BRIDGEPORT – Bridgeport Hospital is adding a state-of-the-art retail pharmacy to its lobby next month, marking the sixth Yale New Haven Health has opened at its area hospitals and centers.
The location will offer integrated, personalized pharmacy services for patients, employees and the community, according to Anne Diamond, the hospital’s president. The pharmacy will be open seven days a week for patients being discharged from the hospital, as well as patients looking to refill prescriptions, residents who live in the area and hospital employees.
“This pharmacy not only provides convenient access to medications; it also will bridge the gap between inpatient care and patients going home,” Diamond said. “By having a pharmacy on-site, patients are able to access medications before leaving the hospital, ask questions and learn how to take their medications safely and effectively.”
By filling medications through Yale New Haven Health, the hospital’s healthcare providers can easily communicate with a patient’s provider through Epic/MyChart, which is the electronic medical record system. This leads to quicker responses for medication questions, refill requests, prior authorization approvals and questions about financial assistance.
“We often see many patients who come back because they don’t have access to area pharmacies,” Diamond said just before the hospital cut the ribbon on the new pharmacy. “By filling those prescriptions here, we are providing a seamless transition of care and saving another hospital stay.”
In addition to improving patient experience, the pharmacy is also looking to improve access to pharmacy services for the entire community.
“The direct communication between the pharmacists and the technicians have with the physicians and the expert nursing teams is like no other,” said LeeAnn Miller, vice president and chief pharmacy officer at YNHHS. “We can clarify the medicine is correct and the dosages are correct.
“Second, on access, upwards of 40% of patients do not fill their prescriptions for various reasons. It might be transportation. It might be costs. It might be confusion about the difference in medicine taken while hospitalized compared to when they return home.”
The pharmacy will also offer immunization shots against such diseases as the flu, covid, and shingles. It will also accept all major insurance plans as well as Medicare, Medicaid and HUSKY as well as cash, checks and all major credit cards.
The Bridgeport Hospital retail pharmacy is the sixth to be opened by YNHHS. The others are located at: Lawrence + Memorial Hospital; Saint Raphael’s campus of Yale New Haven Hospital; North Haven Medical Center; Outpatient Pharmacy Services in Hamden, which also provides specialty medications; and the Regional Operations Center in West Haven, which serves Home Infusion therapy patients’ needs.
