Western Health Advantage (WHA) is offering Gatekeeper Innovation Inc.’s Rx Locking Cap as a covered benefit to its members to prevent misuse or abuse of in-home prescription medications. Learn more about this exciting new benefit for WHA members.
WHA Provides No-Cost Safe Dispensing Devices to Battle Opioid Misuse
According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Abuse, more than 70 percent of individuals who illegally use prescription pain relievers obtained them through their friends or family, often from the home medicine cabinet.
In 2017, an estimated 18 million people (more than 6 percent of those aged 12 and older) had misused controlled substances at least once in the past year.
Western Health Advantage (WHA) is a non-profit HMO health plan headquartered in Sacramento, California, serving 9 Northern California counties (Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Colusa, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, and Marin).
“The opioid and other prescription medication abuse epidemic calls for solutions on many fronts, including the use of abuse-resistant packaging,” WHA announced in its winter 2020 issue of Provider Insider. “For this reason, WHA is introducing the availability of a prescription locking cap product from Gatekeeper Innovation, Inc.”
Starting in April 2020, the Rx Locking Cap is available at no cost to WHA members when they present a prescription for a Schedule II to V medication, such as an opioid.
WHA will provide full pharmacy reimbursement for up to five Rx Locking Cap devices when provided to WHA members.
The Rx Locking Cap: a Pharmacy-Supplied Solution
The Rx Locking Cap is the newest product produced by Gatekeeper Innovation, Inc. (GII), a manufacturer of medication safe dispensing devices headquartered in Sacramento, California.
The Rx Locking Cap is Gatekeeper’s first supply-side intervention designed to deter diversion and misuse at the pharmacy level. The patented combination locking cap fits over a pharmacy’s existing vials. The patient secures medications by locking the cap with a 4-digit code.
GII also manufactures the Safer Lock family of products, including a retail combination locking pill bottle and combination locking medicine box sold directly to consumers to safeguard medications in the home.
“Using the Rx Locking Cap can help deter prescription abuse, misuse, and theft. WHA wants to help give members peace of mind with this benefit as part of our enhancements with OptumRx, knowing that easy access to unsecured medications, whether at home, carried in a purse, briefcase, backpack, or suitcase, may be less of a problem,” said WHA.
To learn more about adding the Rx Locking Cap to your pharmacy, formulary, or as a covered benefit, contact Gatekeeper Innovation.
