Berlin, Md. – Karan Bealla, Pharm. D. is the recipient of the Maryland
Rural Health Practitioner Award for 2018. The award is bestowed annually
by the Maryland Rural Health Association, in conjunction with the Rural
Maryland Council and the State Office of Rural Health, in recognition
of individuals who make outstanding development and health efforts in
rural communities.
Bealla has been a full-time staff pharmacist at Atlantic General Hospital’s
AGHRx RediScripts retail pharmacy since 2014 through Amerisource Bergen’s
Pharmacy Healthcare Solutions. In August 2016, she initiated the pharmacy’s
Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Clinic to provide additional education
and medication management assistance to patients with complex medication needs.
Her work with the MTM Clinic earned her the nomination for the MRHA award.
The clinic provides patients four visits throughout the year, and they
are held where it is most convenient for a patient, including the patient’s
home. In addition to providing education and support, Bealla works with
the patient and his or her physicians to solve any medication-related
problems the patient is experiencing and arranges for bundled packaging
of medications, organized by the times they should be taken, to make it
easier to remember to take doses at the right time.
In 2017, Bealla began providing MTM services through the hospital’s
remote patient monitoring system, which allows her to visit with patient’s
via telemedicine technology. Over the last year the program has tripled
in size and now serves more than 150 patients at any given time.
“I want to recognize the entire RediScripts Pharmacy team for their
help and support during the launch of this program,” Bealla said.
“I am extremely proud of how far the MTM Clinic has come, and I’m
excited to see where it will go in the future.”
Bealla is a graduate of Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,
where she received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. With more than a decade
of experience in the retail pharmacy industry, she also provides medication
education through the Atlantic General Diabetes Center.
All services are offered free of charge.
Caption: From left: Outstanding Rural Health Program Award recipients Sharon
Lipford, Dr. Cydney Teal, and Bari Klein; Karan Bealla, recipient of the
Outstanding Rural Health Practitioner Award; Senator Thomas 'Mac'
Middleton; and Shelley Argabrite, recipient of the Outstanding Rural Health
Achievement Award.
About Atlantic General Hospital
Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality health care to the
residents of Worcester, Wicomico, Somerset (Md.) and Sussex (Del.) counties
since May 1993. Built through the commitment and generosity of a dedicated
community, Atlantic General’s main facility in Berlin, Md., combines
the warmth of personalized attention with the reassurance of medical expertise
and advanced technology. The not-for-profit hospital provides quality
specialty care in oncology, medical and surgical weight loss, orthopedics,
and women’s diagnostics among other services. Atlantic General Health
System, its network of more than 40 primary care providers and specialists,
cares for residents and visitors throughout the region. For more information
about Atlantic General Hospital, visit
www.atlanticgeneral.org.
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