FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Little more than three years after dispensing its first prescription, Medco Health Solutions, Inc.'s automated Willingboro Dispensing Pharmacy, recognized as the world’s largest and most advanced high-tech pharmacy, has dispensed 100 million prescriptions. If laid end-to-end, those prescription bottles would stretch more than 6,300 miles -- enough to cross the continental United States, twice.
“In an era of rising costs, pharmacist shortages and focus on the quality of dispensing, the success of this pharmacy, in terms of accuracy and efficiency, represents a fundamental and profound transformation in delivering prescription healthcare to America,” said David B. Snow Jr., Medco chairman, president and CEO. “As evidenced by this volume, Medco’s automated pharmacies play an integral role in meeting the challenge of reliably delivering lifesaving medications while providing greater access to affordable prescription healthcare for millions of Americans.”
During a presentation at the Bear Stearns 17th Annual Healthcare Conference in New York City today, Snow and Medco’s Chief Financial Officer, JoAnn Reed, estimated that the volume of mail order prescriptions processed through its automated pharmacies would reach 94 percent in 2004, up from 93 percent in 2003, and just 34 percent five years ago.
Opened in August 2001, the Willingboro pharmacy, and its sister operation in Las Vegas, work in concert with and are connected to Medco’s processing pharmacies, call centers and Internet pharmacy to create the “Pharmacy for the Future,” an integrated and proprietary service platform for managing prescriptions and providing around-the-clock patient care. The two automated pharmacies play an integral role in helping to lower customer costs and improve the safety and quality of prescription dispensing, while improving operating efficiency for Medco.
Together, Medco’s automated pharmacies currently dispense more than 1.5 million prescriptions each week, enabling Medco to achieve the highest mail order dispensing volumes in the industry. In 2003, Medco filled 78 million prescriptions at mail -- more than its two largest competitors combined.
In December 2003, the Willingboro pharmacy, along with the rest of Medco’s pharmacies and call centers, received a perfect score from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), a leading independent not-for-profit, standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare.
Medco’s perfect accreditation survey score of 100 for Full Standards Compliance in Home Care - Pharmacy Dispensing Services, puts it among only 5 percent of organizations in this category to receive such a score. The recognition applies to all services offered by Medco to its clients and their health plan members through its entire network of home delivery pharmacies.
The Growing Mail Service Market
Mail service provides an efficient and cost-effective delivery option for many consumers and health plan sponsors seeking to control drug spending and provide greater convenience, without compromising quality. A 2003 report from the United States General Accounting Office concluded that, when compared to prices paid at retail pharmacies, the average price paid for a prescription through mail order pharmacy was 27 percent less for branded drugs and 53 percent less for generic medicines.
The mail service option offers patients who are taking maintenance medications the opportunity to save time and money, while also providing access to clinical care 24 hours a day, seven days a week from registered pharmacists staffing Medco’s call center pharmacies.
Mail service also provides improved dispensing accuracy. A recent study validated that Medco’s mail order pharmacies -- including its technologically superior automated pharmacies -- achieved dispensing accuracy rates that were 23 times better than those reported in a benchmark study of retail community pharmacies -- including a dramatic reduction in many serious errors common across retail pharmacy settings.
About Medco
Medco Health Solutions, Inc., a leading pharmacy benefit manager with the nation’s largest mail order pharmacy operations, assists its customers to moderate the cost and enhance the quality of prescription drug benefits provided to members nationwide. Its customers include private- and public- sector employers and healthcare organizations. Medco is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MHS. On the Net: http://www.medco.com/.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward- looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this presentation should be evaluated together with the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, particularly those mentioned in the Risk Factors section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
CONTACT: Jennifer Leone, Medco, +1-201-269-6402,jennifer_leone@medco.com; or Kevin Lamb or Amanda Naiman, Coyne PublicRelations, +1-973-316-1665, for Medco
Web site: http://www.medco.com/
