Welcome to Hadley Presents.
I'm your host, Ricky Enger, inviting you to sit back,
relax, and enjoy a conversation with the experts.
In this episode, we discuss the Spoken RX service
from CVS Pharmacy,
and our guest is Pharmacy Operations Manager,
Lindsey Desrosiers.
Welcome to the show, Lindsey.
Thank you, Ricky, so excited to be here.
Yes, it is fantastic to have you as well.
I can't wait to dive into our discussion today.
But I suppose before we do that,
why don't we just get a little info about you.
Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do at CVS.
Sure, gladly.
I am a pharmacist by education
and I work for CVS Pharmacy
and particularly manage Spoken RX,
which is an audible label feature
available at our CVS Pharmacy locations.
I manage the day-to-day operations for Spoken RX,
which is very exciting work.
That's fantastic.
I can tell you really love what you do with Spoken RX,
and actually we love it too here at Hadley.
In fact, we've created some workshops
on how to go through the process of getting it set up
and then just how to use Spoken Rx.
And of course, those are going to be available for free
on the Hadley website,
and we'll touch on that again a little later.
You've kind of alluded to this a bit in your intro,
but why don't we then,
just before we really dive into talking
about all the cool things about Spoken RX,
what exactly is it?
Yeah, of course.
So Spoken RX is a breakthrough feature
on our CVS Pharmacy application.
And it reads prescription information aloud in English,
or Spanish.
Spoken RX is an important aid for patients
with complete blindness, significant visual impairment,
literacy or language difficulties, or dyslexia.
It is available at no cost to patients,
so very exciting that we have this in all our locations.
Yeah, for sure.
Yes, yes.
We worked very closely
with the American Council of the Blind
throughout the entire process.
And they really provided some valuable input
and feedback in both the development and testing
of Spoken RX.
So of all the similar at home audible label readers
that patients can use at home, this is really
the first in-app prescription reader application
to be developed by a national retail pharmacy.
And it's very unique because it directly connects
to CVS's internal dispensing software
in a way that can read the radio frequency stickers
to help eliminate difficulties in differentiating
and managing medication.
Patients will know exactly what medication
they're holding in their hand and how to take it.
And with Spoken RX,
patients no longer need to have a separate device
and can get their medication information anytime,
anywhere with a couple taps on their smartphone
and scanning their pill container.
So Spoken RX really does add to our existing braille,
audio and large print accessible prescription label options
that are already available through CVS.com.
And it's one of the latest features integrated
into our CVS Pharmacy mobile application,
which makes it easy for patients to stay connected
to health resources, refill their prescriptions,
and also make appointments for health services
such as vaccinations and testing.
That's awesome.
And I just have to say, I love that you all consulted
with people who are blind or have low vision
to really get the info you needed to make this
as good a product as it can be because that's so important.
Also, if you don't have a smartphone,
and we'll get to this a bit later,
but if you don't have a smartphone, don't tune out now
because there are options for you as well.
Before we get into that though,
what was the reasoning behind CVS Pharmacy
deciding to develop Spoken RX?
Yes, so at CVS Pharmacy,
we're always looking for new ways to innovate
and really just serve our patients better.
Recognizing that prescription management
and medication adherence can be particularly difficult
for patients with visual impairments
or those who cannot read a standard print label,
because the font can be very small on those labels
with all the information available.
CVS Pharmacy really listened to all of the feedback
and decided to develop its own solution.
There're really no restrictions with Spoken RX,
anyone can get it,
and it allows for a greater level of privacy,
safety and independence for our blind
and visually impaired patients.
That's great.
So you don't have to actually wait longer
for your prescription just because it has to have
a special label or whatever, that happens the same day,
which is amazing.
But I guess it's worth asking the question,
where is it available?
Is it just like a few cities
and it's rolling out to other places over time,
or is it available everywhere?
We're available now
in all our CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide.
We have almost 10,000 stores and Spoken RX is available
in all of the local retail locations.
