Medco Health

Preceptor and Site Information:

Jolene Bates, R. Ph. (preceptor)
Medco Rx Services of TX Housing- Not provided
8111 Royal Ridge Parkway Parking-Yes
Irving, TX 75063 
972-915-6222
972-915-2410 (fax) 

Internet Access- Yes
Non-disclosure Agreement- Yes
Stipend- No
Housing- Not provided
Parking- Yes

Preceptor and Site Information: 

Ross Luce
Larry Thomas, RPh (preceptor)
Medco Rx Services of TX 
15001 Trinity Blvd. 
Ft. Worth, Texas 76155 
817-354-2163 
817-354-2190 (fax) 

Preceptor and Site Information: 
Joe Cassacia
Medco Rx Services of Florida 
3504 Cragmont Road 
Tampa, Fl 33619 
813-620-4103 
813-880-5222 (fax) 

Preceptor and Site Information: 

John Riccardi, R. Ph.

Managing Pharmacist

Medco Health Solutions of Hidden River, L.C.
8800 Hidden River Pkwy

Tampa, FL 33637

(813) 903-2151
(813) 632-4302 (fax)

Internet Access- Yes
Parking- yes
Housing-Not provided
Stipend- No 
Non-disclosure Agreement- Yes

Student Activities

Description: 
A subsidiary of Merck and Co, Inc. and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) providing pharmaceutical care for over 65 million Americans on behalf of 1,100 health plans throughout the United States. This process is directed through the 16 owned and operated pharmacies.

Merck-Medco has four types of pharmacy operations including:
Central Fulfillment Pharmacy- this automated center responsible for filling and shipping over 700,000 prescriptions per week.

Call Center Pharmacy- this center provides patient and provider education, patient counseling, drug information, DUR, health management and formulary management.

Clinical/Cognitive Pharmacy- These pharmacies perform cognitive and clinical aspects of order validation and assessment as well as clinical interventions, DUR and formulary management. No dispensing functions.

Conventional Pharmacy- these pharmacies provide prescription order validation, clinical interventions, DUR, formulary management, health management as well as compounding and dispensing.

Site Availability:
UMKC Pharmacy students may choose from the following experiences:

Conventional Pharmacy experience- Tampa, Florida

Call Center Pharmacy- Irving, Texas

Clinical/Cognitive Pharmacy- Ft. Worth, Texas

Goals/Learning Objectives

· Gain an understanding of the pharmacy operations and pharmacist’s responsibility within Merck-Medco’s Prescription Processing Pharmacy

· Gain and understanding and experience with the various areas and systems of the pharmacy; especially those where pharmacists are involved in clinical programs and interventions with patients and/or prescribers (DUR, S-DUR, physician calls, QA, formulary or therapeutic substitution)

· Perform assigned tasks and participate in research or team interventions as appropriate by state law.

· Understand the history and evolution of managed care in the US

· Understand the place and importance of managed care in the healthcare system

· Understand the roles of the various players in the system (insurers, PBM’s, MCO’s, employers/payers)

· Assist in one managed care pharmacy project as assigned by the preceptor or pharmacy management team.

· Gain an understanding of current managed care issues impacting PBM’s.

· Contribute pharmacy-related information to health care providers

Activities

Activities will vary by site in how they meet the learning objectives

Housing

Medco or the site does not provide housing. Information about housing can be obtained from the UMKC Office of Experiential programs or the site.

Directions

Information regarding directions to the site from local airports can be obtained from the UMKC Office of Experiential Programs. Additional directions can be found on the Internet or by contacting the site.