Hayat Health Mart named McKesson Pharmacy of the Year
ORLANDO, Fla. — During the Opening General Session at McKesson’s 2014 ideaShare conference, Frank Starn, SVP and COO of McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical, and Steve Courtman, president, Health Mart, presented Milwaukee, Wis.-based Hayat Health Mart Pharmacy with the grand prize as the 2014 Pharmacy of the Year award winner.
Hayat Health Mart Pharmacy, owned by Hashim Zaibak, has been a McKesson customer and a member of the Health Mart franchise since the pharmacy opened in January 2011.
McKesson’s Pharmacy of the Year award recognizes independent pharmacies for the exceptional contributions they make to their communities and the leadership they demonstrate in the areas of quality patient care, innovative marketing and technology adoption.
Three other pharmacies were recognized by McKesson as Pharmacy of the Year regional winners for their innovation and contributions:
Butterfield Health Mart Pharmacy in Fort Pierce, Fla., owned by David Wright
Jamestown Health Mart Pharmacy in Jamestown, Pa., owned by Bretton and Stacey Walberg
River Road Health Mart Pharmacy in Eugene, Ore., owned by Brian Marr
“Through their passionate commitment to serving the needs of their community, Hashim Zaibak and his team at Hayat Health Mart Pharmacy clearly demonstrate why community pharmacy continues to succeed and grow,” stated Mark Walchirk, president of McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical. “McKesson is proud to provide independent pharmacies with clinical programs to help them improve patient outcomes, marketing support to expand their local presence and technology solutions to help increase revenue and efficiencies. Hayat Health Mart has become an integral member of its community by establishing strong, personal relationships with patients and offering the latest clinical services for improved health.”
Zaibak and his wife, Bushra, own and operate five Health Mart pharmacies with plans to open a sixth location soon. The communities they serve are mainly in the inner city of Milwaukee, where they feel they can have the most impact on patients who may not otherwise get the care they need. They started a program called “Hayat Cares” to help provide free health education at community centers and places of worship on a variety of health topics, including diabetes and heart health, which are key issues for the community. Recognizing the diversity of their community, the pharmacy also hosts one seminar a month for Iraqi refugees living in Milwaukee and is working with Somali-, Spanish-, and Hmong-speaking staff to create programs in those respective languages as well.
"Most of our locations are in the inner city of Milwaukee, and we specifically picked those locations because we felt those are the patients that we can impact the most by having the services we offer," Zaibak stated. “If we prevent one heart attack or stroke, we will have done our job.”
Hayat Health Mart is the only pharmacy in the area to offer free delivery, in-home medication therapy management and a medication synchronization program called Simplify My Meds, developed by the National Community Pharmacists Association. To simplify their patients’ lives and increase therapy compliance, the five Hayat locations help more than 400 patients with medication synchronization.
How it works: A pharmacy employee regularly calls patients when their monthly coordinated prescription pick-up date is coming, checks for any discontinued items and goes over any new therapies. The example Hayat Health Mart Pharmacy has set is now leading the way for MTM and med sync programs throughout Wisconsin. To share his insights from implementing the program, Zaibak taught the continuing education course “Practical Steps for Integrating MTM into Your Daily Practice Routine” at the McKesson ideaShare conference during Sunday’s continuing education sessions.
Hayat Health Mart Pharmacy also has established a strong presence in the local community with a proactive marketing program developed in partnership with Health Mart, which includes custom radio and billboard ads featuring real patients and employees, a “door hanger competition” for their delivery drivers to help attract new customers and commercials that play at the local movie theater.
“My wife and I started Hayat Health Mart Pharmacy with the intention of making a difference and affecting change in our community because at the end of the day, there is always a patient who cannot afford their medication or someone who just cannot get to the pharmacy. We wanted to do more for the underserved community and provide a higher level of care and knowledge to increase compliance and promote good health,” Zaibak said. “The partnership we have with McKesson, with continuous support and access to new clinical programs and technology solutions, has played a significant role in our success and our ability to make an impact. Being Pharmacy of the Year means that we have been blessed by being able to achieve many of the goals we set for ourselves, but it also inspires us to achieve even bigger goals in the future.”