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AFROCENTRIC GROUP
66
OPERATIONAL REVIEWS
PHARMACY
DIRECT, CURASANA
AND ACTIVO HEALTH
Pharmacy Direct is a
patient-centred business
, with a
strategic focus
on making
healthcare accessible to all
.
OVERVIEW
Pharmacy Direct is the retail arm of AfroCentric’s pharmaceutical
operations. These include Curasana, a medicines wholesaler;
and Activo Health, a drug importer and rights-holder for
the South African market, in which AfroCentric has a 26%
shareholding.
Pharmacy Direct is a premier courier pharmacy in South Africa,
supplying chronic medication to patients nationally and
internationally, including patients in remote rural areas in
South Africa.
Medicines’ accessibility is often the single biggest factor in
a patient’s compliance with and response to treatment. This
is particularly true in rural areas, where 75% of Pharmacy
Direct’s patients reside, and where the nearest pharmacy
may be out of reach.
Medical aid schemes recognise the value that a courier
pharmacy adds, both from a patient perspective, where
convenient accessibility improves adherence to treatment
regimes, and a funder perspective, in terms of cost savings and
zero fraud. Pharmacy Direct is currently a designated or
preferred service provider to most medical aid schemes in the
private market.
Pharmacy Direct is also a service provider to the National
Department of Health (“DOH”) in the distribution of medication
to patients on the Central Chronic Medication Dispensing and
Distribution (“CCMDD”) programme.
This internationally funded project aims to:
• improve the patient’s experience, access to chronic
medicines and service delivery;
• develop a business model for private sector involvement
in the provision for NHI implementation; and
• pilot the project for NHI implementation.
Pharmacy Direct delivers medication to seven provinces:
Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Free State, Mpumalanga,
Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.
PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
Pharmacy Direct has expanded its patient base to more than
500 000 (2016: 220 000) prescriptions per month through
organic growth and new contracts. This exponential growth is
attributed to:
• exceptional customer care – meeting or exceeding client
expectations in terms of service delivery and our culture of
customer-centricity;
• cost savings to both funders and patients due to preferential
pricing and generic conversions – medication costs are
effectively managed through formulary compliance to
agreed reference pricing;
• being able to deliver parcels anywhere in South Africa,
making healthcare accessible to even the most remote
patients – to date no patient has been denied a delivery
due to an inaccessible address;
• zero fraud due to luxury and other auxiliary items not
stocked; and
• compliance due to the monthly, automated dispensing
and 99.9% on-time delivery of medication, in addition to
collectively managing adherence of patients in partnership
with Medscheme’s managed care, which results in stability
of chronic patients, reducing hospital admissions and
thereby reducing the cost of healthcare.