University of Tennessee Health Science Center and FDS, Inc. Form Partnership to Study the Impact of Community Pharmacy Driven COVID-19 Testing on Public Health

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FDS, Inc., a leading pharmacy software company, announced today a partnership with University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Pharmacy to mobilize community pharmacies as COVID-19 testing sites and to study the impact on public health.

Recent actions by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services authorize pharmacists, the nation's most accessible healthcare provider, to order and administer COVID-19 tests. This, along with payment recognition by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, has made it possible for pharmacists across the country to increase access to care by offering this service to their communities during the public health emergency.

"By leveraging the FDS MedBill Clinical product, pharmacists have a turnkey solution that provides practical education and training on COVID-19 testing, additional enrollment and registration assistance to meet compliance and billing requirements, and access to software that is needed for billing the medical benefit and for proper documentation of care," said Jason Ausili, Pharm.D., Chief Clinical Officer for FDS. "We are excited to help activate an important channel of COVID-19 testing by providing a complete solution that drives comfort and confidence in a viable Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) practice and reimbursement model."

"This partnership will help community pharmacies across Tennessee, some in rural and medically underserved areas, provide vital access to COVID-19 testing that may otherwise not exist," said Kenneth Hohmeier, Associate Professor, Director of Community Affairs, University of Tennessee Health and Sciences Center. "Our goal is to study the public health impact of a community pharmacy-based COVID-19 Point-of-Care testing practice and the results may be helpful in understanding the lasting effects of pharmacist provided care within communities in need of accessible healthcare."

UTHSC and FDS will collaborate on grant funding requests that will be used to assemble 50 community-based pharmacy participants across the state of Tennessee and underwrite a 12 to 18-month research project aimed at measuring the impact on public health. Qualifying pharmacy participants will be provided a turnkey solution to setting up their COVID-19 Testing practice.

About FDS, Inc.
FDS strengthens the health of pharmacies and their patients. We empower community pharmacies to build the clinically-focused New Era Pharmacy, enabling their business to thrive now and successfully transition to a provider of community and population health through data insights, purpose-built technology solutions, and clinical services enablement. Read more about FDS at fdsrx.com.

About UTHSC College of Pharmacy
As Tennessee's only public, statewide, academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health through education, research, clinical care, and public service, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region. The main campus in Memphis includes six colleges: Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. UTHSC also educates and trains medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and health professions students, as well as medical residents and fellows, at major sites in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville. For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/uthsc, Twitter: twitter.com/uthsc, LinkedIn: linkedin.com/uthsc, and Instagram: instagram.com/uthsc

SOURCE FDS, Inc.

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