VITAS Healthcare Corporation and Hospice Pharmacia Enter into Agreement to Provide Patients with High-Quality Medication Management

MIAMI & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VITAS Healthcare Corporation, the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care, and Hospice Pharmacia, a premier provider of medication management services for end-of-life patients that is part of Omnicare’s Specialty Care Group, today announced they have entered into a three-year agreement to provide services to patients under VITAS’ care, in their places of residence. As part of the agreement, VITAS physicians and nurses will have access to pharmacists from Hospice Pharmacia 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to effectively manage patient symptoms and ensure that clinicians have timely access to information about pharmaceutical best practices.

“Hospice Pharmacia’s staff pharmacists have demonstrated extensive expertise in helping VITAS manage the unique issues faced by patients at the end of life.”

VITAS and Hospice Pharmacia have worked together for almost a decade to achieve positive patient-specific outcomes. “This long-term agreement ensures that our patients will continue to have access to the very best medication management available,” said VITAS CEO Tim O’Toole. “Hospice Pharmacia’s staff pharmacists have demonstrated extensive expertise in helping VITAS manage the unique issues faced by patients at the end of life.”

Added John L. Workman, CEO of Omnicare: “We are very proud of our 10-year partnership with VITAS. Over the past decade we collaboratively developed new systems to support VITAS clinicians in the field and provided consultative support for VITAS leadership to help ensure high quality care. We will continue to provide clinical support and education resources to all VITAS hospice staff so that the best decisions for patient care and comfort can be made at the bedside.”

VITAS’ National Medical Director, Joel S. Policzer, M.D., said: “As leading providers of care to patients facing serious illness, VITAS and Hospice Pharmacia are skilled at expert symptom management and share the common value of putting the needs of patients first. Appropriate management of patient medications, focusing on optimal palliation and relief of distressing symptoms, can reduce the burden of care on patients and their families. Our common goal is to help patients feel better and maximize their comfort as we care for them in this part of life’s journey.”

About VITAS Healthcare Corporation

VITAS Healthcare Corporation, a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS operates 51 hospice programs in 18 states and the District of Columbia. (Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin). VITAS, which has evolved from its founding as a volunteer organization by a United Methodist minister and a registered nurse, today employs 11,631 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 36 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the fourth quarter of 2012, VITAS reported an average daily census of 14,443; VITAS served more than 77,000 patients throughout all of 2012. The name, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs), is derived from the Latin word for lives. It symbolizes the VITAS mission: To preserve the quality of life for those who have a limited time to live. Visit www.vitas.com.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) operates two wholly owned subsidiaries: VITAS Healthcare and Roto-Rooter. For more information, visit www.vitas.com.

About Hospice Pharmacia and excelleRx Inc.

Hospice Pharmacia, a service of excelleRx, Inc, an Omnicare Specialty Care Group company, is committed to ensuring the appropriate use of medications for end-of-life care. With Hospice Pharmacia as its largest service offering, excelleRx was the first pharmacy to focus on expert management of medication for end-of-life patients. Today, the company remains committed to palliative care pharmacy services for patients enrolled in hospice programs. As the industry-leading national hospice pharmacy accredited by the Joint Commission (TJC), excelleRx continues to set the standard for hospice and palliative care medication management and pharmacy distribution services. For more information, visit: www.hospicepharmacia.com.

About Omnicare Specialty Care Group

Omnicare Specialty Care Group (SCG) is a division of Omnicare, Inc., a Fortune 400 company and provider of comprehensive pharmaceutical services based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Omnicare SCG is a combination of synergistic tenured companies with a focused approach to pharmaceutical brand solutions. Together, Omnicare SCG brings specialists in reimbursement methods, clinicians practiced in medication therapy management for chronic disease states, and distribution channel expertise. Solutions are tailored to drive product access by solving challenges faced by patients and their caregivers, physicians, payers and manufacturers. Custom programs are led by a single management team across the organizational platforms, allowing coordination of resources and assets to support positive outcomes for our patients. For more information, visit www.omnicarescg.com.