The Jacksonville Walmart Pharmacy is now a specialty pharmacy, a state-licensed pharmacy that provides medications to people with chronic or more severe health conditions. Accreditation of specialty pharmacies is done through the Medical Accreditation Commission.
“What we are opening here now is a community specialty pharmacy that specializes in autoimmune medications,” said Bethany Evans, Director of Pharmacy Operations Community Health and Human Services. “What this means is that we are currently one of only three stores out of approximately 4,500 that can dispense medicines that patients would normally have to obtain by mail, making us a national healthcare provider. This means that access to the “community” will be maintained. “
The Jacksonville site was selected as a specialty pharmacy due to the proportion of specialty medications needed by patients.
“When we looked at our prescription data, we found that up to 10% of our volume here was actually specialty drugs, so it made sense that there was a need in the community,” Evans said. Ta.
Evans said one in five Americans uses specialized medications.
Pharmacy Clinic Services Manager Inga Collins said specialty medicines may require special handling and storage and are often in the form of injectables.
“If it’s an autoimmune disease, it’s treated with specialized medications,” Collins says. “When we think about specialty, and when we treat these autoimmune diseases, we typically look at whether it’s a mail-order pharmacy or a designated specialty pharmacy. What does that mean for us? That’s really interesting, but we can take it out of the mail order box and bring it to the local area.”
Walmart pharmacies can now assess and develop care plans for community-based patients in our in-pharmacy clinics. Special drugs are currently available to treat rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, atopic dermatitis, plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.
“Our pharmacists have clinical training so they can advise patients on things like how to inject medications and lifestyle changes,” said Kim Shaw, health and wellness market director and pharmacist.
Walmart Pharmacy becoming a specialty pharmacy opens up another avenue of health care access and treatment for residents of Jacksonville and the surrounding areas.