The attached press release is available for immediate release.
Crisis preparedness is key during and in the aftermath of a hurricane. Partners Pharmacy, operating as Advanced Pharmacy in Texas, Florida, and Maryland, helped prepare skilled nursing facilities in Florida and Texas for Hurricanes Irma and Harvey through the use of AP PassPort™, a remote onsite dispensing system.
The AP PassPort™ system is a fully automated, remotely monitored, medication-dispensing center that helps skilled nursing facilities administer patient medications without relying on pharmacy delivery. In preparation for the storms, nursing staff with the AP PassPort™ system were able to plan ahead and package all necessary meds with an additional one week supply in the chance that they lost power or internet.
During Hurricane Irma, most of Florida lost power, including one-half of the residential nursing homes that we service; however all of the facilities still functioned on generated power. Partners Pharmacy jumped into action during this storm to ensure that all patients’ needs were met. One Highland Lake Center resident was admitted last minute on oxygen and was provided all necessary meds with no delay. Despite down trees and road blockage, all of the facilities we service through AP PassPort™ were able to get their medication and access to 24/7 support during the hurricane.
During Hurricane Harvey, Partners Pharmacy ensured that all patients’ needs were met in the skilled nursing facilities they service in Houston. Regent Care Harborview and League City residential nursing homes were impacted with significant flooding which barred access to the facilities for three days. Despite this challenge, these residents and 100% of Texas residents using Partners Pharmacy were able to get their meds on time through AP PassPort™. This includes the Regent Care Kingwood facilities, which were evacuated, with patients being moved to other facilities. All patients’ medication orders were transferred with no disruptions. Our partnership with Leverage Garland pharmacy helped provide additional services to outlier accounts, and our phone systems were linked to other pharmacies to ensure that all calls were answered. Additionally, Partners Pharmacy pharmacists with multi-state licenses were made available 24/7 to process immediate prescription needs, as well as change orders.
“During Hurricane Irma, AP PassPort™ allowed the skilled nursing facilities we service to maintain high-quality care in the state of a natural disaster,” said Nikita Akbari, Director of Pharmacy at one of our customer nursing facilities, in Orlando, Florida. “Despite the loss of power, all residents received their medications on time with no delay or issues.”
Our PassPort™ system is monitored visually and diagnostically 24/7 via our on-call pharmacy support, which is crucial to operations functioning seamlessly, even during a state-wide, natural disaster. We are thrilled to report that all of our facilities, thanks to the real-time updates and immediate dispensing of AP PassPort™, were able to survive the hurricane with minimal disruption and no delay to medication delivery.
About Partners Pharmacy
Partners Pharmacy is the third largest long-term care pharmacy provider in the U.S. Each regional Partners location provides the same unmatched personalized service through the combined resources of local teams and expanding national resources. Partners collaborates with the communities it serves to improve outcomes, reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies that permit more time for direct patient care.
