( BW)(CA-STAYHEALTHY-INC) Stayhealthy Announces Partnership With PharMerica; Leading Web-Enabled Products and Services Company to Use Innovative Tools in Partnership With Assisted Living Market Leader
Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers
MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 2000--Stayhealthy, Inc., a leading online company dedicated to empowering consumers to monitor their health and fitness, has signed a partnership agreement with PharMerica, the leading provider of professional quality pharmacy products and services to the long-term care, assisted living, sub acute, and skilled nursing industries. John Collins, chief executive officer of Stayhealthy, and Charles J. Carpenter, PharMerica's president and chief executive officer, made the announcement today.
Under the terms of the agreement, Stayhealthy will integrate its innovative, Web-enabled products and services into PharMerica's diverse product offerings through its nationwide network of 145 pharmacies. PharMerica serves more than 330,000 residents living in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, residential and independent living communities, specialty hospitals and home settings. PharMerica's services also include home pharmacy support that delivers medicines, medical supplies and equipment to the workers' compensation claimant, home bound chronically ill and catastrophically injured populations.
The companies plan to launch the partnership with a pilot program in which Stayhealthy devices will be installed and used in nursing home facilities that PharMerica services. Stayhealthy's state-of-the-art equipment will be used to test and monitor residents, each of whom will be provided with a private, password protected Web page where the resident's readings can be stored, displayed and accessed by the residents, their families and caregivers.
Stayhealthy will also establish private e-mail accounts to facilitate patient communications with their family and caregivers. In addition, Stayhealthy will create a shopping cart solution for use by PharMerica and its customers to order health care and nutritional products and supplies.
"The partnership with Stayhealthy is significant to PharMerica's Web-enabled business initiatives because it offers an innovative approach to enhance and broaden our service offerings to our long-term care customers," said Carpenter. "The development of Web-based offerings helps us continue to achieve our goal of extending quality patient care and aggressively maximizing efficiencies via Internet applications."
Through call center support, Web-connectivity and instant e-mail, Stayhealthy's direct-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing programs, products and services will provide improved functionality and substantial content to PharMerica.
"Working with an industry leader like PharMerica allows us to introduce our products and services to the large, rapidly growing assisted care market and gives PharMerica easy-to-use, highly accurate tools that enhance the value and effectiveness of PharMerica's service to its customers," said Collins.
Stayhealthy's products include the BC1 Body Composition and Calorie Tracker, a simple desktop device that allows users to accurately monitor their body composition and measure caloric burn. An essential tool for any weight management or fitness program, the BC1 works with Stayhealthy software to connect users to the Stayhealthy Web site at www.stayhealthy.com through their existing Internet connection and view performance graphs, news and other personalized information in a secure, password-protected environment.
Stayhealthy is leading the development of Web-enabled products and services for management and measurement of weight, blood pressure and heart rate, hearing loss, vision and colorblindness and respiratory function. Created for consumer and clinical use, the company's leading-edge products and services facilitate better communication and increase efficiencies between doctors and patients and health-care facilities, reduce the need for in-person appointments and improve opportunities for early illness detection. In doing so, Stayhealthy's comprehensive home monitoring programs create mutually beneficial opportunities for a wide variety of industries and professionals such as self-insured employers, physicians, dieticians, nutritionists, fitness trainers, health club owners, insurers and others.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., PharMerica operates more than 145 pharmacies nationwide and is a leading provider of pharmacy products and services to approximately 330,000 residents living in skilled nursing facilities; assisted-living facilities; residential and independent-living communities; specialty hospitals; and the home setting. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bergen Brunswig Corporation (BBC), a leading supplier of pharmaceuticals, medical-surgical supplies, specialty health-care products, information management solutions and consulting services for the nation's leading health-care providers, drug stores, manufacturers and patients. Through product distribution, pharmacy management programs and Internet fulfillment strategies, the company is dedicated to reducing costs and improving patient outcomes across the health-care spectrum. For more information, contact PharMerica at 813/626-7788 or visit the PharMerica Web site at www.pharmerica.com.
Headquartered in Monrovia, Stayhealthy is a leader in developing and marketing Web-enabled products and services that empower consumers to screen, assess and monitor their health. The company's proprietary programs are accessed through its comprehensive health Web site that features a comprehensive drug database, original health, nutrition and fitness content, and e-commerce. For more information, contact Stayhealthy at 626/256-6152 or visit the Stayhealthy Web site at www.stayhealthy.com.
--30--JC/la* CONTACT: Stayhealthy.com Peter Bylsma, 626/256-6152 or PharMerica, Tampa Michael McCarthy, 813/626-7788
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA FLORIDA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERNET MEDICAL MARKETING AGREEMENTS |