HOBOKEN, N.J. — A new Rite Aid Corp. program aims to help customers find their way through the changing health benefits landscape ushered in by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Left to right: Sen. Robert Menendez, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Rite Aid CEO John Standley at the drug chain’s Hoboken, N.J., store. Starting October 1,
LAS VEGAS — Appearing at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Total Store Expo last month, Jim Collins, the noted business consultant and author of such books as "Good to Great," "Built to Last" and "How the Mighty Fall," talked about what is required to make a business into a preeminent company over the
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. is acquiring Kerr Drug, a pioneer of the patient-centered model of pharmacy. In buying Kerr month, Walgreens gained a chain that earned widespread attention in recent years for shedding the product-centered pharmacy model. Instead, Kerr focused on monitoring patients after a diagnosis, thereby boosting medication adherence and improving outcomes. The
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Patients enrolled in Thrifty White Pharmacy’s Medication Synchronization (Med Sync) program spend more days on their drug therapy than other patients do, a new analysis shows. That in turn improves their health outcomes and reduces overall health care costs. Thrifty White launched Med Sync company-wide in 2011, and a year later the
ORLANDO, Fla. — As she tours the nation to help people grasp new health insurance benefits from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is highlighting the role played by pharmacies. In a visit this month to a CVS/pharmacy here, the HHS chief helped CVS Caremark Corp. president and chief
WASHINGTON — Battle lines were drawn as the October 1 opening of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges approached. House Republicans voted in late September to defund the ACA as part of a stopgap spending plan to let the federal government keep operating. The vote was 230 to 189, with two Democrats joining the
NEW YORK — Community pharmacies can congratulate themselves on sustaining a high level of customer satisfaction with pharmacists and pharmacy staff, according to the Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmacy Satisfaction Pulse Survey. Looking ahead, though, the challenge for the industry will be to maintain and improve that performance when millions of Americans will gain health coverage next
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has brought back its program that allows shoppers to double their quarterly ExtraBucks rewards. “ExtraCare members are always looking for more savings and rewards,” senior vice president and chief marketing officer Rob Price says about the program that runs until mid-December as part of CVS’ 50th anniversary celebration. “It’s a great
NEW YORK — Walmart is seeing strong results from its smaller formats and is accelerating its rollout of Neighborhood Markets. It is the Walmart Express, however, that is emerging as a formidable rival to both drug stores and dollar stores. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference recently, Walmart U.S president and chief executive
CINCINNATI — W. Rodney McMullen will succeed David Dillon as chief executive officer of Kroger Co., one of North America’s biggest pharmacy operators, on January 1. McMullen, 53, is currently president and chief operating officer of Kroger, which has about 1,950 pharmacies and generated prescription sales of more than $8 billion in its last fiscal
SEATTLE — This flu season, Bartell Drugs is giving the communities it serves a variety of options to get immunized. The Puget Sound-area drug chain is offering flu vaccinations at its stores and through flu clinics serving area businesses and retirement communities. Flu vaccines are available on a walk-in basis at all of its 61
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Against the backdrop of the shifting health insurance landscape, Walgreen Co. is covering employees through a private exchange. The chain is sponsoring coverage for more than 160,000 employees next year through its proprietary “Live Well Benefits Store,” a marketplace outsourced through Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange. The program provides more coverage choices
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A new approach to classifying patients by their long-term medication adherence behavior may increase the accuracy of compliance studies. In a study published in the September issue of Medical Care, researchers at CVS Caremark Corp. and Brigham and Women’s Hospital followed more than 264,000 statin users over a 15-month period and created
TORONTO — Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) president and chief executive officer Domenic Pilla and Canadian health minister Rona Ambrose kicked off the drug chain’s arthritis screening program earlier this month with an event at a store here. SDM says that the program, which will see more than 1,200 of the company’s pharmacists provide arthritis screening
