A consistent theme across industries is that the lockdown accelerated digital transformation, opening up numerous short-term and strategic benefit drivers. But when economic uncertainty makes it necessary to minimize investment, the challenge is knowing which bets to make and which levers to pull now. For chain drug stores, we see this “Sprint with Digital” manifesting
Among the many promising advances in medical legislation over the past several decades has been the passage of “provider status” laws for pharmacists in many states. While the specifics vary from state to state, the general intent behind this legislation is to give patients increased access to some of the oft-underutilized services that pharmacists can
With U.S. health care spending expected to rise above $4.2 trillion at a CAGR of 5% in 2019-2023, the level of engagement for consumer, patient and omnicommerce digital health solutions has exploded. Tech giants such as Microsoft and Best Buy are investing in digital health technology to improve consumer health experiences. Retailer capital investments in
2020 will forever be remembered for the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a personal level, relationships and daily routines changed to accommodate new concerns and norms of daily lives. On a professional level, the role of pharmacists as a trusted health care professional came again into focus as the unexpected demands of COVID-19
In order to address rising drug prices, state Medicaid programs have been searching for new and creative means to better control their pharmacy benefit and mitigate the budgetary impact. This has led to an interesting trend reversal in how state Medicaid programs are structuring their management and coverage of pharmacy benefits. Since the passage of
PRINCETON, N.J. — When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the generic drug industry faced many challenges, says Vanessa Brill, vice president and regional general counsel for the Americas at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. For Dr. Reddy’s, the challenges included finding ways to continue to produce drugs at manufacturing facilities that had to operate at decreased capacity out
Health care needs changes. We have been talking about them for years. We all know what they are — better care, lower costs and more accessibility. I find myself thinking that necessity is the mother of invention — or at least the accelerator of change. COVID-19 has spurred an acceleration of innovation and creativity that
As the country tentatively prepares to return to school and the office this fall, there seems to be little certainty except that the coronavirus threat will be with us for a long while. Social distancing and economic uncertainty will remain a part of everyday life. The pandemic has highlighted the fragility of our social safety
CAMP HILL, Pa. — As part of its ongoing efforts to closely manage and reduce costs, Rite Aid Corp. has eliminated 254 corporate office positions across its retail pharmacy and pharmacy services segments, the company reported in the release of its first quarter earnings. Rite Aid has also taken steps to reduce other expenses, such
Long after the sun goes down, the work of America’s biopharmaceutical companies continues deep into the night. Researchers and scientists labor around the clock, developing new ways to diagnose, treat and cure COVID-19. While they do, so many of the people they’re working to help stare at the ceiling and wonder how they will afford
While COVID-19 has changed a great deal of process and procedures, it hasn’t changed the fact that patient care is still front and center. With more states continuing to allow some level of prescribing by pharmacists, continued partnerships with payers in a true value-based model of care requires thinking outside the box on how to
Even as states across the U.S. begin to reopen and customers venture back into stores, retailers are far from going back to business as usual. It’s a time of experimentation in retail, as the COVID-19 pandemic speeds up innovation and introduces shoppers to new devices and conveniences, many of which may become permanent fixtures
As prescription drug abuse has grown into the “opioid epidemic” we are currently faced with, the Drug Enforcement Administration and state regulatory and law enforcement authorities have significantly ramped up their enforcement efforts across the entire pharmaceutical supply chain. For pharmacists, there has been an increased focus on a pharmacist’s “corresponding responsibility” to prevent the
Retailing, it can be safely and accurately argued, appears to have emerged as the least cohesive segment of the U.S. business community. A case in point: the brouhaha over the wisdom of compelling customers and staffers to wear protective masks while on the premises. By any standard of measurement, wearing masks will do no harm.
