Medco Health Solutions

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. was an American Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) company. Medco provided pharmacy services to private and public employers, health plans, labor unions, government agencies, and individuals served by Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans.

Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
TypeDefunct, formerly public
MHS on the NYSE
IndustryPharmacy Benefit Management
Founded2003
HeadquartersFranklin Lakes, New Jersey
Key people
David B. Snow Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Kenneth O. Klepper, President and Chief Operating Officer
RevenueIncrease $70 Billion USD (2011)
Increase $1.46 Billion USD (2011)
Number of employees
24,000
Websitewww.medcohealth.com

Medco was a member of the S&P 500 and ranked number 34 on the 2011 Fortune 500 list,[1] with 2011 revenues of more than $70 billion.[2] From 2008 to 2012, the company was ranked first on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Companies list in the Healthcare: Pharmacy and Other Services category.[3][4][5][6][7]

It was acquired by Express Scripts in April 2012.[8]

History

Medco was founded as National Pharmacies in 1983.[9] In 1984, after an IPO, National Pharmacies became Medco Containment Services, LLC.[9] In 1993, Medco Containment was acquired by Merck & Co., Inc. and became Merck-Medco.[9][10]

On October 2, 2001, UnitedHealth Group, Merck-Medco,and Accenture launched Xceleron Health LLC, a company created to deliver consulting and business acceleration services to emerging technology-based companies in the healthcare industry.[11]

In 2002, Merck & Co announced plans to spin off Merck-Medco.[9] In August 2003, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. became an independent company.[12] On August 28, 2005, Medco Health Solutions contributed $5,000 to the Southwestern Oklahoma State University College of Pharmacy Scholarship Fund.[13]

In October 2005, Medco was selected as the finalist of a three-year pharmacy benefit contract for the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Self-Funded Health Plans to begin July 1, 2006.[14]

In March 2008, Medco launched a collaboration with Sweden's (then) government-operated retail pharmacy authority, Apoteket, to develop and deliver the first automated electronic prescription review system to improve clinical and financial outcomes for Swedish patients and the country's healthcare system.[15][16]

In 2009, Medco established the Medco Research Institute – an evidence-based research organization.[17][18]

In April 2012, it was acquired by Express Scripts.[8]

Lawsuit

In 2004, Medco settled a lawsuit brought by 20 states alleging that they failed to disclose incentives they received from drug companies and improperly switched or pressured doctors to switch patient's medication that added costs to their health plans.[19] They agreed to pay $29.3 million.[19]

In 2005, Medco Health Solutions agreed to pay the United States $155 million plus interest to settle allegations that it accepted kickbacks from drug makers and submitted false claims to the government.[20] There was no admission of guilt or finding of wrongdoing in either settlement.

Acquisitions

In 2005, Medco acquired Accredo Health for $2.2 billion, a specialty pharmaceutical company.[21] In 2007, Medco acquired diabetes care supplier PolyMedica.[22] In 2010, Medco acquired DNA Direct, a genetic testing services company.[23]

In September 2010, Medco acquired United BioSource Corporation, a company that assesses safety risks and the value of medications when they reach the market.[24]

In April 2008, Medco acquired a majority interest in Europa Apotheek, a privately held company based in the Netherlands that provided mail-order and specialty pharmacy services in Germany.[15] In December 2009, Europa Apotheek Venlo acquired shop-apotheke.com – one of Germany's online OTC and healthcare product sites.[25]

In August 2009, Medco formed a joint venture with United Drug plc, a pan-European healthcare leader, to provide home-based pharmacy care services in the United Kingdom for patients covered by the country's National Health Service.[26] In October 2011, Medco bought out United Drug Plc's half of their British home care joint venture the companies began in 2009.[26]

In June 2010, Medco and Celesio AG announced a European joint venture for patients with chronic and complex conditions.[27] In September 2011, Medco took full ownership of the venture.[28]

In April 2012, Medco Health Solutions was acquired by Express Scripts.[29]


Pharmacies

Medco Pharmacy operated 10 mail-order pharmacies[30] and partners with a nationwide network of approximately 60,000 retail pharmacies. Medco's automated pharmacies were located in Las Vegas, Indianapolis, and Willingboro, NJ, and together had the capacity to fill more than three million prescriptions per week.

