Method for providing consumer choice and equalizing pharmacy provider availability in prescription medication dispensing plans

a technology of pharmacy provider and consumer choice, applied in the field of prescription payment benefits, can solve the problems of affecting the ability of retail pharmacies to provide local retail services, deprived of income, and complicated analysis of mail order pharmacies versus retail pharmacies for maintenance medications, etc., to save payer time and confusion, save the effect of greater utilization and saving payer
US20060184391A1Inactive Publication Date: 2006-08-17MEDIMPACT HEALTHCARE SYST
4 Cites 128 Cited by

Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
US · United States
Patent Type
Applications(United States)
Current Assignee / Owner
MEDIMPACT HEALTHCARE SYST
Publication Date
2006-08-17
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

Smart Images

  • Figure 1
    Figure 1
  • Figure 2
    Figure 2
  • Figure 3
    Figure 3
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

A method is disclosed whereby consumers enrolled in a prescription benefit plan can obtain prescription medication fulfillment at any participating pharmacy of their choice, regardless of whether the fulfillment is by a retail pharmacy or a mail order pharmacy, and whether the quantity of medication prescribed is for administration over a short period (acute care) or a prolonged period (maintenance). The plan of this invention operates by having the plan manager substantially equalize the financial effects of the discounts and services fees allowed to participating pharmacies such that both retail and mail order pharmacies are compensated in a manner which encourages them to accept all consumers and fill all prescriptions. Compensation is preferably adjusted periodically by the manager to retain pharmacy incentives. Consumers obtain choice of pharmacies, plan payers have pleased employees and members and pharmacies obtain income from the entire spectrum of consumers.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of filling prescriptions for consumers. More particularly it relates to prescription payment benefits made available by health plans, employer groups, governmental entities and other organizations to their employees and / or members. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Many employees and members (“consumers”) of health maintenance organizations, employer groups and government entities have their purchases of personal prescription medications subsidized by payments to pharmacies through prescription benefit plans (“plans”) offered by those health maintenance organizations, employer groups and government entities. Under such plans, a consumer receives a prescription for a medication from his or her physician and submits it to a pharmacy to be filled. The pharmacy checks to see that the consumer is a member of a plan with which the pharmacy has a contract and that the medication and dosage prescribed are wi...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More