Press Release – For Immediate Release May 2008
Contact: Leslie Russo Bayer 913.403.5425
lbayer@scriptpro.com • www.scriptpro.com

ScriptPro Telepharmacy Expands Services of Arizona Community Health System

MISSION, KS – The Arizona Board of Pharmacy has unanimously approved the use of ScriptPro's Telepharmacy system to provide remote pharmacy services to El Pueblo Health Clinic near Tucson. This will be the first operation of its type in Arizona and will set the stage for many more throughout the state. Making the presentation to the Arizona Board were Tony Felix, Pharmacy Director for El Rio Health Center, and Mike Coughlin, President and CEO of ScriptPro.

El Pueblo is one of fourteen satellite clinics for El Rio Health Center, which serves Tucson and surrounding areas. The Health Center’s ScriptPro robot will, in addition to dispensing for the main pharmacy, pre-pack convenient quantities of tablets and capsules into barcoded containers which are sent to the Clinic for use in filling patient prescriptions.

The Clinic will transmit prescription orders electronically to Health Center pharmacists where they will be screened, approved and released back to the Clinic for filling. Pharmacy technicians at the Clinic will use ScriptPro telepharmacy scanning stations to select the pre-filled containers and other packaged items such as inhalers and creams, and label them with instructions for use by the patients. As a safety check, the technicians capture electronic images of the pills, packages and labels and have them reviewed by Health Center pharmacists. Every Clinic patient is counseled by a pharmacist over a video link that is integrated into the telepharmacy system.

“The population served by El Pueblo Clinic faces linguistic, cultural, transportation, and economic barriers that can hinder access to health and pharmaceutical care. El Pueblo patients are mostly elderly and young families, " says Felix. "Telepharmacy will allow them to obtain their medications while they are at the Clinic and also receive counseling from a pharmacist. We are very excited to be able to provide the opportunity for our patients to leave the Clinic with their prescriptions filled so we can increase prescription pickup compliance."

According to Coughlin, “ScriptPro Telepharmacy is an accurate and systematic way to operate a remote pharmacy. The electronic documentation of images and authorizations provides a complete record of the process for each prescription."

The population served by El Rio has a high rate of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. El Rio’s Clinical Pharmacist Disease Management Program provides innovative methods to treat these disease states with very positive outcomes. The El Pueblo Clinic telepharmacy system will work closely with the Clinical Pharmacists to improve disease state outcomes.

The high cost and shortage of pharmacists have made it impossible for El Rio to provide traditional pharmacy services at its El Pueblo Clinic. Now, with ScriptPro Telepharmacy, thousands of El Pueblo Clinic patients will benefit by getting the medication they need, when they need it, and from one-on-one contact with a clinical pharmacist. Felix sees a bright future. He said, "This first clinic is just the start of expanding our pharmacy services."

ABOUT EL RIO HEALTH CLINIC: El Rio is the largest provider in Pima County, Arizona, of medical and dental services to the uninsured and Medicaid populations. Our vision and plan of action focuses on providing the best direct services we can for this population, but it does not stop there. El Rio also educates the public about the needs of this population, and advocates for their interests at local and state levels. El Rio achieves these goals, in part, through initiatives targeted at specific populations and health issues.

ABOUT SCRIPTPRO: ScriptPro develops, provides and supports state-of-the-art, robotics-based management and workflow systems for pharmacies. ScriptPro is dedicated to helping pharmacies lower operating costs, reduce dispensing errors and maximize customer satisfaction. ScriptPro technology helps pharmacies operate their businesses efficiently and profitably so they can deliver the maximum contribution to the healthcare system. ScriptPro is located in Mission, Kansas and has automated thousands of pharmacies worldwide.