WASHINGTON — Companies dealing with health care data should intensify efforts and “move from a crawl to a sprint” to help improve the nation’s health outcomes and reduce costs, says Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Walgreen Co. is among health care companies helping to facilitate that process. Earlier this month HHS and
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Challenging the domain of drug chains, Walmart has debuted the first three of its new small-format stores. The 15,000-square-foot Walmart Express units opened this month in Gentry and Prairie Grove, Ark., southeast of the retailer’s Bentonville headquarters; and in Richfield, N.C., between Greensboro and Charlotte. The outlets feature a pharmacy and groceries,
SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Canning, who as president of Health Mart is credited with playing a leading role in advancing the success of McKesson Corp.’s retail independent pharmacy business, is joining Omnicare Inc. as chief marketing officer. Canning will oversee the marketing function across the company while taking full responsibility for Omnicare’s retail pharmacy operations.
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. has been awarded a three-year contract to provide integrated pharmacy benefit services for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Government-wide Service Benefit Plan, also known as the Federal Employee Program (FEP). CVS Caremark will continue to provide FEP’s clinical programs and retail pharmacy benefit management services and, beginning in
WASHINGTON — In a triumph for retailers, the Senate has refused to delay cuts to debit card swipe fees. Despite a lobbying blitz by the banking industry, the Senate let stand new rules curtailing the fees that banks and credit card networks can charge retailers to process debit card transactions. The National Association of Chain
NEW YORK — Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. continued their same-store sales resurgence in May, which industry analysts said could herald improving results for the drug store sector overall. At Walgreens, comparable-store sales climbed 5.6% year over year in May, up from a 3.4% increase in April and marking the chain’s second-largest comparable-store gain
MIAMI — Navarro Discount Pharmacy has added e-commerce capabilities to its Navarro.com website, enabling customers outside south Florida, nationwide and internationally to take advantage of the value proposition in its stores. “The e-commerce capability allows us to better serve our loyal customers already familiar with the Navarro brand and its discount pricing and, in addition,
NEW YORK — Two of the industry’s largest drug store chains have initiated efforts to help their customers stay safe in the sun this summer. Earlier this month Rite Aid Corp. launched a healthy skin care campaign in partnership with the Skin Cancer Foundation, while the Katz Group’s Rexall chain began holding Sun Awareness Days
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp.’s MinuteClinics are offering a free diabetes monitoring package this summer. The package, sponsored by Roche Diabetes Care and administered by a MinuteClinic practitioner, includes a hemoglobin A1c and blood glucose test, blood pressure check, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol test, comprehensive foot exam, and microalbumin test (kidney function check).
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Steve Pemberton has been named divisional vice president of diversity and inclusion at Walgreen Co. In this role, he also becomes the company’s first chief diversity officer. Pemberton, who reports to senior vice president and chief human resources officer Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, is responsible for ensuring that Walgreens demonstrates cultural and workforce diversity.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Retiring AmerisourceBergen Corp. chariman and chief executive officer R. David Yost has received the 2011 Nexus Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Healthcare Distribution Management Association’s (HDMA) Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research. The award, considered to be the distribution industry’s highest recognition, was presented at HDMA’s annual business and leadership conference
The annual Fortune 500 listing of the largest publicly traded U.S. corporations has been published, and community pharmacy, while not a major presence, is nonetheless adequately represented. Walmart, of course, heads the top-500 list as the largest company in the United States (and globally), with fiscal 2010 revenues in the neighborhood of $422 billion, some
Medication adherence has emerged as a hot-button issue in health care. Most retail pharmacy operators have placed new emphasis on helping ensure that patients take prescription drugs as directed, the topic is high on the agenda at industry forums and the National Consumers League is in the midst of a campaign to promote the proper
The Adherence Estimator, a patient segmentation tool developed by researchers at Merck & Co. to help pharmacists and other health care professionals identify and assist individuals prone to medication nonadherence, has proved its worth in a variety of practice settings since its debut last year. Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), which operates 33 hospitals, a network
