Pharmacy Intervention Program focuses on one-on-one behavioral coaching between pharmacist and patient, and it is helping to achieve better patient care, according to the release.

Providing this type of coaching service is also helping to transition pharmacies to a more service-based business model. In addition to reimbursement fees from sponsors associated with coaching sessions, pharmacies can benefit from increased prescription volumes, incremental front-end purchases, and further enhance customer loyalty, McKesson said.