Key Moments in the History of RxP:
May 2008: Alcon Laboratories, Inc. joins RxP donating a comprehensive list of pharmaceuticals for the eye and ear.
February 2008: RxP receives landmark positive Opinion from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), officially approving RxP’s innovative model and the donation of free bulk medication to free clinics and community health centers through RxP’s program.
December 2007: RxP reaches $15 million mark in retail value of free medications distributed.
November 2007: RxP awarded the first runner-up prize (out of 343 applicants) for the national 2007 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. RxP also begins work on the development of an internet-based, customized database to streamline the reporting and ordering process.
October 2007: A press conference is held at the State Capitol
November 2006: At MSVF Gala event, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announces that Abbott joins RxP as newest manufacturing partner.
June 2006: Fiscal Year End: Cumulatively, $7,269,859 of free bulk medications distributed to RxP Affiliates. 9,502 unduplicated patients receive 29,924 prescriptions.
March 2006: General Assembly increases GF allocation for RxP.
January 2006: Novartis Pharmaceuticals joins RxP as third pharmaceutical manufacturer to donate free bulk medications. RxP reaches $5 million mark in free medications distributed.
November 2005: RxP receives Award of Excellence by Carilion Foundation for outstanding service to Carilion area clinics.
June 2005: Fiscal year end: $2,497,676 retail value of free bulk medications distributed to RxP Affiliates. 2,824 unduplicated patients receive 7,415 prescriptions. Offices move with MSVF to Emerywood Parkway location.
April 2005: Merck & Co. joins RxP. First annual Affiliates Roundtable held in Charlottesville. Program and product audits of Affiliates begin.
January 2005: General Assembly approves GF allocation for RxP for the next biennium.
October 2004: GlaxoSmithKline joins RxP as the first pharmaceutical manufacturing company to donate bulk medications. A press conference held at State Capitol.
August 2003: the Rx Drug Access Partnership (known as Rx Partnership) is incorporated as a nonprofit organization to serve as a broker agency between pharmaceutical manufacturers and health care organizations.
January 2003: The Medical Society of Virginia Foundation (MSVF), the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF), and other partners jointly facilitate the creation of RxP. The General Assembly of Virginia, at the recommendation of its Joint Commission on Health Care, gives two year General Fund (GF) appropriation to RxP.
History of Rx Partnership
In November, 2002, a group of concerned individuals representing health safety net providers in Virginia gathered to address medication access issues. As they knew, more than one in four uninsured Virginians (27%) goes without needed medication because they cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions.
The group researched existing options and developed a new, innovative and cost-effective program that built on Virginia’s existing network of Free Clinics and Community Health Centers in order to secure access to free medication for Virginia’s uninsured of all ages. The program they created was built around the concept of a “broker” model where an independent third party is created to serve as a broker between pharmaceutical manufacturers and health care organizations; streamlining the process to get more medications to uninsured Virginians. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many partners since 2002, the unique organization they created – called Rx Partnership (RxP) – has flourished and helped improve the lives of thousands of Virginians.
Currently:
- A total of 20 free clinics and community health centers are receiving medicines in bulk for their patients through RxP.
- More that 75,000 prescriptions (valued at over $15 million) for more than 14,000 unduplicated patients have been filled. Most importantly, patients get immediate access to their prescriptions because there is no waiting period for RxP medicines.
- RxP currently offers treatment options for more than 20 disease states including hypertension, asthma, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, high cholesterol and depression through the generosity of GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Novartis, Abbott and Alcon.
