University Hospitals Parma Medical Center Opens UH Meds Retail Pharmacy

PARMA, Ohio - University Hospitals Parma Medical Center has opened UH Meds Retail Pharmacy, now providing prescription services for patients, employees and the community.

Margaret Jackson first met her personal pharmacist when she was hospitalized at UH Parma Medical Center for pneumonia. Now home, the Parma Heights woman still has the one-stop service of UH Parma's new UH Meds Retail Pharmacy.

Through UH Pharmacy's Meds to Beds program, a pharmacist came to her bedside with her medications, explained the purpose and dosage of each, and answered all of Margaret's questions. Margaret was blown away by the personalized approach.

"It felt absolutely awesome," said Margaret, 77. "The pharmacist, Sean, showed up with a bag of medicine, and the number to call him was right there on every bottle and the bag."

"I'm afraid of medicines," she added. "I need someone to tell me, first of all, why I'm taking them and exactly how to take them. I want to know the side effects, and to have someone to call if I have a question. I won't take them until I talk to someone."

Sean Owens, PharmD, MBA, assuaged all her concerns. UH Meds Retail Pharmacies are not transactional. They build relationships with their UH patients to last a lifetime. They can take care of prior authorizations for medications, find discounted costs for expensive medications and they have a pipeline to UH providers.

"UH pharmacies work more closely with providers," said Owens, who helped to get the UH Meds Retail Pharmacy up and running. "Since we share the same electronic medical record, we can quickly send them a direct message to expedite healthcare. If patients utilize us, we're able to get the meds in patients' hands a lot quicker than the usual retail store."

These pharmacists also promote adherence, prompting patients to refill needed medications if they haven't been reordered.

Anthony Hall, PharmD, will be managing UH Parma's new UH Meds Retail Pharmacy, which is located near the lobby of Medical Arts Center 1, 6681 Ridge Road, Parma. He is coming to UH Parma from UH Elyria Medical Center, where he served as a UH Transitions of Care Pharmacist who visited hospitalized patients with UH Meds to Beds and followed up with them on medication needs once they returned home.

"Pharmacies are closing left and right, and a lot of patients are being funneled into these big box stores," said Hall. "Patient care doesn't end when the patients leave the hospital: we will fill that gap and ensure they get the highest level of care once they are discharged and make sure their needs are always addressed. UH Meds Retail Pharmacies provide a higher level of care to support our patients' needs."

UH Meds Retail Pharmacy at UH Parma also offers free home delivery of medications.

"I couldn't believe when they automatically asked me if I wanted my medications mailed," Margaret said. "That is a wonderful service not every place provides."