New National Survey Finds the Majority of Retail Pharmacies and Health Plans Are Concerned About People Actually Taking the COVID-19 Vaccine Once It’s Available

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EnlivenHealth™, a division of Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL), a leading provider of medication management solutions and adherence tools for healthcare systems and pharmacies, today announced the findings of a new national survey which found that 67% of pharmacies and 99% of health plans responding to the survey are either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about people’s willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine once it is available. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, 77% of pharmacies who took part in the EnlivenHealth™ survey said they would either be adopting or expanding year-round vaccination strategies.¹

As a leading provider of patient engagement and communications technology solutions for retail pharmacies and health plans, EnlivenHealth™ is helping pharmacies to create and manage year-round vaccination strategies through the launch today of CareScheduler, a software as a service technology solution. CareScheduler enables hands-free scheduling and vaccine registry reporting for the eventual COVID-19 vaccine. Integrated into EnlivenHealth’s industry-leading Patient Engagement Platform, CareScheduler automates the collection of consent and vaccine administration records without patients having to handle documents in the pharmacy.

CareScheduler eliminates the need for signing physical pieces of paper and minimizes the time patients spend in the pharmacy, greatly reducing infection risk for patients and staff. Given these important benefits, it’s expected that CareScheduler will help allay the concerns of some patients about visiting the pharmacy to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

“As our national survey clearly illustrates, retail pharmacies and their health plan partners are on the frontlines of preparing for the COVID-19 vaccine and ensuring that people take it once it’s available,” said Danny Sanchez, Vice President and General Manager of EnlivenHealth™. “A key part of achieving that goal is building trust in how and where the vaccine will be administrated. By automating existing manual, inefficient workflow and reporting processes and reducing physical interactions and document handling in the pharmacy itself, CareScheduler and our Patient Engagement Platform will help to keep pharmacy patients and staff healthy and safe during the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

EnlivenHealth™ Survey Examines How COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Reimbursed

How the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine will be paid for was also addressed in the EnlivenHealth™ national survey. Some 95% of the health plans who responded to the survey said they would treat the vaccine as preventative care under the Affordable Care Act. In addition, 90% of these health plans believe the COVID-19 vaccine will be covered with a $0 copay, while 73% view the upcoming vaccine as both a medical and pharmacy benefit.

Other major findings of the EnlivenHealth™ COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness Survey, include:

• 88% of pharmacies and 69% of health plans will risk stratify their populations to determine who receives the COVID-19 vaccine first.
• 69% of pharmacies and 86% of health plans intend to undertake marketing and educational programs to inform their patients/members on the importance of getting the vaccine.
• 90% of health plans stated they would not require any prior approval before a member can receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
• 81% of health plans stated they would work with pharmacies to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

EnlivenHealth’s Danny Sanchez continued: “The typical retail pharmacy is already challenged to handle its daily crush of operational and administrative tasks, not even including the widening array of value-added services that pharmacists now provide. This will only be accentuated by the need to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. We have been working closely with the nation’s leading pharmacies to arm them with our proven Patient Engagement Platform and digital tools like CareScheduler. These powerful solutions streamline pharmacy workflow and reporting processes, so pharmacies will be fully prepared to handle growing patient demands related to the COVID-19 vaccine.”

About EnlivenHealth™

EnlivenHealth™ provides proven, advanced digital technology solutions for intelligent patient engagement and communications. Deployed by a national network of more than 30,000 retail pharmacies, the EnlivenHealth™ Patient Engagement Platform empowers pharmacies and health plans to significantly improve medication management, adherence and safety for their patient and member populations. Our mission is to help retail pharmacies and health plans support lifelong optimal health, while measurably improving quality scores, retention and profitability. EnlivenHealth™ is a division of Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL), a leading provider of medication management solutions and adherence tools for healthcare systems and pharmacies. To learn more, visit EnlivenHealth.co.

¹Based on survey sampling of EnlivenHealth^TM retail pharmacy and health plan partners. Results are intended to provide relevant and independent information as to pharmacies’ and health plans’ expectations with respect to COVID-19 readiness. EnlivenHealth™ does not maintain or represent that the information, analyses and/or conclusions necessarily reflect the perspectives of all pharmacies and health plans, and/or the complete market of those involved with COVID-19 readiness.

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