CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. has launched its own mobile application, offering iPhone and Android smartphone users a menu of pharmacy and shopper tools. With the free app, customers can order prescription refills by using their smartphone’s camera to take a picture of the barcode on the medicine bottle, typing in the prescription
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Global Market Development Center (GMDC) have agreed to team up to offer a conference on health, beauty and wellness next year. The event, scheduled for May 31 to June 4, 2013, at the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio, is being geared to food retailers
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court here has denied attempts by California’s Department of Health Care Services to suspend a lower court’s earlier decision to block cuts in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit agreed late last month to deny the state’s emergency effort to suspend
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has launched the Walgreens Way to Well Health Tour with the National Urban League (NUL) as a charitable component of the drug chain’s Way to Well Commitment, a four-year, $100 million effort aimed at improving the everyday health of Americans. The national tour will provide free health resources — including
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Congressional approval of President Obama’s budget proposals to increase Tricare beneficiary out-of-pocket expenses would force patients away from community pharmacies and into mail-order programs, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores says. In comments submitted late last month to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, NACDS urged the adoption of policies
ATLANTA — Walgreen Co. and Sharecare, an online health care question-and-answer service, have teamed up to provide what they say is the largest searchable drug, supplements and wellness database on Facebook. The application, called Answers, is integrated into Walgreens’ Facebook page, giving the drug chain’s followers convenient access to a first-of-its-kind interactive portal containing valuable
Bob Miller has just received the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, a recognition accorded those individuals “whose courage and determination allowed them to overcome the challenges they faced early in their lives and achieve success in their fields.” “There are no secret formulas for success. Work hard, treat people right, tell the truth and believe in
Once again, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, together with the National Community Pharmacists Association, has stepped forward to defend the vital interests of retail pharmacy and the patients the profession serves. Acting in concert with nine of their members, the organizations have initiated legal action to prevent the merger of Express Scripts and
TORONTO — A recent survey of pharmacy patients across Canada shows that nearly three-quarters of those polled have talked to a pharmacist about health issues beyond those related to their prescriptions. The Nielsen survey of 6,000 people, done for the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores, shows that 72% of respondents have relied on their
NEW YORK — Organizations representing food retailers and wholesalers have urged the Federal Trade Commission to block the proposed acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc. by Express Scripts Inc. Representatives of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) argued that consumers and pharmacy patients have benefited from robust supermarket competition in the form of low prices and
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has begun using Surescripts’ clinical interoperability to electronically deliver patient data to primary care providers and better coordinate care. In the coming months all 7,800 Walgreens and Duane Reade pharmacies and 350 Take Care Clinics will use the Surescripts network to transmit immunization records. Later this year the chain will
NEW YORK — After two U.S. senators expressed concerns, Rite Aid Corp. has reiterated the role of its “wellness ambassador,” a key customer service feature of the drug chain’s new “wellness store” format. In press announcements this month, Sens. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) questioned if Rite Aid was confusing customers.
NEW YORK — Retail sales in February showed the highest gain in five months, and the industry’s largest drug chains mirrored the broader trend. At Rite Aid Corp., for instance, total sales for the five weeks ended March 3 increased 2.3% to $2.55 billion, up from $2.5 billion for the corresponding period last year. Same-store
