Welcome
27 November 2008
Annual General Meeting - Address by the Chief Executive Officer
I would like to welcome and extend my gratitude to everyone for joining us today and their ongoing support of our company.
2007-08 was a year of consolidation, research and restructuring for Health Corporation.
We achieved a significant restructure of our franchise support service in order to add more value to the franchisees and the company, commercialised Chemconsult® our exclusive medicines consulting program and are in the final stages of providing a unique and lucrative succession planning model for pharmacists.
Chemconsult®
The management and executive team has been working assiduously in
progressing the patent application and commercialisation of Chemconsult®.
The company’s vision is for Chemconsult® to become the “Gold standard” in
pharmaceutical consulting worldwide. Over 3000 pharmacist consultations
have now been performed online in over 20 locations. In more than one in four
consultations performed, the pharmacist has made a positive intervention with
potentially serious outcomes being avoided including hospitalisation and even
death. A research project has been commissioned by the University of
Queensland into the significance of Chemconsult® and its resultant positive
impact on health care in Australia.
Our objective is to expand the Chemconsult® program throughout Australia and internationally. We are in the final stages of negotiation with other Chemconsult® program partners, who will underpin the success of the program. We also believe the government will be interested in the ability of Chemconsult® to save healthcare costs and increase productivity in the workforce.
The support and encouragement of shareholders and the investment by our program partners Alphapharm have made this all possible.
Health-e-Weight®
The marketing strategy for our weight loss product Health-e-Weight® is being
reviewed in order to maximize the overall sales. The market for weight loss
has been highly competitive over the past twelve months with more entrants
and lower margins creating an opportunity to re evaluate and reposition the
company’s offering. We will continue to be innovative with Health-e-Weight
and pursue export options.
Health Corporation announced last year that it would be providing a Pharmacy Succession Model which is now nearing completion. This model will suit pharmacists looking to release some or all of their equity in their pharmacies. Health Corporation will manage and finance this transition and each store will also be franchised as a Health Information Pharmacy (HIP). This innovative business model will ultimately provide additional revenues, profit and control for the company.
Overall, 2007/08 was a challenging year for Health Corporation punc tuated with some significant breakthrough initiatives for the company. The potential to grow from this base remains significant.
To assist in financing the company’s continued growth and expansion, Health Corporation will be issuing to shareholders conve rtible notes with a favourable interest rate and security which the board commends to the shareholders. Thank you and we look forward to 2009 with great optimism and enthusiasm for taking Health Corporation to the next stage of its development.
Ken Lee
Chief Executive Officer
Health Corporation Limited
27th November 2008
19 November 2008
Health Corporation’s Chemconsult® identifies a 23% incidence of medication problems
Since its public announcement about Chemconsult ® four months ago, Health Corporation Limited (ASX: HEA) has started to witness their unique online consultation service for pharmacists reveal some startling statistics.
Pharmacists have made a positive medication intervention in around one in four prescriptions verified by the consulting program - with potential consequences for the patient ranging from minor inconvenience to hospitalisation or even death. Providing the advice, has also allowed increased productivity as patients better understand their medication and are more likely to start or continue therapy.
Desensitised data from 2204 Chemconsult® consultations to 30th October 2008 indicated that in a minimum of 23% of consultations performed by Pharmacists, a clinical intervention was made.
Ken Lee, Health Corporation’s CEO said,
“These initial findings are very encouraging for this ground breaking service. To be able to intervene on possible problems with medications and provide advice completely validates the importance of Chemconsult ® to our patients and has significant impact to the future health of all Australians. These patients have been spared the discomfort of a medication error, a possible hospital admission or at worse even a fatal outcome.”
Medicare Australia reports that t he potential size of the Australian prescription market over 167 million scr ipts dispensed in 2006-07. Problems with medications make up approximately 20% of all health care issues, and that a considerable proportion of these events may be preventable.
Whilst measuring the exact size of the problem is difficult, it is estimated that around 500,000 people become sick because of a drug they are taking and that approx 160,000 hospital admissions each year are associated with problems with the use of medications (including harmful side effects). Medication related hospital admissions are costly, both economically and socially. Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2002) suggests that public hospital costs alone may be as high as $380 million annually.
In support of the importance of Chemconsult®, Australia’s lea ding generic drug manufacturer Alphapharm Pty Ltd signed a licensing agreement with Health Corporation in July 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, Alphapharm pays a licence fee to both the pharmacist and Health Corporation for each Chemconsult® where a prescription is filled with an Alphapharm product. The first payments for Chemconsult® have now been claimed.
Health Corporation is currently seeking support from other pharmaceutical companies as well as government to further cement Chemconsult® as the gold standard in prescription health care.
Although only in its early stages, Chemconsult ® an Australian invention promises to dramatically help reduce the high cost of health care to government and business and greatly improve the health of the communit y both here and worldwide.
