For CVS Caremark colleagues Alison, Trish and Beth Ann, every overseas prescription represents a person relying on them from far away, often with no other dependable way to stay on therapy.
When a prescription arrives for someone stationed thousands of miles from home, pharmacist Alison Casey does more than simply fill it. She looks beyond dosage and interactions, thinking instead about the patient’s reality — a member of the military on a remote base, a State Department staffer navigating an unfamiliar health system, or a service member who may have limited local access to U.S.-standard medications.
For Alison and her colleagues, Trish Bernoski and Beth Ann Brislin of the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Participant Services team, every overseas prescription represents a person relying on them from far away, often with no other dependable way to stay on therapy.
Delivering care across borders
That commitment is what shapes the way the team at CVS Caremark supports U.S. military members at bases overseas and U.S. embassy personnel across the globe. Their work ensures medications arrive safely, accurately and on time — no matter how far the package must travel or how unpredictable the destination’s supply chain may be.
Last year alone, the CVS Caremark team prepared and shipped more than 8,500 packages worldwide through Army Post Office (APO)/Fleet Post Office (FPO)/Diplomatic Post Office (DPO) and secure diplomatic pouch routes.
A team built for challenges most patients never see
Inside the CVS Caremark mail service pharmacies in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Chicago, the team combines clinical judgment with logistical expertise. Over the years, Alison, Trish and Beth Ann have helped refine a set of repeatable steps that ensure every overseas shipment supports continuity of care.
Many of the obstacles their patients face are invisible from a U.S. pharmacy counter. Some countries don’t carry certain U.S.-standard prescriptions. Others require patients to pay significant costs up front before seeking reimbursement. Weather, unreliable postal systems and long transport routes add complexity that can compromise a medication’s safety if not precisely planned.
That’s why the team thinks about the entire journey, including the climate changes a package will pass through, the time it will spend in transit, and the conditions in the mailrooms or embassy receiving areas where it ultimately arrives.
A 24/7 lifeline for patients
As precise as the team is every time, their work is just as much about reassurance. Patients often call with questions about timing, storage or customs requirements. The team has come to know many of them by name — even though they may never meet in person. Their 24/7 availability isn’t just customer service: For these communities, it’s a lifeline.
For Alison, Trish and Beth Ann, the work is deeply personal. They understand that behind every prescription is someone serving the United States far from familiar support systems, and ensuring those individuals have uninterrupted access to the medications they rely on is more than their job — it’s their commitment to supporting the health and mission of people representing the U.S. abroad.
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