Tria Health

National Patient Safety Awareness Week!

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Image Source: iStock.com/Andrei_r

National Patient Safety Awareness Week was designed to mark a dedicated time and a platform to increase awareness about patient safety among health professionals and the public. One goal of the week is to bring together and engage health care professionals and patients to help spread this important message. One prominent safety issue in the health care world is medication mismanagement.

Did you Know?

  • 30% Never fill their prescriptions
  • 50% Don’t take as prescribed
  • 41% Heart attack patients don’t take blood pressure medications
  • 50% children with asthma don’t use inhalers.

The Benefit of Tria Health

If a patient has multiple chronic conditions or multiple physicians, it can be overwhelming and easy to confuse medications or simply be unable to afford the cost. With Tria Health you can speak one-on-one with a pharmacist to help you feel better by getting the intended results from your meds.

Additional Educational Resources:

 

Have Any Questions? Call the Tria Help Desk: 1.888.799.8742

Source:  Health & Human Services, National Institute of Health

Tria Health Names Larkin O’Keefe as President

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PBM industry veteran, Larkin O’Keefe brings his expertise to Tria Health

Overland Park, KS (August 2, 2016) – Tria Health, the nation’s leading medication management solution, has named Larkin O’Keefe as its new President. O’Keefe brings more than 20 years of experience in sales and spent 17 years in the PBM industry as co-founder and CEO of MedTrak Services.

 

During his leadership, MedTrak Services was honored as one of Kansas City’s fastest growing companies for 12 years. In his new role at Tria Health, O’Keefe will use his expertise to focus on company growth by leading its sales and marketing team.

“We are very excited to have Larkin join our team,” said Jessica Lea, CEO of Tria Health. “His expertise in the pharmacy benefits industry and sales leadership will help foster Tria’s growth and stay competitive in this marketplace.”

O’Keefe serves as an active member of Tria Health’s Board of Directors and helped develop Tria’s innovative business model when the company launched in 2009.

“I’m looking forward to taking a more active role in Tria’s day-to-day operations,” said O’Keefe. “Tria Health has a unique product that can have a substantial impact on a company’s bottom line by helping them reduce health care expenses, keep employees healthy and make sure they’re getting the best value from their PBM.”

Larkin graduated from the University of Kansas and worked in health care sales for several years prior to starting MedTrak Services and Tria Health.  Larkin is professionally active in the health care community serving on the multiple boards within the Kansas City community, including the Visiting Nurse Association of KC (VNA) and Tria Health.

 

About Tria Health:
Tria Health provides personalized chronic care management to help employers mitigate risks and control health care costs. Tria’s clinically-trained pharmacists focus on resolving the overall mismanagement of medications and gaps in care to eliminate unnecessary costs and health risks.

Learn more about Tria Health by visiting www.triahealth.com.

 

Tria Health Contact:
Katherine Gregg
Director of Marketing & Communications
kgregg@triahealth.com
913.322.8473

Opioid Abuse in the News

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News on opioid overdoses and prescription and illegal opioid abuse is staggering.  Roughly 50 Americans die of an opioid overdose every day.  In March, President Obama unveiled a proposal to increase funding to provide the much needed help for those who are addicted.

Part of this new program will increase access and availability to the opioid reversal medication called, Naloxone.  This medication can help reduce overdose fatalities.  Naloxone is currently available by prescription only (Evzio auto-injector and Narcan nasal spray) for patients or families to use in the event of an overdose.  Naloxone can be prescribed to patients taking high doses of opioids for chronic pain that are not addicted, but are concerned for their safety and/or the safety of those close to them in the event of an accidental overdose.

All states, except for Missouri, have prescription drug monitoring programs (PMDPs) in place that help pharmacists identify abuse patterns and curtail diversion. Pharmacists in several states are being given the authorization to fill Naloxone without a prescription.  Pharmacists can also assist patients that are interested in tapering down or off their prescription opioids.  Other medications as well as non-pharmaceutical options are available that can help reduce the need for opioids.

To read more about the President’s proposal click on the following link: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/29/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-additional-actions-address

For more information about opioid epidemic check out the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

To get treatment for opioid addiction call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Tria Health Partners with the VNA of Kansas City to Improve Patient Outcomes

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The Visiting Nurses Association of Kansas City (VNAKC) was recognized by the VNAA as this year’s winner of the “Innovative Partnership Award” for its partnership with Tria Health.

About Tria Health & the VNAKC:

In 2014, an in-home pharmacist grant was submitted with the objective to improve health outcomes by increasing medication education, lowering medication discrepancies and lowering re-hospitalization for Medicare patients with CHF, COPD, Diabetes and those patients taking 8 or more medications. A partnership was developed with UMKC School of Pharmacy to include the in-home pharmacist program as an option in the community rotation for senior level students. Tria Health was contracted by the VNAKC to provide preceptor and pharmacist supervision to the students.

Clean Medicine Start for a New Year!

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Each year millions of us resolve to take better care of ourselves and families.  Often this is a resolution to eat better,  quit smoking,  be more consistent with medicines, or even lose weight to get off a medication or two.  Why not start the New Year with a clean medicine cabinet?

Gather all your medications and supplements together, and follow these guidelines:

  • Take stock of what you have and refill chronic medications you will soon need.
  • Expired or rarely used medications should be thrown out.
  • If you have not used the medication or supplement in the last 6 months and do not see a likely need for it in the next 6 months dispose of this too.
  • For tips on proper disposal, check out these guidelines on the FDA’s website or visit disposemymeds.org.
  • If possible, store all the medications together for ease of use and convenience.
  • Pain medications or other controlled substances should be safely stored out of reach of children and other “curious” adults.

You’ll be left with a cleaner, better organized, and smaller medication supply.  This will also reduce the likelihood you go out and buy more allergy medication when Spring rolls around; because you know you already have some!

Happy New Year!