That's got to be a relief,
because I know that for a lot of people, they are in areas
where maybe there were pharmacy solutions previously,
but it wasn't available in their area for whatever reason.
I'm curious though, we've talked a lot
about the availability on a smartphone, which is awesome,
but for people who for whatever reason
are just not smartphone people,
either they really want the buttons
or they're sticking with the landline for now,
is there something available for them
to read Spoken RX tags as well?
Yes.
The great thing is that we do have multiple options
for Spoken RX.
If they do not have access to the application,
they're able to request one free standalone speaker device
from their local pharmacy team.
Got you, that's awesome.
So we've talked about what Spoken RX is
and maybe in theory how it might work,
but why don't we dive a little deeper into that.
How exactly does the technology work,
so that you have all of this information
that somehow makes it onto the printed label?
I'm always amazed by just how much stuff fits there.
How does that information then get transmitted
to a person who's using Spoken RX?
Yeah, so the process is very simple.
First, I'll just say the enrollment process is very simple.
It's free for all patients and there's no restrictions,
as I mentioned before,
so any patient can request Spoken RX audible labels.
And really, for the enrollment process,
all patients need to do if they're going to use
the digital application,
they'll download the CVS Pharmacy app
from either the App store or Google Play,
depending on which device they have,
and just register a CVS Pharmacy digital account.
And then when they go to their pharmacy,
either they can do this either in the store
when they're going in for their prescriptions
or over the phone, they can just connect
with their local pharmacist or pharmacy team
and request Spoken RX in their profile.
So it's very simple to set this up.
The pharmacy team will ensure that they have their indicator
and their profile all set.
And then all their prescriptions going forward
will have the audible labels affixed.
So how it works, is now our stores are equipped
with the proper equipment and they have these stickers
that will be affixed to the bottom
of the patient's prescription bottle
or outside of the container or package.
This little tag, which is like a little white sticker,
will then be scanned with the Spoken RX application
to hear prescription information read out loud.
The patient will open the CVS Pharmacy app,
and then we have Spoken RX available in the pharmacy section
under pharmacy tools.
All they need to do is hold their prescription bottle
or package with that sticker affixed
and hold it within four inches of their smartphone.
So when it's read correctly, the prescription information
will be spoken out loud for the patient, which is great.
If they want a standalone reader,
they would just put their bottle
or package right on the standalone reader
and all their prescription information
will be spoken out loud to them.
Great.
And that's going to have all this information, right?
It's not going to be just the name of the prescription,
but you have no idea how often you're supposed to take it
or if this one belongs to you
or perhaps your caregiver for somebody.
So yeah, what is the information
that someone can get access to using that Spoken RX label?
Yes, so it's actually really exciting.
We've really further enhanced this
to include as much prescription information
as we possibly can on those stickers.
And the information that's spoken aloud
is in either English or Spanish,
depending on the patient's preference.
But some of the information that's been included,
key pieces of information such as the patient's name,
the medication name, the medication dosage and direction,
exactly how to take that medication.
Things that are important for that patient to know,
such as if they need to take it with food,
or taking it first thing in the morning.
Those really key pieces of information
that's important for the patient.
And then other details,
we have the prescription number on there,
we have the dispense quantity and refills remaining,
the prescriber name,
the fill date and the discard after date.
And again, that's another important piece of information
for patient safety is to know when that medication
is really good until.
And then also the pharmacy phone number,
so the patient is able to connect
with their pharmacy team directly.
The great thing about using
our CVS Pharmacy digital application
is that there is a direct link to the pharmacy phone number
so they can directly contact their pharmacy team
if they have any additional questions.
So that's really exciting
that that made it a lot easier for them to contact them.
And then the other cool thing about our digital application
is there's an additional option at the bottom
where patients can get more details
about their prescription,
important details that a patient might want to know,
such as if they want to know some common side effects
of the medication, if there are some drug interactions,
additional warning label information,
or it could just be they want to learn more
about the medication and what it's used for.