Medco's mail-order business generated $26 billion in 2011 net revenues and was one of the largest pharmacy operations in the United States. In 2011, 113 million of the 757.7 million prescriptions Medco filled were processed through its mail-order pharmacies. In 2011, nearly 10.5 million of the new prescriptions Medco managed were ePrescriptions.

Medco held 42 U.S. patents for patient data management, front-end pharmacy technology and automated pharmacy technology, and 56 international patents for automated pharmacy-dispensing technology.

Customers can also purchase their medications online and have them delivered. [31]

References
  1. "Fortune 500 2011 - Medco Health Solutions". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  2. "Fortune 500 2012 - Medco Health Solutions". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  3. "10 Most Admired for managing talent - Medco Health Solutions (1) - FORTUNE". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  4. "World's Most Admired Companies: Medco Health Solutions". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  5. "Medco Health Solutions". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  6. "World's Most Admired Companies 2010: Medco Health Solutions snapshot - FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  7. "World's Most Admired Companies 2009: Medco Health Solutions snapshot - from FORTUNE". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  8. Solomont, E.B. (2 April 2012). "Express Scripts, Medco complete $29 billion merger". St. Louis Business Journal.
  9. Brubaker, Bill (2002-01-30). "Merck to Spin Off Medco Unit". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  10. Freudenheim, Milt (1993-07-29). "COMPANY NEWS; Merck Will Pay $6 Billion For Giant Drug Discounter (Published 1993)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  11. "UnitedHealth Group, Merck-Medco and Accenture Join Forces To Create Business Accelerator For Health Industry". Businesswire.com. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
  12. "COMPANY NEWS; MERCK SETS DATE FOR SPINOFF OF MEDCO HEALTH SOLUTIONS (Published 2003)". The New York Times. 2003-08-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  13. "Company gives $5,000 for pharmacy scholarship". The Oklahoman. 28 August 2005. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
  14. "CalPERS Board Selects Medco as Finalist to Provide Pharmacy Benefit Program". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
  15. Krauskopf, Lewis (2008-04-08). "Medco to buy stake in European mail-order pharmacy". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  16. Merrill, Molly (2008-03-31). "Medco collaborates with Swedish pharmacy authority on eRx review system". Healthcare IT News. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  17. "Fortune 500 2010: Top 1000 American Companies - Medco Health Solutions - MHS - FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com". CNN Money. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  18. "Medco Health Solutions posts 24 percent profit increase". nj. 2010-02-24. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  19. Freudenheim, Milt (2004-04-27). "Medco to Pay $29.3 Million to Settle Complaints of Drug Switching (Published 2004)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  20. "Medco to Pay $155 Million in Kickback Case (Published 2006)". The New York Times. 2006-10-24. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  21. "Medco Health Solutions to acquire Accredo". NBC News. 2005-02-23. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  22. "Medco to Acquire Diabetes Supplier (Published 2007)". The New York Times. 2007-08-29. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  23. Berkrot, Bill (2010-02-02). "Medco buys genetic services company DNA Direct". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  24. Krauskopf, Lewis (2010-08-16). "Medco to buy United BioSource for $730 million". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  25. Perry, Jessica (2009-12-07). "Medco acquires German e-tailer of health care products". NJBIZ. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  26. "Medco to buy out British JV partner United Drug". Reuters. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  27. Todd, Susan (2010-06-21). "Medco Health enters joint venture to gain entry into Europeon [sic] markets". nj. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  28. Kresge, Naomi (2011-09-27). "Medco, Celesio End European Partnership on Chronic Disease". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  29. "Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions Complete Merger; Will Address National Mandate for More Affordable, Higher Quality Healthcare" (PDF). Hr.cornell.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
  30. https://legacy.imperial.edu/ivc/files/HR/MEDCOPharmacyMail-OrderForm.pdf
  31. "Express Scripts Members: Manage Your Prescriptions Online". www.express-scripts.com. Retrieved 2023-09-15.
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