Bengal Pharmacy, LLC, to expand telepharmacy services to Challis

The Idaho State Board of Education has approved the Idaho State University Foundation’s proposal to expand Bengal Pharmacy, LLC’s, telepharmacy services to Challis.

Bengal Pharmacy will be partnering with the Challis Area Health Center to offer telepharmacy services to the rural community. After Bengal Pharmacy’s successful implementation of telepharmacy services in Arco, the Challis community’s only pharmacy, Village Square Pharmacy, reached out to the ISU College of Pharmacy to inquire about telepharmacy as a means to continue pharmaceutical services in the area.

“Telepharmacy is an example of how ISU is fulfilling its health care mission in providing care to underserved populations,” said Dr. Rex Force, ISU associate dean for clinical research. “Bengal Pharmacy enables us to serve others, while also providing our students hands-on experience in rural health care.”

With the impending closing of the Village Square Pharmacy, the citizens of Custer County would have had to travel 120 miles round trip to Salmon, to get access to pharmacy services. This large geographic area has a population of more than 4,300 people, with a large portion of the population being elderly residents with very limited access to health care services.

Telepharmacy locations are staffed with a pharmacy technician, with constant video supervision by a licensed pharmacist located at the Bengal Pharmacy on the ISU campus in Pocatello. Clients will receive medication prepared under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, and can receive a private consultation with the pharmacist via video.

“We recognize that other rural Idaho communities that have lost their pharmacies have also experienced significant decreases in quality of life, increases in health care costs and loss of a community economic engine,” said Dirk Driscoll, board member of the Bengal Pharmacy, LLC, and ISU Foundation. “This is a win-win for Bengal Pharmacy and the Challis community.”

On June 20, 2014, Bengal Pharmacy opened Idaho’s first-ever full-service telepharmacy in Arco.