Tria Health

The Great American Smokeout

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Pile of used cigarettes
Image Source: Paweł Czerwiński/Unsplash

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, accounting for 29% of all cancer deaths. Not only does smoking cause cancer, it can damage nearly every organ in the body, including the lungs, heart, blood vessels, reproductive organs, mouth, skin, eyes, and bones.1 Tomorrow is The American Cancer Society’s 43rd annual Great American Smokeout® (GASO). GASO is the perfect opportunity for everyone to commit to living tobacco-free. We know that quitting smoking can be difficult and can take more than a day. GASO isn’t necessarily the day for smokers to quit smoking, but rather the day for smokers to start their journey toward a smoke-free life.

How to Get Started

Quitting isn’t an easy task. It takes planning, commitment, trial and error, and a lot of support. Smokers are strongly advised to use proven cessation methods, such as prescription medications and counseling, or a combination of both, to quit smoking. It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor or pharmacist to get their advice.1 If you’re interested in creating your quit plan, click here for more info.

How to Help Someone that Smokes

If you have a friend or family member ready to quit, here are a few recommendations to help you along the way2:

  • Ask the person whether they want you to ask regularly how they’re doing. Ask how they’re feeling – not just whether they’ve stayed quit.
  • Don’t judge, nag, preach, tease, or scold. This may make the smoker feel worse about him or herself. You don’t want your loved one to turn to a cigarette to soothe hurt feelings.
  • If the person relapses, encourage them to try again. Studies show that most people who don’t succeed in quitting are ready to try again in the near future.

For more tips, click here.

Tria Health and Tobacco Cessation

For employers that offer Tria Health’s Tobacco Cessation Program, Tria provides free confidential counseling with a clinical pharmacist. If you ready to quit smoking, Tria Health’s pharmacist will assist you in managing your medications and finding a treatment plan that works for you.

Tria Health assists, not only members who smoke cigarettes, but members looking to end their use of all tobacco products (e-cigarettes, smoke-free tobacco, hookah, etc.) While scientists are still learning more about the effects of e-cigarettes or e-hookahs, there is already enough evidence to justify efforts to prevent e-cigarette use. We know that the vapor from e-cigarettes is harmful because it contains harmful ingredients, including nicotine. Nicotine exposure during adolescence can cause addiction and can harm the developing brain.3 In addition, smokeless tobacco products also contains many harmful ingredients.4 Tria Health believes in order to maintain optimal health, it is imperative to end the use of all tobacco products.

Have any questions?

Contact the Tria Health Help Desk: 1.888.799.8742

 

Sources:

  1. https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/great-american-smokeout.html
  2. https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/helping-a-smoker-quit.html
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/features/ecigarettes-young-people/index.html
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/smokeless/health_effects/index.htm

Tria Health & Medtrakrx Charitable Event Raises Over $90,000 for Folds of Honor

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ProAm Golf Tournament helps families of fallen or disabled military heroes with scholarship funds


PRESS RELEASE: Earlier this fall, Tria Health, a chronic condition management company, and MedTrakRx, a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) and division of EnvisionRxOptions, hosted the seventh annual Folds of Honor ProAm Golf Tournament at Milburn Country Club in Overland Park, Kan. This year’s event raised more than $90,000 to fund educational scholarships for children and spouses of our fallen or disabled military heroes.

Folds of Honor, established in 2007, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational scholarships to families of America’s fallen or disabled service members in an effort to provide hope and healing. Of the 1-million-plus dependents adversely affected by military deployments, nearly nine out of 10 do not qualify for federal scholarship assistance.

With the support of partners and sponsors from around the country, including MedTrakRx’s parent company, EnvisionRxOptions, and presenting sponsors Rite Aid and WellSky, more than $500,000 has been raised for Folds of Honor over the past seven years.

During this year’s ProAm tournament, more than 100 golfers, including 27 premiere golf professionals from across the nation, took to the course to raise scholarship funds for Folds of Honor. Kelli Campbell, mother of four scholarship recipients, also attended the event sharing her story and gratitude.

