Omnicare (NYSE:OCR), an institutional pharmacy service provider based in Cincinnati, Ohio, has started to roll out a new Concierge program to meet the needs of assisted living residents.
“Our strongest offering has been toward skilled nursing, but [we’ve started] rolling out new services targeted at assisted living,” said Patrick Lee, vice president of investor relations at Omnicare during an interview with SHN.
“We serve independent living today, but we believe we can differentiate our offering further.”
While Omnicare has offered assisted living services in the past, the new Assisted Living Concierge is substantially different.
“[The concierge] is intended to bring the customer experience to a new level,” said Lee in an email to SHN.
Using its staff of more than 600 clinical pharmacists nationwide, the company says it’s best suited to help providers meet the needs of residents with higher acuity levels, something providers haven’t had to do as much of in the past.
“[Working with providers], we can provide additional tools to help residents and their responsible parties lower their costs of medications,” he said.
The first phase of the program rolled out in the Midwest earlier this year and while Lee wouldn’t divulge too much pending the nationwide release of the program, it’s based around offering a simplified service model that allows the resident, family, and operator to all be on the same page.
The new roll out includes several new technologies and clinical tools intended to improve the quality of resident care.
“Assisted living’s pharmacy needs have not been met for years, but we plan on changing that by getting it where it needs to be,” Lee said.
Omnicare plans to roll out its Concierge platform for assisted living communities nationwide in the second half of the year.
Written by John Yedinak
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