DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health Inc. has named John Fiacco as vice president of its Medicine Shoppe International (MSI) and Medicap Pharmacy franchise division.

The former CVS Caremark executive, who has been with Medicine Shoppe since 2000, is slated to assume his new position on January 1.

Since joining Medicine Shoppe, Fiacco, who is a 23-year veteran of CVS/pharmacy, has held various positions within Cardinal and Medicine Shoppe. He has been the division’s vice president of field services since 2005. Prior to joining the MSI executive team, Fiacco served as Cardinal’s director of solutions development and health systems marketing.

Fiacco succeeds Terry Burnside, who recently retired from his position as general manager of Medicine Shoppe and Medicap. Burnside has been president of Medicine Shoppe since 2004 and has served as senior vice president and general manager of Medicine Shoppe and Cardinal’s Leader brands since August 2009.

In his new post Fiacco will report to Cardinal senior vice president of independent sales Steve Lawrence, who oversees the company’s efforts to serve all independent retail pharmacies, including the 667 Medicine Shoppe and Medicap franchisees across the United States.

The company also has 228 stores outside the United States, including in Canada, China, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Medicine Shoppe and Medicap have been a single company since 2003, when Cardinal acquired Medicap.

The franchised drug stores are unique among pharmacy chains in that they have a heavy emphasis on health care and get most of their revenue from prescription sales. Also, many of the stores offer long-term care centers, compounding and immunizations. And in recent years Medicine Shoppe and Medicap have had one of the industry’s best records of providing medication therapy management.

Since restructuring the terms of the agreement with franchisees earlier this year, Cardinal executives say Medicine Shoppe and Medicap have been able to attract more independents to adopt the banners.