Pfizer assesses landmark Florida accord

The innovative private and public Medicaid collaboration agreed betweenPfizer and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (Marketletters May 28 and July 2) will improve the lives of thousands of Floridians and rigorously assess the impact of new information technologies and educational approaches, according to the company.

Under the deal, 23 Pfizer drugs will be listed on Florida's state Medicaid formulary in return for its setting-up of Medicaid health education and disease monitoring programs, and supplying around 50,000 low-income residents with free prescription drugs.

Medicaid patients across Florida, particularly elderly and minority patients, suffer from a lack of quality care due not only to difficulties accessing the health care system but also to a general lack of understanding of health care and disease, the company notes. Under the scheme, patients will receive face-to-face care on a regular basis from specially-trained nurses, the goal being for them to take an active role in managing their own health while reducing the amount of time they spend receiving care in the emergency room, which is often inefficient and expensive, it adds.