News

Wondering if you or a loved one might be eligible for Phase I of the National Prescription Drug Plan? Want to know if your condition is covered or just want to catch up on the latest news on The Plan? A good place to look for this information is the Drug Plan’s dedicated website www.nibdrugplan.com. This handy tool was specifically designed to provide current information on the Plan in an attractive and user-friendly format.

The website is categorized into seven sections for easy use: About The Plan, Benefits, Registration, Healthy People Programme, Medications, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and Customer Service. There is a Press Centre that features news updates, press releases and a “video spotlight” about The Plan as well as an option to subscribe to The Plan’s newsletter. Under Medications, users will find basic information about formulary drugs for diseases covered by The Plan.

The website was designed by Integrated Business Solutions (Bahamas) Ltd., an international software development and consulting services company in conjunction with the Drug Plan Team, who provided the content. Leading the effort were Dr. Donovan Moxey, PhD, CEO of IBS International and Puja Bhatnagar, who worked on the content as an information officer for the Drug Plan Team.

According to Dr. Moxey the process of design and development of the website took approximately six weeks.

“We were on a fairly aggressive delivery time schedule given the requirements of the NIB, and assembled the resources required to deliver the project on time and within budget. We wanted to create a clean, simple, and well-structured layout that would allow a broad cross-section of visitors -for example, senior citizens, physicians, pharmacists, young adults and government officials - to easily identify and retrieve information about the National Prescription Drug Plan with a minimal number of clicks. We also provide the ability for users to share information on the website via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Google, Delicious, Digg, MSN Messenger, and other applications,” Dr. Moxey said.

Mr. Moxey said additional features will be added to the website in the future for members’ convenience.

“Moving forward we intend to implement a Pharmacy Locator function. This functionality will list all of the pharmacies participating in the NPDP, and categorize them based on the island where they are located, whether they are government or private institutions, their address, contact information with links to their websites, and driving directions. We can also include a graphical representation of their location using Google Maps. Depending on NIB’s requirements, additional functionality may also include social networking and social media marketing connections and integration with back-end NPDP operational database systems that can improve efficiencies, reduce costs and provide an integrated online solution,” Dr. Moxey said.

When launched later this month, Phase I of The National Prescription Drug Plan is expected to cover up to 35,000 Bahamians and when all phases are active this number shouldl increase to approximately 100,000 persons. Tami Francis, Manager for the Drug Plan said it is extremely important that these persons have timely access to information on The Plan.

“Our goal is to make it easy for members and other interested persons to find all relevant information; the website will be increasingly important as an information centre going forward,” Mrs. Francis said.

She also noted that the website provides an avenue for users to give feedback and receive answers to questions they may have.

“We do have a customer service section and a contact section so, of course, we invite the public to make use of these tools and we will do our best to provide accurate information and answers in a timely manner,” Mrs. Francis said.

NIB Drug Plan Website TV News video coverage.

Photo-Captions
USER FRIENDLY – The National Prescription Drug Plan’s dedicated website provides important information and news updates on The Plan. It was designed by IBS International in conjunction with the Drug Plan Team. Pictured from left to right (standing): Bindy Pyfrom, Senior Clerk, Customer Service, National Prescription Drug Plan (NPDP); Shellyn Ingraham, Executive Assistant, NPDP; Donovan Moxey, PhD. CEO, IBS International; Dr. Stanley Lalta, Project Manager, NPDP; (Seated) Puja Bhatnagar; and Roshann Miller, Provider Relations, NPDP. (TCL Photo by Wendell Cleare)