ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Giant Eagle is deploying PharmaSmart blood pressure kiosks at its 217 supermarkets and in-store pharmacies.

PharmaSmart International Inc. said the rollout includes the food and drug retailer’s Giant Eagle, Market District and Market District Express stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.

“We agree with the CDC, which recently announced that controlling blood pressure is the single most important thing Americans can do to improve their health outcomes,” Mark Doerr, senior vice president of pharmacy, health and wellness at Giant Eagle, said in a statement. “For us this is more than just deploying new kiosks. With the PharmaSmart program, Giant Eagle now offers our patients a clinically valid solution for blood pressure management, including full integration into our Rx software and consumer website.”

Mark Doerr

Giant Eagle’s deployment of the PharmaSmart stations also includes its cloud-based Health IT platform. PharmaSmart noted that its clinical-grade program better positions retail pharmacies to engage in collaborative practice agreements with regional health providers and accountable care organizations.

Plans call for Giant Eagle to leverage PharmaSmart’s program to drive Medicare Star Ratings, specifically measures D-14 (medication adherence for hypertension) and C-19 (controlling blood pressure), both of which are triple-weighted measures of high interest to national and regional insurers.

“PharmaSmart’s software allows us to easily intervene in cases where blood pressure control is not achieved,” added Doerr, “and we have the data to demonstrate our impact on blood pressure control rates over a managed population.”

In the United States, 65% of all diagnosed cases of hypertension aren’t under control, according to Ashton Maaraba, chief operations officer and head of trade relations at PharmaSmart.

“We are thrilled to be working with Giant Eagle pharmacists and health and wellness specialists to target and treat uncontrolled hypertension,” Maaraba stated. “We are looking forward to working closely with the Giant Eagle supermarkets as they continue to demonstrate excellence toward advancing both their health and wellness and clinical agenda.”