CINCINNATI — Colleen Lindholz and her team are continuing to lead initiatives and create innovative programs to help people live happier, healthier lives. As the president of Kroger Health, the health care division of Kroger Co., she heads up a group of 22,000 health care professionals. Together they provide health and wellness solutions to more
On January 10, 2020, cheers erupted in the National Community Pharmacists Association’s headquarters when we learned the U.S. Supreme Court had decided to hear Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a case to determine whether ERISA preempts a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers. NCPA has been fighting to rein in PBMs for years, and
At the start of 2020, our members were focused on continuing their research and development of transformative treatments for the most difficult diseases, such as cell and gene therapies. We planned on making strides on new medicines for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And we planned on pushing for policy solutions that
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered life as we know it and impacted each of us in a very personal way. The scale and magnitude of the pandemic brought sudden and unexpected challenges and opportunities for all specialty pharmacy stakeholders. As we look to the future, we must consider the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Few executives have had the impact on the chain drug industry that Larry Merlo has had. But as he gets ready to retire after a career spanning more than four decades, framing his accomplishments within the retail pharmacy alone — as enormous as they are — would be limiting. Merlo, who has
How did 2020 affect American Pharmacists Association members? “Profoundly” is an understatement. “Irrevocably” is appropriate. “Positively” may be hard to see right now, but I believe it’s the truth. Pharmacists emerged from last year — a year that few words can adequately describe — stronger, and they enter 2021 empowered like never before. The way
For most U.S. patients, affordable prescription medicines are just a short drive or walk from home to the drug store — or medicines are delivered right to their mailbox. This degree of convenience takes a lot of work behind the scenes. To get biosimilars and generics from the manufacturer to the pharmacy to the patients,
It is a bittersweet opportunity to write this Healthcare Outlook for 2021 on behalf of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance. As the outgoing chief executive officer, it has been my honor and privilege to serve PQA and its 250 organizational members since the alliance was created, initially as a public-private partnership with the Centers for Medicare
Our nation is at a defining moment, as we transition to a new administration and Congress and continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. From a health care delivery perspective, the logistics expertise of our industry has never been more relied upon, and scrutinized, than it is today. As the calendar turns to 2021, eradicating
Despite the difficult realities of COVID-19, and the tremendous challenge, pain and uncertainty it has created, 2020 was also a year of incredible progress for self-care in the United States. From manufacturers to retailers, we at Consumer Healthcare Products Association are proud of the pivotal role our extended industry has played in providing and maintaining
You may have heard this one-liner popularized in 2020: “In 2015, everyone who answered the standard question ‘where do you see yourself in five years?’ got it wrong.” Given that few people in 2015 would have foreseen themselves five years later in a mask, in quarantine and confronting COVID-19’s many challenges, that comment describes well
The year that was like no other is over, and pharmacy operators are looking forward to more normal times, at least starting around summer. One question is how much the elevated status of pharmacists during the pandemic will propel long-term gains for the profession. On the following pages top industry executives address that question and
When industry observers look back at a given year, all too often they resort to hyperbole, making shaky claims about the long-term significance of events. The year just ended eliminated that pitfall, at least temporarily: 2020 crystallized several issues — the nation’s deep political divide, the quest for racial justice and the need to act
To once again paraphrase that age-old maxim from a time-honored religious treatise: To those who know Bob Kwait, no explanation is necessary; to those who do not, no explanation is possible. Through a retailing career marked by innovation, creative thinking and, at times, controversy, Kwait stamped the chain drug community with a brand of thinking
