NEMHS Receives Innovation Award
Written by Wolf Point Herald Monday, 02 November 2009 12:19
Northeast Montana Health Services received the 2009 Innovation in Health Care Award from the Montana Health Care Association for NEMHS’ tele-pharmacies.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of Montana Health Care Association. Over the past 75 years, M.H.C.A. has seen countless innovations in the industry and within hospital member facilities in the state of Montana. Innovation plays a key role in maintaining quality in today's health care environment.
The Innovation in Health Care Award was established to salute the innovations being developed by Montana's hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers.
Entries for this prestigious award are judged not only on the quality of the project, but also on how it fits into the organization's vision, its effectiveness, its benefit to the community and its applicability to other hospital facilities.
When the last of two locally-owned drug stores closed in northeast Montana, there were no pharmacies in a 50-mile radius of Poplar and Wolf Point where patients could fill prescriptions. Although there are two pharmacies on the Fort Peck Reservation, both are operated by Indian Health Services. The closing of the local pharmacies meant that non-IHS patients had to travel to get their medications or have them mailed. As pharmacies continue to disappear in rural areas of the country and add to the pharmacist shortage, rural communities must turn to technology.
The Northeast Montana Health Services board decided to take advantage of technology and constructed two tele-pharmacies which restored a vital service to the patients in northeast Montana.
With the assistance of Montana Health Network, NEMHS received approximately $225,000 from a HRSA grant to help with startup costs and opened two tele-pharmacies: one in Wolf Point in August 2008 and one in Poplar in May 2009.
Through a collaborative effort with local resources, NEMHS worked with Fort Peck Community College and their students to construct the two buildings. During the construction phase, two local staff nurses challenged and passed the online pharmacy technician test and completed an internship with the local IHS pharmacist. NEMHS also contracted with Glendive Medical Center to fill the pharmacist position.
Since opening in August 2008, NEMHS tele-pharmacies have filled over 13,000 prescriptions. Using the advancement of technology with telemedicine, NEMHS has become a trailblazer to prevail over a dilemma that has troubled many rural communities in Montana and around the country.
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