[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 23519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      MAIL ORDER PHARMACY RATINGS

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I commend the Department of Veterans 
Affairs on a very impressive recent achievement. The Department's mail-
order pharmacy program was recently rated as top in the Nation among 
mail-order pharmacies by J.D. Power and Associates in their 2010 U.S. 
National Pharmacy Study.
  VA received a score of 888 points out of a maximum possible score of 
1,000. The Department did not receive an award for this achievement 
because their pharmacy service is only open to veterans and their 
families, but they did outscore the award recipient by a full 34 
points, and the mail-order pharmacy average by 70 points. VA's program 
received the highest scores in the J.D. Power categories of overall 
experience, prescription ordering, prescription delivery, and cost 
competitiveness.
  This is an extraordinary achievement, not only to be rated first in 
the Nation, but to so highly exceed the private sector. I congratulate 
VA, and especially commend Secretary Shinseki and Mr. Michael 
Valentino, Chief Consultant, Pharmacy Benefits Management Services, for 
their exceptional leadership success in implementing the mail-order 
pharmacy program.

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