Sustaining the momentum for provider status for pharmacists was a major focus of a Chain Drug Review roundtable at the NACDS Total Store Expo. Panelists also discussed the industry’s battle with pharmacy benefit managers and the investigation of PBMs by the Federal Trade Commission, as well as friction between pharmacy and the AMA. WOLDT: Brian,
In the wake of disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic, people are altering the way they think about their health and how they go about maintaining it. The shift, together with cost pressures and changes in the health care system, is clearing the way for retail pharmacy to play a bigger part in patient care.
In the first of two Video Forum segments, Frans Muller, president and chief executive officer of Ahold Delhaize, talks about the next phase of the company’s Leading Together strategy. He discusses the thinking behind the retailer’s stepped-up investment in digital and omnichannel capabilities, the ongoing revitalization of its local brands in the U.S. and Europe,
Even as the swift spread of the Delta variant in the U.S. and other countries around the world brings renewed urgency to the battle against COVID-19, another, arguably graver, crisis continues to unfold. Climate change and its ability to wreak havoc on the natural environment is rapidly intensifying, a development that promises a time of
In the first of two episodes, Ed Rowland, principal of Rowland Global LLC, and Alice Wang, a Shanghai-based consultant and instructor at Alibaba’s Taobao University, share insights about the brick-and-mortar pharmacy business in China. Among the topics they discuss are the Chinese consumer’s expectations of a drug store, the role of the pharmacist, and the
In the latest installment in our Video Forum series, Randy Edeker, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hy-Vee Inc., talks about the food/drug combination store operator’s response to the unprecedented challenges of recent months, the need to take care of customers and staffers, and retailing in an omnichannel world.
As stakeholders in chain pharmacy gather this month for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Total Store Expo in Boston, the industry confronts a host of important issues — legal proceedings in which it is asserted that retailers and drug wholesalers bear at least some responsibility for the ongoing opioid epidemic; the emergence of
The community pharmacy profession was blindsided by the Trump administration last month when the Department of Health and Human Services issued the final rule that will govern the Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage programs in 2020. In a radical departure from the proposed rule released earlier in the year, the eventual regulation offered no
An understanding of the value created by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ annual RxImpact Day — for the policy makers and pharmacy advocates who participated, the pharmacy profession as a whole and, ultimately, patients across the country — came into sharp focus during the daylong series of meetings on Capitol Hill that is
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is gearing up for three big events in the coming months, each of which will offer stakeholders in community pharmacy an opportunity to advance the interests of their organization and the industry as a whole. Taken together, NACDS RxImpact Day on Capitol Hill, the NACDS Annual Meeting and
The announcement by CVS Pharmacy president Helena Foulkes at last month’s National Retail Federation Big Show that the retailer will adopt standards that bring a new level of transparency to the images used to promote its beauty business caused a stir in the category and triggered a long overdue discussion about the impact of such
With the National Association of Chain Drug Stores gearing up for its annual NACDS Regional Chain Conference, which will run from February 4 through February 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., it is a good moment to appraise that segment of the community pharmacy industry. Greatly reduced in number by the consolidation wave that has repeatedly
A case could be made that for pharmacy operators passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act late last month was the biggest story of 2017. Championed by the Republican leadership in Congress and President Trump, the $1.5 trillion measure will provide substantial, permanent tax relief for businesses — the corporate tax rate was cut
With the death of Murray Koffler at the age of 93 earlier this month, one of the master builders of retail pharmacy passed from the scene. Beginning with two independent drug stores in Toronto that he inherited from his father, Koffler created Shoppers Drug Mart, long the dominant pharmacy chain in Canada — now with