So there's really a lot of information directly available
for the patient at their fingertips.
That really is amazing.
As I said before, I can't believe just how much info
is somehow fitting onto that printed label.
And as a blind person myself, I was just accustomed
to having to memorize things or make notes for myself.
And certainly the prescription number,
if I have to refill it,
that's one of the first things they ask for
when you call that automated thing is,
"What's your prescription number?"
I don't know.
And so having access to that is really very cool.
Yes, yes, exactly.
I can't agree any more.
(both laughing)
Departing from Spoken Rx for just half a second,
because as cool as this is, I know that for whatever reason,
audible instructions are not preferred by everybody
or not accessible for everybody,
so you've kind of mentioned this before,
but I guess Spoken RX is in addition
to some other things that CVS Pharmacy offers
for prescription labels,
so what else is available?
Yes, we do have some additional options.
Scrip Talk, which I know a lot of patients
are familiar with.
This uses a tabletop reader
to play coded medication information on the label.
And this is available through CVS.com.
The interesting thing with Scrip Talk
is this is something that was built from En-Vision America,
and this is the same type of reader that we use
for Spoken RX.
So we did partner with En-Vision America
because we know that that is a very popular reader,
so we're trying to make it as best as we can
for our patients.
The other thing that we have are braille labels.
So there's an embossed label that contains
the patient's name and the name of the medication,
and that is also available through CVS.com.
So we do have other options for this community,
but we just wanted to have something that was available
at all our direct stores for patients
to make it a little bit easier
for them to get something quickly.
Yeah, makes sense.
So the part of this that I am just incredibly excited about
is that CVS and Hadley have had the opportunity
to partner together,
even beyond the podcast that we're recording today.
So how did all of that come about
and why did CVS Pharmacy choose to work with Hadley?
And in what way is that partnership taking place?
CVS and Hadley really do share a commitment
to really empower the lives of those with vision loss
or blindness, and really partner to further assist people
with a digital solution within the pharmacy.
We partnered to create workshops,
which will help demonstrate how to enroll in Spoken RX
to make it easier for patients to enroll
and begin using Spoken RX.
These workshops will really show
how to use the different applications,
whether it be iOS or Android or our standalone reader,
and really help patients hear
those critical prescription details spoken out loud.
I really think these workshops will be extremely beneficial.
It's going to be a great additional resource
for patients to go to for any type of assistance
with proper use of Spoken RX.
Absolutely.
And we've had just a wonderful experience working with you
and CVS as well.
In our show notes we're going to have information
about how to access Spoken RX information.
We'll have links to the workshops on the Hadley site
and links to the Spoken RX information on the CVS website.
But if somebody would really just like to talk to a human
and get the whole process started,
maybe they're not even sure
what their local CVS Pharmacy is,
which one is closest or what have you,
is there a number that people can call
just to talk with people from CVS Pharmacy
who can walk them through this whole process
of getting registered or figuring out what their pharmacy is
or any of that stuff?
Yes.
We do have a general phone number that patients can call
for any questions, and that's 1-800-SHOP-CVS.
This is a great resource for all patients.
The other thing that we do have available
is our CVS Spoken RX landing page,
and that is found at CVS.com/spokenrx.
We'll have some further details on our website.
Patients are also able to identify a local store
on our website, so there is a store locator available.
But I do encourage patients to really speak
to their local pharmacy team for assistance
in getting set up with Spoken RX.
The pharmacy teams are more than willing to help patients.
And all our pharmacy colleagues do have
all the information they need to be able
to help our patients.
That's fantastic.
Well, Lindsey,
thank you so much for spending a little time with us,
just talking about Spoken RX.
And it's clear how excited you are
and how invested you are in the service.
I think it's going to be incredibly beneficial for people
to be able to take their medications independently
just through the access that Spoken RX is providing.
So again, thank you so much for joining us today.
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
Again, this has been a great partnership
and I really cannot thank Hadley enough.
So thank you so much for having me on today, Ricky.
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