OREANDA-NEWS. February 13, 2013. Alternate site pharmacies, including those serving long-term care (LTC) and correctional care facilities, are realizing significant cost savings and greater efficiencies as a result of an innovative partnership forged by McKesson and Safecor Health. The McKesson/Safecor Health Partnership combines McKesson's unmatched distribution services with Safecor Health's FDA-registered drug repackaging and barcoding services to deliver customized medication packaging solutions with low pricing to alternate site pharmacies, reported the press-centre of McKesson.

The McKesson/Safecor Health Partnership also addresses medication packaging needs for alternate site pharmacies preparing to implement CMS mandated changes for short-cycle dispensing, which became effective January 1, 2013.

Comprehensive Approach to Serving Alternate Site Pharmacies
"Alternate site pharmacies manage a great deal of complexity and associated cost in serving their customers, including operational inefficiencies, regulatory mandates, safety concerns and more," said Rich McKeon, vice president, McKesson Alternate Site Pharmacy. "The McKesson/Safecor Health Partnership helps to alleviate the cost and complexity burden; it addresses evolving packaging needs based on the pharmacy's business model, without upfront capital investments or extra staff."

The McKesson/Safecor Health Partnership delivers a comprehensive solution tailored to the needs of alternate site pharmacies. In addition to preferred program pricing, customers capture operational, quality, supply chain, and financial advantages as a result of their participation in the integrated program.

Year Over Year Benefit: 15.5%*
McKesson and Safecor Health estimate a long-term care pharmacy serving 2,000 beds can realize a more than USD57,000 annual cost benefit — a 15.5% improvement year over year — as a result of implementing the McKesson/Safecor Health third-party repackaging solution.

"Our partnership with McKesson is making it easier for LTC pharmacies to deliver higher quality while also saving money and removing inefficiencies," said Mark Leney, vice president of long-term care and government division for Safecor Health. "Alternate site pharmacies needing assistance with traditional packaging or that are preparing for short-cycle dispensing regulations can realize significant operational and financial benefits for their business."

Remedi SeniorCare Gains Efficiency and Saves Money
"Working with McKesson and Safecor Health has helped our facility convert inefficient fixed costs into variable costs," said Alan Bronfein, vice president of strategic sourcing, Remedi SeniorCare. "Rationalizing labor costs are a big part of the benefit. We've eliminated new capital investment required for additional automation and are better equipped to grow our business to support the needs of current and new customers."

Bronfein said no detail or opportunity for process improvement escaped scrutiny. "After documenting our workflow, the McKesson/Safecor Health team created a shipping box for us that doubles as a dispensing box, and barcoded inventory labels with quantities over the individual medication packages. It sounds simple, but this is just one example of an innovation that has saved us steps, time and money."

Peace of Mind for Kelley-Ross Long-Term Care Pharmacy
"Earning and keeping the trust of customers is everything," said Brian Beach, vice president and director of long-term care services, Kelley-Ross Long-Term Care Pharmacy. "The McKesson/Safecor Health team provides redundant levels of checking, verification and quality control. I have greater peace of mind, and our staff has greater peace of mind, knowing that what we provide our customers is right."

Beach said the pharmacy explored acquiring equipment to perform repackaging in house, but the capital and labor costs were too high.

"We prefer our staff focus on high-value activities," said Beach. "It's hard to justify having a skilled technician repackaging a low-cost, low-margin pill."

Short-Cycle Dispensing an Added Impetus
Alternate site pharmacies have realized significant cost and efficiency benefits since McKesson and Safecor Health teamed to innovate distribution and packaging in December 2011. Now the same proven approach can benefit alternate site pharmacies aiming to conform to the CMS short-cycle fill mandate.

"Alternate site pharmacies are re-engineering packaging processes to meet the new short-cycle fill requirements," said McKesson's Rich McKeon. "The McKesson/Safecor Health repackaging solution has helped LTC facilities save money and improve their profitability by creating 7- and 14-day cards for branded products. Alternate site pharmacies adapting to the short-cycle mandate will continue to realize the benefit of all that experience. Additionally, some pharmacies have chosen to send products unaffected by the short-cycle mandate to Safecor Health, freeing up internal staff to focus on those products now requiring more frequent dispensing. Either way, McKesson and Safecor Health help pharmacies maximize labor time and save on costs."

Hypothetical situation based on the Measuring the Impact of Short Dispense Cycle and the cost savings of switching from in-house packaging to McKesson/Safecor Health packaging.
Chung, Jae. Measuring the Impact of Short Dispense Cycle. NetRx LLC. 28 July 2011. (Sensor Energy, Independent Pharmacy Consultant)

Meet BoP. McKesson's business of pharmacy.

Currently helping more than 2,500 hospital and alternate site pharmacies nationwide, the business of pharmacy (BoP) is McKesson's evidence-based approach to optimizing the financial, operational, and clinical performance of hospital pharmacies. Harnessing McKesson's superior distribution, BoP extends across the entire business of hospital and alternate pharmacy operations and provides the services and solutions to transform the pharmacy into a center of operational excellence that supports optimal patient care. For more information, please visit us at www.mckessonbop.com/alternatesite.

About Safecor Health
Safecor Health, LLC, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is a FDA registered pharmaceutical manufacturer and repackager with production facilities in Columbus, OH and Woburn, MA. For more than 36 years, Safecor Health has solved critical challenges for institutional pharmacies related to the unique packaging, labeling and barcoding requirements of pharmaceutical products. Safecor Health serves the specialized needs of hospitals and health systems; long-term care and correctional care pharmacy providers; federal, state and local government entities; pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers; hospices, large clinics and other sites of patient care. For more information, please visit www.safecorhealth.com.