Albany Area Primary Health Care forms partnership with CareSource [The Albany Herald, Ga.]

Jan. 4—ATLANTA — CareSource, a mission-driven Medicaid plan serving more than 500,000 Georgians, has partnered with Albany Area Primary Health Care, a community health center serving southwest Georgia, to improve patient outcomes and quality of care. The partnership is part of CareSource's Pharmacy Residency Program, which gives new and experienced pharmacists the opportunity to increase their knowledge base in various areas of managed care.

"The collaboration between CareSource and AAPHC has been beneficial because it has provided additional resources to improve health outcomes in our underserved patient population," Tracey Howell, a pharmacist at AAPHC, said. "We are very grateful for this opportunity and look forward to continuing this partnership in the future."

The CareSource Pharmacy Residency Program gives residents the ability to contribute to the success of the pharmacy team throughout their program year. There have been 16 residents to graduate from the program since its inception. Dr. Amanda Roberts is the current CareSource Pharmacy Resident volunteer at AAPHC.

"The CareSource mission is the heartbeat of our company, which is making a lasting difference in members' lives by improving their health and well-being," Dr. Turkesia Robertson-Jones, associate vice president of pharmacy for the Southeast Region, said. "Our pharmacy residents demonstrate our mission every time they interact and have a positive impact on the health of our Georgia Medicaid members."

In addition to their work at the health center and supporting the pharmacy team at CareSource, the pharmacy residents are required to complete a teaching certificate and a research project. Roberts' research project will study the socioeconomic factors that cause patients to be non-adherent to their medications.

"We are grateful for the partnership with AAPHC," Shannon Steele, Manager Pharmacy Community Programs, Residency Program director, and pharmacist, said of the collaboration. "Not only does it help improve the care of patients, it also provides our pharmacy resident, Amanda, with first-hand experience on how to develop and implement effective clinical programs. She can bring that knowledge back to CareSource, and we can benefit even more patients."

CareSource is a nonprofit, nationally recognized managed care organization with more than 2 million members. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, since its founding in 1989, CareSource administers one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the U.S. The organization offers health insurance, including Medicaid, Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicare Advantage and dual-eligible programs. As a mission-driven organization, CareSource is transforming health care with innovative programs that address the social determinants of health, health equity, prevention and access to care.

For more information, visit www.caresource.com, follow @caresource on Twitter, or like CareSource on Facebook.

Albany Area Primary Health Care is a community health center serving southwest Georgia. They provide primary care services as well as internal and family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, podiatry, general dentistry, vision care, behavioral health, school-based health centers, and pharmacy services to the Albany community. Visit www.aaphc.org to learn more.

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