Technology Partnership

The American Pharmacy Alliance is a technology partnership of leading pharmacy software companies that supply prescription processing systems to more than 10,000 independent and small chain pharmacies throughout the United States. Its projects help community pharmacies significantly expand their value to patients, and to the health care delivery system, and at the same time help others in the industry achieve their pharmaceutical care and business goals. Drug manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacy benefits managers, managed care organizations, and others will be able to recruit and service independent and small chain pharmacies with the same efficiencies and economies as large chain, mail order, and HMO pharmacies.

Building upon the $1 Billion in automation that pharmacies and pharmacy software vendors already have in place, this extensive automation, its databases, and the connectivity established through APA is the basis for a powerful communication network. This connectivity, combined with exceptional patient access, positions pharmacists to provide tremendous value to patients, manufacturers, and payors.

Product Integration

The American Pharmacy Alliance’s purpose is not to reinvent technology, but rather to coordinate and apply existing, proven technology. This will be done by working with expert industry suppliers on product integration, and providing the efficiency of a single business and communication point through which to reach a significant portion of the nation’s community pharmacies. In this way, pharmacies and patients benefit from the industry’s broad expertise, with the advantage of rapid implementation.

The American Pharmacy Alliance will facilitate the necessary development effort with the pharmacy software companies, and provide a business focal point through which drug manufacturers and other companies can access this channel.

Improving Patient Compliance

Community pharmacies can use their computer systems and direct patient access to deliver a quality and breadth of patient care unavailable anywhere else.

Pharmacy computer systems are already being used extensively for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with other business and trading partners. These EDI capabilities are being expanded to help pharmacies become far more useful in providing the most cost effective treatment for patients.

APA Programs provide a consistent, and highly efficient means by which compliance programs can be implemented and measured, and a mechanism by which educational information can be universally or selectively communicated to pharmacists and patients.

Information Delivery

Virtually every pharmacy counter in the United States is now automated with a computer system. With strict consideration of patient confidentiality at all times, the prescription and patient information contained in these computer systems can be used by pharmacists to improve the treatment delivered to patients. Pharmacists directly interact with these computer systems, and using this medium to expand communication with pharmacists and patients is a smart approach. Using the intelligence of their pharmacy computer systems, pharmacists can facilitate narrow-casting to specific groups of patients and accurately measure performance of any pharmacy based program. For software vendors, helping pharmacies take advantage of their computers’ processing, communication, and data capture capabilities is the key. This must be done in an industry-standard way so that regardless of a pharmacy’s management software, consistent functionality can be seen by manufacturers, payors, and others involved with pharmacies. The American Pharmacy Alliance serves to coordinate the efforts necessary to bring this about.

True Network of Pharmacies

The American Pharmacy Alliance provides a way for companies to deal with many stores and many software vendors through a single point of contact.

Today's computer technology can be refined to help deliver even better clinical value to patients, and help community pharmacies provide tremendous value to all of their partners in the pharmaceutical care delivery channel. The companies that develop pharmacy management software are uniquely positioned to cooperatively program their software to allow for a common information exchange between pharmacies and companies that want to communicate with pharmacies and patients. The American Pharmacy Alliance brings this network to life through the coordination and application of existing, proven technology.

The information delivery mechanism created by The American Pharmacy Alliance offers enormous benefits to companies through the narrow-casting capabilities of the pharmacy system databases. It presents the opportunity for companies to have a virtual presence at the dispensing event, and selectively reach specific patient groups. With the pharmacist remaining the point of patient contact, patient confidentiality is protected just as it is now. At the same time, companies receive the benefit of their program or information being delivered by a highly credible and respected health care professional.

Everyone Benefits from The American Pharmacy Alliance

General benefits

• Provides economies of scale for all participants
• Builds on automation and relationships already in place
• Automation allows for program performance measurement
• Expands patient programs while protecting confidentially
• Forming technology partnerships is essential in expanding benefits of automation

Pharmacy Benefits

• Strengthens community pharmacy
• Attaches identifiable value for services and direct patient access
• Higher revenue through access to refill reminder and patient compliance programs
• Patient loyalty is strengthened with expanded services

Patient Benefits

• Access to personalized programs, information and products to improve health
• Personal contact maintained with their pharmacist
• Convenience of dealing with local pharmacy
• Added health programs while maintaining confidentiality where desired

Benefits to Software Vendors

• Efficient means of working with manufacturers and other industry segments
• Access to business opportunities otherwise impractical for individual software companies
• Expends availability of patient compliance programs for pharmacies
• Healthy for pharmacy customers

Benefits to Manufacturers

• Universally implement compliance programs through a single point of contact with software vendors
• Pharmacy computer systems can track and measure program activity and results
• Efficient vehicle to reach select groups of patients
• Electronic tool to convey marketing information to pharmacists and retrieve feedback
• Electronically broadcast product alerts, recalls, or launches right to the pharmacy counters
• Electronic patient enrollment available for educational programs

Benefits to Payors

• Plan members maintain desired value of face-to-face access with pharmacist
• Manageable way to universally implement cost-reducing compliance programs
• Efficient vehicle to reach select groups of patients

Benefits to Wholesalers

• Rapid implementation of programs across leading pharmacy software companies through a single point of contact
• Pharmacists encouraged by wholesalers working with their software vendors
• Electronic tool for delivering and monitoring market share and rebate programs
• Effective method for collecting data from participating pharmacies
• Open architecture design of the program allows access for the entire wholesale community
• Central assimilation and dissemination point