SEPTEMBER 24, 2002
NO.
002-263
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Doug Porter, Assistant
Secretary, Medical Assistance Administration,
DSHS
360-902-7806
Edwina Dorsey, Deputy Director, Division of Medical
Management, MAA,
DSHS 360-725-1866
Jim Stevenson,
Communications Director, MAA, DSHS 360-902-7604
OLYMPIA -
Washington Medicaid clients and their doctors will be able to order their
prescription drugs by mail beginning this week - marking the launch of the
state's first large-scale Home Delivery pharmacy service for Medicaid
clients.
Medco Health Solutions Inc. and Washington's Medicaid
program worked out the technical details of Medco Health's Home Delivery
service over the past few weeks. Medco Health, which has been operating in
Washington since the mid-1980s, has a dozen pharmacies around the U.S.,
including one in Spokane.
The new Home Delivery service will focus
first on several rural areas of the state where clients may
currently be having trouble finding pharmacies that will take
Medicaid prescriptions.
Medicaid clients who are interested
should talk to their doctors about it first. In addition, clients with
questions can call the Medicaid Customer Service Center toll-free,
1-800-562-3022.
"Home Delivery may not be right for everybody, and
we're certainly not trying to replace the community pharmacist," said Doug
Porter, Assistant Secretary of Medical Assistance Administration in
the Department of Social and Health Services.
"State
legislators directed us to establish a mail option by January of 2003 in
hopes it will fit some clients' needs and help contain some of the cost
increases we face from prescription drugs. As it turns out, we are able to
introduce the service almost four months early."
Porter said
the state looks forward to working with Medco Health, but that the
idea of prescription drugs by mail is not entirely new to Medicaid. In
fact, some mail services have been offered in the past by several
Washington state pharmacies in and around their own
communities.
Although the initial focus will be the
north-central Okanogan Valley, rural Pacific and Klickitat counties, and
the San Juan Islands - all sparsely populated areas that currently have
limited pharmacy access - the service will ultimately be an option for
about 500,000
fee-for-service Medicaid clients in Washington. (Another
450,000 Medicaid clients belong to Healthy Options, a managed-care version
of Medicaid, and receive their> pharmacy benefit through participating
health plans.)
Porter said clients, clinics, and doctors in the
focus areas were mailed information about the new service on Monday, along
with Medco Health forms and instructions. Clients with questions can call
the Medicaid Customer Service Center (1-800-562-3022) between 7 a.m. and 6
p.m. on weekdays.
Providers have a variety of options when it comes
to submitting new prescriptions to Medco Health. Prescribers can initiate
new prescriptions by either fax or mail, depending on the kind of
prescription they have, the status of the medication, and whether it is a
newly-prescribed drug or one that the clients have been taking for
some time.
Medco Health sorts the prescriptions between the
different distribution centers and then dispenses the medicine by mail to
clients' homes. In some cases, the service uses a parcel service or
registered
mail for greater security.
Medco Health
currently works with Washington state employees, who have had a Home
Delivery pharmacy service for the past decade. In addition, Medco Health
nationally handles more than 250,000 prescriptions a
day.
EDITORS: Here are other tips for using the Home
Delivery prescription drug service:
How do I start using the Home Delivery Pharmacy?
Ask your doctor to
call1-888-327-9791 and get directions for faxing your prescription to
Medco Health. Packets of information were mailed on September 23 to
doctors in several regions of the state where some clients have had
difficulty finding pharmacies that will take Medicaid
prescriptions.
Where can I call if I have questions?
You can contact Medco Health
about an order at the customer service number, 1-800-903-8639. It's
operational seven days a week, 24 hours a day. You also can contact
Medicaid at 1-800-562-3022 between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
weekdays.
Is there information on the
Internet?
Yes. For information and copies of the
forms, clients and providers can visit the MAA Web site at
http://maa.dshs.wa.gov/rxbymail
In a year
of tight budgets and revenue shortfalls, DSHS is making a consistent
effort to contain costs, create efficiencies, and avoid nonessential
expenditures. Also, DSHS is developing a strategic plan that
will allow better integration of services within the department and better
integration with community-based services. For more information on this
effort, visit the Budget Reductions Focus Web page at http://www.wa.gov/dshs/geninfo/statebudget.html
Tips
about Home Delivery
Clients interested in Home Delivery should talk to their doctors about it first. Initial prescriptions must involve prescribers, but clients can order refills themselves.
Delivery by mail takes from seven to 11 days. Continuing prescription refills usually take about nine days. Medco Health recommends reordering your prescription when you have about a 14-day supply remaining.
Most of the medications are shipped by U.S. mail. Some controlled substances are shipped by parcel service.
Medco Health pharmacists are available 24 hours a day for consultation at 1-800-903-8639.