With the CarleRx Meds to Beds service, patients at the Urbana hospital can ask to have their discharge medications brought to their hospital room before they leave an overnight hospital stay.
CarleRx is a full-service pharmacy located at Carle Foundation Hospital. This program aims to improve accessibility for patients receiving medications and better connect them with real-time support from the pharmacy team.
Meds to Beds is a free service with no additional cost for enrolled patients, outside of prescription copays. As an optional benefit, there is no hospital fee to access this service. Patients will still need to pay any standard copays or costs for the medications.
Prescriptions are filled as quickly as possible, and a pharmacy team member will personally deliver the medications to the patient’s bedside.
“Since we opened the CarleRx pharmacies our mission has been to provide medications to all patients in an easy, accessible, and cost-friendly manner,” said Timothy Karras, Carle Health Pharmacy Operations and Tech, supervisor.
Discharge medications are not billed to the overall hospital stay. If patients owe any copays for medications, they’ll pay at the delivery when medications are brought to their bedside.
The Meds to Beds program is now available to all nursing units at Carle Foundation Hospital.
“Through the Meds to Beds program, it has been our goal to give patients peace of mind and confidence to have the medications they need after their stay,” said Karras.
Patients will typically sign up for the service at registration, but in cases where patients wish to enroll after registration, they will need to show a member of their care team their pharmacy insurance card. Care team members can share this information with the pharmacy team.
CarleRx accepts most insurance plans, including Medicaid and Medicare Part D. Medications are billed to the patient’s insurance provider and when possible, CarleRx will use tools and resources to lower the cost of copays.
Any over-the-counter medications can also be provided and delivered if requested by the patient to their care team. Patients can request this when the technician is coordinating delivery or when a physician prescribes other medications for patients to have.
“Bringing this program to the Carle Foundation Hospital has been an immense undertaking, made possible by our team of skilled and dedicated CarleRx leadership, team members and our hard-working and dedicated inpatient departments in the organization,” said Karras. “This includes but is not limited to nursing leaders and their teams, as well as our EPIC resources teams.”
Patients with remaining refills can have their prescriptions filled at their home pharmacy of choice by providing their preferred pharmacy information to the CarleRx team. If patients have questions about their medications, the pharmacy team will be available to provide personalized counselling.
“It’s great to hear how appreciative the patients are when we deliver their meds bedside,” said Jeff Mardis, Carle Health Pharmacy technician. “It’s a source of pride to know that we’re providing these patients a service that makes a difference.”
Bedside delivery is available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Patients can contact the CarleRx pharmacy team at Carle Foundation Hospital by calling (217) 326-5500.
Patients seeking more information about the service can call the Meds to Beds direct line at 217-383-7546.
For more information about CarleRx Pharmacy, visit Carle.org.
CarleRx is a full-service pharmacy located at Carle Foundation Hospital. This program aims to improve accessibility for patients receiving medications and better connect them with real-time support from the pharmacy team.
Meds to Beds is a free service with no additional cost for enrolled patients, outside of prescription copays. As an optional benefit, there is no hospital fee to access this service. Patients will still need to pay any standard copays or costs for the medications.Prescriptions are filled as quickly as possible, and a pharmacy team member will personally deliver the medications to the patient’s bedside.
“Since we opened the CarleRx pharmacies our mission has been to provide medications to all patients in an easy, accessible, and cost-friendly manner,” said Timothy Karras, Carle Health Pharmacy Operations and Tech, supervisor.
Discharge medications are not billed to the overall hospital stay. If patients owe any copays for medications, they’ll pay at the delivery when medications are brought to their bedside.
The Meds to Beds program is now available to all nursing units at Carle Foundation Hospital.
“Through the Meds to Beds program, it has been our goal to give patients peace of mind and confidence to have the medications they need after their stay,” said Karras.
Patients will typically sign up for the service at registration, but in cases where patients wish to enroll after registration, they will need to show a member of their care team their pharmacy insurance card. Care team members can share this information with the pharmacy team.
CarleRx accepts most insurance plans, including Medicaid and Medicare Part D. Medications are billed to the patient’s insurance provider and when possible, CarleRx will use tools and resources to lower the cost of copays.
Any over-the-counter medications can also be provided and delivered if requested by the patient to their care team. Patients can request this when the technician is coordinating delivery or when a physician prescribes other medications for patients to have.
“Bringing this program to the Carle Foundation Hospital has been an immense undertaking, made possible by our team of skilled and dedicated CarleRx leadership, team members and our hard-working and dedicated inpatient departments in the organization,” said Karras. “This includes but is not limited to nursing leaders and their teams, as well as our EPIC resources teams.”
Patients with remaining refills can have their prescriptions filled at their home pharmacy of choice by providing their preferred pharmacy information to the CarleRx team. If patients have questions about their medications, the pharmacy team will be available to provide personalized counselling.“It’s great to hear how appreciative the patients are when we deliver their meds bedside,” said Jeff Mardis, Carle Health Pharmacy technician. “It’s a source of pride to know that we’re providing these patients a service that makes a difference.”
Bedside delivery is available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Patients can contact the CarleRx pharmacy team at Carle Foundation Hospital by calling (217) 326-5500.
Patients seeking more information about the service can call the Meds to Beds direct line at 217-383-7546.
For more information about CarleRx Pharmacy, visit Carle.org.
Categories: Redefining Healthcare
Tags: Beds, CarleRx, Discharge, In-Patient, Medication, Meds, Pharmacy, To