The U.S. Department of Defense “DoD” has awarded CSC a contract to support its Pharmacy Data Transaction Service “PDTS”, which is part of the U.S. military health system TRICARE.
The contract, which was awarded during CSC's fiscal 2011 second quarter, has a six month base and four option periods, for a total of 51 months, bringing the estimated total value to $95 million.
Officials with CSC said that under the terms of the contract, the company’s team will continue to operate, maintain and enhance the PDTS.
Company officials said that since 1999, the CSC team has provided the design, development, maintenance, operation and defense information technology security certification and accreditation of the PDTS.
"We are pleased that the Department of Defense continues to count on CSC to provide this mission critical military health service that results in improved quality of care for patients," said James W. Sheaffer, president of North American public sector, CSC, in a statement.
"By providing an accurate medication history, we help the Department keep patients safe, whether they choose to receive their medications from a military facility, mail-order or civilian retail pharmacy," said Sheaffer.
CSC is a major player in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business.
These include business solutions and services, the managed services sector and the North American Public Sector..
Teaming with CSC is Emdeon Pharmacy Services, a division of Emdeon. Emdeon Pharmacy Services provides and enhances the pharmacy transaction adjudication system that is the cornerstone of the PDTS service.
According to company officials, since the CSC team first developed the service, PDTS has become a vital tool for the military health system -- allowing the DoD to reduce fraud and abuse, create better management reporting, save money through the avoidance of adverse drug interactions and duplicate therapy -- and, most importantly, increase patient safety.
With real-time functionality, PDTS conducts reviews on new and refill prescriptions to help ensure patient safety and proper usage.
PDTS screens an eligible prescription against the patient's integrated drug profile and provides alerts and warnings for potential drug-related problems such as interactions, drug overlaps and drug dosage levels.
This safety checking happens before medications are dispensed to the patient. PDTS also performs singular real-time edits designed to meet the unique requirements of the DoD pharmacy program.
Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Anil’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Stefanie Mosca