Graham Dunkley
Chairman
About Chemconsult®
Chemconsult® is a proven 10 point system for medication consulting by a
pharmacist, which ensures consistency in advice delivery to the patient and thereby
has the potential to reduce medication problems, improve medication compliance
and track medication performance in terms of supply and potential adverse drug
reactions or other misadventure. The program is exclusive to HIP pharmacies.
About Alphapharm
Alphapharm has been researchin g, developing and making generic medicines in
Australia since 1982. With over 500 products, Alphapharm is the largest supplier of
prescription, generic medicines in Australia.
Alphapharm is part of US-based Mylan Inc. (NYSE: MYL). With a presence in more than 90 countries, Mylan ranks among the leading diversified generic and specialty pharmaceutical companies in the world. The company maintains one of the industry's broadest – and highest quality – product portfolios, supported by a robust product pipeline; owns a controlling interest in the world's second largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer; and operates a specialty business focused on respiratory and allergy therapies.
29th August 2008
Health Corporation achieves further progress in 2008
The Directors of Health Corporation (ASX:HEA) are pleased to present the company’s financial results for the year ended 30 June 2008. During the year management completed the restructuring program and implemented a number of key initiatives including the commercial launch of Chemconsult®, the opening of a new flagship store in Melbourne, and the rationalisation of a number of under-performing franchisees. Although the loss for the year was $1.87 million, the Directors believe that the company is now more favourably positioned with a stronger outlook with foreseeable profitability.
During the reporting period, Health Corporation Limited has embarked upon a major restructure of its operations which is now yielding the anticipated benefits and significant cost savings. Several non complying stores have left the group, and adequate provisions have been made against future losses on loans where there is some doubt on recoverability.
As a result of the restructuring of the business process along with the anticipated continued expansion of the Health Information Pharmacy (HIP) franchise, the company continues to transition into profitability. The operating loss for the second half of the year after adjustment for debt write off and provisioning was $290,000 compared to the company’s first half result of a $832,000 loss. The company also achieved a positive cashflow for the June quarter 2008.
Health Corporation Limited continues to invest in the development and growth of the HIP Group and is working on a number of projects which upon completion are likely to make significant impact to the ongoing success of the business. The company has lodged a worldwide patent for Chemconsult®, a pharmacist/patient consulting program, for which Health Corporation Limited has been able to secure a licensing agreement with a major pharmaceutical company along with payment for itself and member pharmacies.
During the year four new stores were opened in Victoria one of which is in the Melbourne CBD, and will become the flagship store for the company in Victoria.
Health Corporation Limited is making good progress and we anticipate the ongoing support and patience of our shareholders during this period of restructure and growth will be rewarded in due course.
Mr. Graham Dunkley Chairman
2008 Health Corporation Annual Report (PDF file)
25th July 2008
Health Corporation announces new partnership with Alphapharm
The Directors of Health Corporation Limited (ASX: HEA) are pleased to announce that the company has signed a new partnership with Alphapharm Pty Ltd, Australia’s leading supplier of prescription medicines to the government subsidised Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme . As part of the agreement, Health Corporation and Alphapharm will collaborate on Chemconsult®. Alphapharm will pay a fee for each Chemconsult® where a prescription is filled with an Alphapharm product. Both the attending pharmacist and Health Corporation will receive a fee.
In addition to the service fee, Health Corporation will receive an upfront fee, marketing support over two ye ars, a monthly data maintenance fee based on the number of stores using Chemconsult® and volume rebates based on sales above agreed minimums. Health Corporation has estimated that this partnership will generate a minimum of $800K in revenue in 2008-09 and an increasing amount in subsequent years.
Chemconsult® is a proven 10 point system for medication consulting by a pharmacist. This system ensures consistency in advice delivery to the patient, thereby having the potential to reduce medication problems, im prove medication compliance and track medication performance in terms of supply and potential adverse drug reactions or other misadventure. The consultation is conducted in- store, with franchised pharmacies in the company’s Health Information Pharmacy (HIP) group having conducted thousands of Chemconsults over several years.
Ken Lee, Health Corporation’s CEO commented:
"Chemconsult® is a rigorous process that has proven its effectiveness over several years in reducing medical problems in the community fr om patient compliance to detecting conflicts between prescribed medications and other medication errors. This partnership with Alphapharm is an important validation of the Chemconsult® process and vision. We are delighted that Alphapharm has agreed to join us in this program that will ultimately significantly reduce health care costs as well as improve overall patient care."
"As the agreement with Alphapharm is limited to generic drugs, the company is seeking additional partners who can readily appreciate the benefits of the Chemconsult® process."
Graham Dunkley Chairman
All Health Corporation (ASX code HEA) company announcements can be read on its listing on the ASX website here.