“After losing Shawn, my partner, my best friend, the stronger and more patient half of our team, I had no idea what life was supposed to look like anymore. I was a Marine’s wife without her Marine and a homeschooling mom without her home,” said Campbell. “And that’s when God sent Folds of Honor.”

Campbell lost her husband, Major Shawn Campbell, in a Marine Corps helicopter collision in Hawaii on January 14, 2016. She left Hawaii with her four children—Tristan (11 years old), Kenna (eight years old), Kate (six years old) and Donovan (one year old)—and moved to Kansas City to be close to her parents.

“A Folds of Honor scholarship is about so much more than paying a bill, it’s not just tuition,” Campbell continued. “For me those scholarships restored my hope for my children’s futures. And the ripple effects of one single scholarship never end. When I realized I could afford to enroll my kids at Whitefield Academy, I had this tiny bit of light shed on our future. I didn’t even know at the time if we were going to stay in Kansas City, but Folds of Honor handed me an anchor. One step at a time, we found a home near the school, we found a church near our home, we found friends, sports, music. We started a new life I believe Shawn is proud of.

“Not everyone is called to serve in uniform, but I believe we are all called to serve in some fashion. Your attendance here today honors my husband and families like mine. By supporting Folds of Honor, this is what you’re investing in,” Campbell concluded. “Young people who will grow up to be world-changers. You are telling children like mine that you see them, that you recognize the sacrifice they didn’t sign up for.”

Tria Health and MedTrakRx are honored to help raise funds to educate the families of America’s fallen and wounded heroes through the Folds of Honor organization.

National Drug Take Back Day is 10/27

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Disposing of medications safely can help protect your family from getting or using medications that are expired or out of date; prevent the illegal use of unused medications and minimize any potential negative impact on the environment. For this reason, the DEA is giving the public an opportunity to dispose of unwanted and/or expired prescription drugs. This is a FREE and anonymous service—take medications back, no questions asked!

Where do I go?

Visit the DEA’s website to find a collection site:

https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1s1

Why can’t I throw out my medications at home?

Unfortunately, throwing out your medications as home can lead to many harmful impacts on the environment or create safety risks for trash handlers. In addition, 53% of pain relievers for misuse are given by, bought from or took from a friend or relative.1 It’s important to safely dispose of your medications to help minimize the impact of the recent opioid epidemic.

 How can Tria Health Help?

As a member of Tria Health, if you have multiple medications and are afraid you’ll throw away the wrong medication, we can provide additional assistance in selecting the proper medications. Tria provides one-on-one consultations with a clinical pharmacist who assists you with your medication management.

Questions?

Call the Tria Health Help Desk at 1.888.799.8742

 

Source:

  1. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-DetTabs-2016/NSDUH-DetTabs-2016.pdf

Tria Health’s Impact on Shawnee County

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Tria Health recently made the paper in regards to our successful partnership with Shawnee County!

To view the article click here.

Tria Health’s Pharmacy Advocate Program offers one-on-one confidential counseling with a Tria Pharmacist to discuss how effective your medications are in treating your conditions. Your pharmacist will work with you and your physicians to reduce the risk of medication-related problems.

Shawnee County’s participation in Tria Health’s pharmacy advocacy program, which comes at an annual cost of $32,286, is on pace to save the county $254,415 this year, county commissioners learned this past week. Tria Health reviewed the prescriptions taken by those employees and found 84 “drug therapy problems” such as a patient’s receiving unnecessary drug therapy, a patient’s needing additional therapy or dosages being too high or too low. 1

 

Questions about Tria Health?

Call 1.888.799.8742

 

Source:

  1. https://www.cjonline.com/news/20181007/participation-in-pharmacy-advocacy-program-saves-shawnee-county-money

National Patient Safety Awareness Week!

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Female doctor with stethoscope holding heart
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