JANUARY 13, 2015, SAN DIEGO (NNS) – Important changes within the Naval Medical Center San Diego Pharmacy Department are on the way for staff and beneficiaries beginning in January 2015.
In the past, NMCSD employed a Consolidated Mail Order Program (CMOP) to assist in the delivery of medications for its patients. However, in accordance with the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, NMCSD will now be transitioning to the TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery program managed by Express Scripts.
With the TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery program, NMCSD will now be able to offer more medications eligible for home delivery and even be able to ship outside San Diego County, a feature previously not available with CMOP.
“Our goal is to offer more choices and empower the patient,” said Lt. Cmdr. Brian Ihlenfeld, chairman of the Pharmacy Department. “The TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery program will allow the patient to be an active participant in their healthcare.”
Features of the TRICARE program involve a personalized online account allowing the patient to monitor their medications and read up on drug information, request refills, track shipments, make a payment, and update personal information. For even more options, patients can download the app available on both iPhone and android devices.
For those who prefer the more traditional approach, NMCSD is opening an additional three prescription refill pick-up locations to accompany the four already in operation. However, only new prescriptions can be picked up at the NMCSD pharmacy and at any of the 10 Navy branch health clinics in the area.
Ihlenfeld notes that with the additional locations and the implementation of the new home delivery system, the goal will be to see shortened wait times within the pharmacies. Additionally, while there may be some changes in fees and co-pays while using the home delivery method, no one will be denied access to any prescriptions they are currently receiving.
The program, which began operations for new prescriptions January 5, will see a 100 percent transition to the TRICARE/Express Scripts team by June 1, 2015 for all NMCSD and branch health clinic patients.
“At the pharmacy we are committed to providing the safest, highest quality patient care,” said Cmdr. Kristin R. Hodapp, head of the Directorate for Clinic Support Services at NMCSD. “We are all a team and our goal is always to provide the patient with the best healthcare outcome possible.”
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