WASHINGTON, March 28, 2017 – From the Mary’s Center in Washington, D.C., today BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), in conjunction with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) announced the successful results of a four-year effort to improve access and quality of care at community health centers across the U.S.
Since 2013, The BD Helping Build Healthy Communities program has donated $8.6 million in cash and products to support diabetes care management for uninsured and under-insured Americans and to provide grants to community health centers for innovative approaches to the treatment of multiple diseases, including diabetes, HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer.
“Thanks to the financial support provided by BD, we have been able to expand our interdisciplinary team approach to chronic disease care and provide our participants with a unique and efficient combination of case management, social engagement, group education, and information technology to improve self-management strategies and reduce their A1C levels,” says Maria Gomez, Mary’s Center president and CEO.
To date, BD has donated through Direct Relief $6 million worth of products, including more than 21 million syringes and 3,200 pen needles to more than 780 community health centers. BD product is made available to Direct Relief’s network of 1,300 health center and clinic entities that operate more than 4,000 clinical delivery sites and care for an estimated 13.5 million patients.
In addition, BD has funded 26 awards in 13 states through Direct Relief, totaling $2.6 million, to federally qualified health centers serving vulnerable and diverse populations in the U.S. that are uninsured or underinsured with limited access to health care. The initiative has helped nearly 36,000 patients by providing the critical resources for innovative programs offering diabetes treatment and interventions, HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer screenings and patient education.
Innovative Medication Therapy Management
Building on these successes, the Helping Build Health Communities will be providing future awards focused on medication therapy management. According to the American Pharmacist Association, medication therapy management is a group of services that optimize therapeutic outcomes for individual patients. Medication management therapy services include medication therapy reviews, pharmacotherapy consults, anticoagulation management, immunizations, health and wellness programs and many other clinical services. Pharmacists provide medication therapy management to help patients get the best outcomes from their medications by actively managing drug therapy and by identifying, preventing and resolving medication-related problems. The program will be accepting award applications through Wednesday, April 19. More information is available at www.directrelief.org/bdhbhc/.
About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of healthcare by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for healthcare providers. BD and its 65,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to healthcare. In 2017, BD welcomed C. R. Bard and its products into the BD family. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com
For more information on BD, please visit bd.com.