AdvancePCS Launches AdvanceGenerics, A New Approach To Lower-Cost Prescriptions; Members Offered Free Trial of Generic Drugs.Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers IRVING, Texas--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 5, 2002 AdvancePCS (Nasdaq:ADVP), the nation's leading health improvement company, today announced the introduction of AdvanceGenerics, a comprehensive, innovative approach to reducing costs for health plans and their members by promoting greater use of generic prescription medications. AdvanceGenerics includes a unique alternative to traditional drug sampling that encourages health plan members to try generic drugs generic drug, a drug sold or prescribed under the nonproprietary name of its active ingredients or under a generally descriptive name rather than under a brand or trade name. by offering free initial prescriptions of generic products. Under the program, AdvancePCS provides vouchers to plan members that enable them to obtain their first fill of a generic drug at a retail pharmacy pharmacy, art of compounding and dispensing drugs and medication. The term is also applied to an establishment used for such purposes. Until modern times medication was prepared and dispensed by the physician himself. In the 18th cent. with no co-pay or other cost. In addition, the program includes a proprietary pharmacy messaging and therapeutic interchange An interchange is a location where two things meet, usually perform some kind of exchange, and possibly go on their ways again. It is most commonly used in four contexts:
Leveraging its strong relationships, AdvancePCS enlists the aid of community pharmacists to inform and educate patients about the availability of lower-cost generics to treat their condition. If the patient agrees, the pharmacist pharmacist /phar·ma·cist/ (fahr´mah-sist) one who is licensed to prepare and sell or dispense drugs and compounds, and to make up prescriptions. phar·ma·cist n. contacts the patient's doctor to determine if it is appropriate to switch the patient from a non-preferred brand to a different generic medication. The physician always makes the final decision about which drug is most appropriate for a particular patient. "AdvancePCS is continually looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. new ways to help our clients and members improve health outcomes while lowering costs," said David D. Halbert, AdvancePCS chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "We have been a long-time advocate of the use of generics in clinically and economically-appropriate cases. AdvanceGenerics represents the next step in maximizing safe generic utilization. "The timing of our program launch is particularly advantageous because the generics industry is on the threshold of injecting more competition against branded drugs than at any time in history," added Halbert. "Current legislation enabling generics to enter the market more quickly after brand-name drugs Noun 1. brand-name drug - a drug that has a trade name and is protected by a patent (can be produced and sold only by the company holding the patent) proprietary drug drug - a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic go off patent will reinforce this trend." Generic prescription drugs prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, often cost less than half the price of brand products while offering identical clinical efficacy. Many generics enter the market at prices 25 percent less than brands and then fall to 60 percent off the brand price after two years. Under the AdvanceGenerics sampling program, vouchers are distributed directly to members by AdvancePCS or their health plan, or provided by their doctors. Physicians receive AdvanceGenerics vouchers from AdvancePCS clinical consultants, a group of approximately 150 registered pharmacists who meet with high-prescribing physicians several times a year to provide critical safety, efficacy and cost information. Physicians must provide patients with a written prescription for a medication that is available through the program in order for the voucher to WARRANTY, VOUCHER TO, practice. A warranty is a contract real, annexed to lands and tenements, whereby a man is bound to defend such lands and tenements from another person; and in case of eviction by title paramount, to give him lands of equal value. 2. be used. Patients then redeem redeem v. to buy back, as when an owner who had mortgaged his/her real property pays off the debt. The term also refers to paying the amount due and all charges after a foreclosure (due to failure to make payments when due) has begun. the voucher A receipt or release which provides evidence of payment or other discharge of a debt, often for purposes of reimbursement, or attests to the accuracy of the accounts. at a pharmacy for a free trial supply of the medication. For patients starting new drug therapy, this generic sampling program provides an important safeguard that is not available through traditional sampling methods that bypass the normal checks and balances conducted by a pharmacist. By requiring the patient to present the prescription at a pharmacy, the program enables the pharmacist to determine if the drug might interact negatively with another drug the patient is currently taking or if some other potential problem exists. It also affords the pharmacist the opportunity to counsel patients on their condition and medication. AdvanceGenerics integrates and builds on existing products in the AdvancePCS portfolio, with enhancements to help meet the clinical and economic goals of AdvancePCS clients. For example, the program utilizes PerformanceScript, an alternative sampling program initially developed for branded medications that helps to ensure patient safety through improved control of prescription drug samples and encourage the use of lower net cost drugs. PerformanceScript now has been tailored to focus on generic drugs. "PerformanceScript was a minor product under development that we took on through the PCS (1) (Personal Communications Services) Refers to wireless services that emerged after the U.S. government auctioned commercial licenses in 1994 and 1995. This radio spectrum in the 1. acquisition, and it represented an insignificant piece of our business," noted Halbert. "Now, by using the program to support AdvanceGenerics, we hope to accelerate its use and effectiveness in educating health plan members about the most clinically appropriate, lowest-cost alternatives available." About AdvancePCS AdvancePCS (www.advancepcs.com) is the nation's largest independent provider of health improvement services, touching the lives of more than 75 million health plan members and managing approximately $28 billion in annual prescription drug spending. AdvancePCS offers health plans a wide range of health improvement products and services designed to improve the quality of care delivered to health plan members and manage costs. The company's capabilities include integrated mail service and retail pharmacy networks, innovative clinical services, customized disease management programs, specialty pharmacy, clinical trials and outcomes research, information management, prescription drug services for the uninsured, and online health information for consumers. AdvancePCS clients include Blue Cross and Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. organizations, insurance companies and HMOs, Fortune 500 employers, Taft-Hartley groups, state and local governments, and other health plan sponsors. AdvancePCS is ranked by Fortune magazine as one of America's 100 fastest-growing public companies and is included on the Forbes Platinum 400 list of best big companies. AdvancePCS earned the number two spot on the Barron's 500 list of best performing companies. AdvancePCS is both a Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 company. Forward-Looking Statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. Any statements included in this press release that are not historical facts and that concern predictions of economic performance and management's plans and objectives constitute forward-looking statements under the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to provide updates to such forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, changes in the health care industry or the economy in general, competition, acquisitions, changes in the legislative or regulatory environment, and other factors detailed in AdvancePCS' Securities and Exchange Commission filings. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion