GLENDALE, Calif. — ApolloMed ACO has partnered with Rite Aid Corp. to provide disease management services to Los Angeles-area patients under the drug chain’s Rite Aid Health Alliance program.

A subsidiary of Apollo Medical Holdings Inc., the accountable care organization (ACO) said Tuesday that the Rite Aid Health Alliance will help patients with chronic and polychronic health conditions achieve health improvement goals set by their ApolloMed ACO doctors.

Patients with conditions such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), high cholesterol and diabetes are recommended to the program by their ApolloMed ACO primary care physician. Rite Aid pharmacists and specially trained care coaches, located in Rite Aid pharmacies, work with the doctor and patient on an ongoing basis to improve the patient’s overall health and self-management.

The care team members collaborate with the patient to establish health goals, eliminate barriers and create a personalized health care action plan in coordination with the patient’s physician.

Rite Aid launched the Rite Aid Health Alliance last week in several markets — in Buffalo, N.Y.; Greensboro and High Point, N.C.; and the Los Angeles area — after a pilot in which the program delivered more than 2,300 coaching visits to almost 1,500 enrolled patients.

"Rite Aid’s Health Alliance fits with our integrated model of providing comprehensive care and support to individuals with chronic conditions," Warren Hosseinion, M.D., chief executive officer of Apollo Medical Holdings, said in a statement. "ApolloMed ACO patients will have access to dedicated care teams of pharmacists, who are among the most accessible and trusted health care resources, and specially trained, in-store health care coaches at select Rite Aid locations throughout the greater Los Angeles area. We started this program in the fall of 2013, and the initial feedback from patients, their families and primary care physicians has been outstanding."

The full range of services available to patients in the Rite Aid Health Alliance includes medication compliance support, comprehensive medication reviews and reconciliation, nutrition and weight management information, disease education, exercise coaching and tobacco cessation support.

Records of all program patient interactions in Rite Aid pharmacies and updates from their ApolloMed ACO physician are stored electronically, along with patient profiles, including medications and lab results. Apollo noted that such record-keeping supports continuity of care and provides convenient access of information to other members of the patient’s health care team.

In launching the Rite Aid Health Alliance, the nealry 4,600-store drug chain called the program a first for the drug store industry.

"Through our innovative Rite Aid Health Alliance program and partnership with ApolloMed, we will help patients with the resources and support necessary to successfully manage their conditions and improve their overall health and well being," stated Rite Aid chairman and CEO John Standley.

With physicians in greater Los Angeles, Orange County and central California, ApolloMed ACO was one of eight ACOs selected to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in California in 2012.