Screenings get new approach in Drug Emporium Fla. stores

Drug Store News, Jan 22, 1990 by Susan Ball

Screenings get new approach in Drug Emporium Fla. stores

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The new Health Test Centers being rolled out in Drug Emporium's joint-venture stores here represent an innovative approach to health care screening in drug stores.

What makes the centers unique is that they are permanent in-store sites, open the same hours as the stores, that offer a variety of tests and screenings performed by state-certified medical technologists and technicians under the direction of a well-known local pathologist.

The first three centers were unveiled last fall, when three of the four existing Drug Emporiums here reopened after extensive remodeling. Two more centers will debut when the fourth remodel, and a fifth store, under construction, are completed this spring.

Located in self-contained areas near the pharmacy at the back of the stores, the state-licensed centers offer customers health related screenings including cholesterol, blood-glucose, blood pressure, anemia, pregnancy and urinalysis. Blood pressure testing is free, a urinalysis is $5, and the other four test cost $7 each. No appointment is necessary, and customers can get the results of

several of the tests in 30 minutes or less.

For more complex tests, including a coronary risk profile ($20), stool occult blood ($7) and a complete laboratory health screening ($20-$22), samples are sent to a laboratory for testing and analysis. The coronary risk profile measures total cholesterol (HDL and LDL) and triglycerides.

Generally, test results are reviewed by a physician, whose interpretations and recommendations are sent to patients within about three days.

Has state approval

The state of Florida, which has been carrying on a running battle with some for-profit cholesterol screening operations that it contends do not comply with state regulations, has given its approval to the Health Test Centers. "They are miniature laboratory setups," said Laura Phillips of the Office of Licensure and Certification in Florida's health department. "They've passed inspection and have been issued licenses. We have no problem with them."

Each center is equipped with Abbot Laboratories' multi-menu Vision analyzer, a blood pressure machine, a centrifuge and an instrument for pregnancy testing. The centers consist of a waiting area with service window, behind which is a separate, enclosed area that affords privacy for the actual testing. Each center also has a bathroom.

When customers come into the center, they fill out a requisition form, which includes basic questions such as whether they've been fasting or have eaten recently, whether they've been tested at a center before, and, depending on the kind of test, whether they want a follow-up letter or phone call with interpretation of results. With their test results customers receive an informational pamphlet.

Dr. Dennis M. Smith Jr., the centers' medical director and chairman of the Department of Pathology at Memorial Medical Center of Jacksonville, said that in cases involving "panic value" results - for example, if a patient has a high blood-glucose level indicating immediate danger - the patient gets a call immediately, advising him to see his doctor. Another call is made the next day to be sure the patient followed through.

"A significant number of patients don't have doctors," Smith said, and those people are given a list of physicians.

Dr. Smith is president of Self-Care Centers Inc., the independent corporation that leases the space and operates the Health Test Centers in the Drug Emporiums here. The stores, a joint venture of Drug Emporium and Roemon Drug Distributors, are operated by Don Mathis, regional director for Drug Emporium and one of the chain's founding investors.

Mathis is also a member of Memorial Hospital's board of directors, and his involvement with the health care community led to his working with Dr. Smith and Drug Emporium to develop the test center concept.

Although it's too early to tell how successful the centers will be, Mathis said, "We feel it's innovative and it's going to work." He added, "We're not looking for a huge profit."

"When people can come into a retail establishment at their own convenience, get a cholesterol or diabetes or other screening done on the spur of the moment by a certified professional and get results within 30 minutes, they'll be more inclined to get that information," he said.

The jury is still out on whether the concept will spread to other Drug Emporiums, he added.

Dr. Smith said that eventually the test centers, which already have full phlebotomy (blood-drawing) capabilities, will also serve as phlebotomy stations, to which physicians can send patients for blood to be drawn and subsequently sent to a lab for workup and analysis. Even though this capability hasn't been marketed to doctors yet, some MDs have already referred patients, Smith added.

PHOTO : Tanya Vick, technician, takes a blood sample in Drug Emporium's Health Test Center on Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville, Fla.