At SUPERVALU Pharmacies, pharmacists get to deliver patient care in the chain pharmacy setting every day. Our pharmacists have the opportunity to participate in the Community Care Initiative (CCI) and to provide Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services. The CCI and MTM programs allow pharmacists to utilize their expertise in drug therapy to identify and resolve real and potential medication-related problems to improve patient outcomes with drug therapy. Pharmacists are supported in both the CCI and MTM programs with in-store equipment to enable cholesterol, A1c and other monitoring, aiding the pharmacist in the assessment of therapy effectiveness.

The SUPERVALU Pharmacies CCI began as a pilot project in the Chicagoland area in 2003, following a long history of successful partnerships with Drake University and other colleges dating back to 1995. The CCI project focuses on documenting everyday patient interventions and medication-related problems. CCI pharmacists also use point-of-care monitoring technologies to assess patients’ achievement of their goals of therapy, including peak flow for patients with asthma, blood pressure for patients with hypertension, lipid profile for patients with dyslipidemia and A1c for patients with diabetes. As part of the CCI and MTM programs, SUPERVALU Pharmacies pharmacists documented over 6,500 interventions over a 15-month period – interventions that saved the payors and patients over $600,000 in drug and medical costs.

With the passage of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, pharmacists are now receiving reimbursement for cognitive services similar to those provided in the CCI. Our MTM services expand upon the current services offered in the CCI in order to meet the needs of patients who struggle with multiple medications, multiple medical conditions and complicated medication regimens. Included in the MTM menu of services are one-on-one, comprehensive medication reviews, education and follow-up on new or changed therapies, and assessment of medication effectiveness utilizing the point-of-care tests used in the CCI. Patients with complex chronic medical conditions such as asthma, COPD, diabetes, dyslipidemia, heart failure and hypertension especially benefit from MTM services.

The SUPERVALU Pharmacies pharmacist interacts with patients daily in a manner that results in a “win-win-win” situation. The patient, pharmacist and healthcare system all benefit from the improved patient health outcomes achieved through the high level of care in the CCI and MTM services.