Introducing Mirixa Care Diabetes Medication Therapy and Diabetes Care Management Delivered by Pharmacists Nationwide
Reston, VA, (April 17, 2008) Mirixa Corporation, a leading developer of innovative clinical solutions that facilitate pharmacist-delivered patient care services, today announced the launch of Mirixa Care℠ Diabetes. This solution offers patients medication-related care and diabetes management through one-to-one education and coaching by pharmacists, via a national network of participating pharmacies.
Mirixa Care Diabetes combines personalized medication management from pharmacists, coaching on diabetes self-care skills and coordination with prescribers. As an addition to a health plan's care management strategy or as a stand-alone program, these highly targeted, convenient, one-to-one interventions are designed to engage members and produce measurable results to improve clinical quality and reduce health care costs.
According to the American Diabetes Association, over 17.5 million Americans suffer from diabetes at an aggregate cost of $174 billion, including $116 billion in excess medical expense. On average, health care costs for each patient with diabetes are $11,700 per year, 2.3 times the average cost for non-diabetes patients. 1 in 5 healthcare dollars in the U.S are spent on this population.
"Diabetes care is costly and complex. Studies like the Asheville Project demonstrate that pharmacists can be effective providers of diabetes care, working in close concert with physicians. Now Mirixa Care Diabetes brings a scalable, cost-efficient combination of services to deliver quality diabetes care through community pharmacies nationwide." said Eric Zimmerman, Mirixa's chief innovation officer.
"Mirixa Care Diabetes breaks new ground by introducing a way for health plans to deliver medication therapy and diabetes care management at the point of pharmacy. We eliminate historical barriers by using data-driven case identification and secure case routing to the pharmacy. Pharmacists then complete clinical work via an easy-to-use Internet-based interface supporting delivery and documentation of care" added Ed Staffa, RPh, Mirixa's vice president of pharmacy, who spearheaded the development of this program.
Developed with a panel of nationally recognized pharmacy care experts, Mirixa Care Diabetes combines medication therapy review - health history, lab data review, and personal interview - with a focus on diabetes self-management and personalized skills coaching. This solution is designed to help health plans improve clinical quality indicators while capturing critical data for care management, and quantifying potential improvements in key diabetes measures such as HbA1c.
Mirixa clinical advisory panel expert, Dan Buffington, PharmD, president and CEO of Clinical Pharmacology Services in Tampa, FL, which assists patients in managing complex medication regimens by coordinating with their physicians, says "Diabetes patients will benefit from the strong partnerships pharmacists have with physicians and the additional coordination of care that Mirixa Care provides."
According to Mirixa Network Pharmacist Maggie Elyasnik, PharmD, "Uptown Drug is located in downtown Los Angeles where we play an important role in providing care for an underserved patient population. One of our patients was recently diagnosed with diabetes and didn't understand that her dizziness was caused by low blood sugar levels that ultimately put her in the hospital. During a recent medication therapy management session, we were able to teach her about tracking her glucose levels and using glucose tablets to prevent hypoglycemia. It feels good to know that we were able to make such a difference for her."
Patients - particularly those with chronic health conditions - often see pharmacists more frequently than any other health professionals, including physicians. National Gallup Polls find that pharmacists are among the most trusted health professionals, providing advice and support directly to patients. This high level of trust and convenience, coupled with no cost to the patient, explains why Mirixa's Pharmacy Network engages patients at a rate of more than 70% across all programs, higher than typical disease management programs.
About Mirixa
Mirixa Corporation is a leader in targeted patient care delivered via the largest pharmacy services network of over 46,000 pharmacies nationwide. Pharmacists deliver programs via MirixaPro℠ - Mirixa's Web-based clinical software suite, which streamlines delivery of medication care management, adherence, and education for patients with chronic conditions.
For more information, please visit www.mirixa.com
