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 North Carolina drug chain’s stores and specialty pharmacy business “are an exceptional addition to the Walgreens family of companies,” said Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson. “We are closely aligned on the important task of expanding the health care role that community pharmacists can have with their patients, and we share the common goal of stepping out of the traditional drug store format to create a new experience for our customers.”

Terms of the acquisition deal for 76-unit, Raleigh, N.C.-based Kerr, which had sales of $381 million last year, were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close this year.

Walgreens anticipates no impact on earnings in fiscal 2014. The acquired stores will continue to operate under the Kerr name in the short term. Kerr will maintain ownership of its long-term care pharmacy business.

Kerr chairman, president and CEO Anthony Civello called Walgreens “the perfect partner” to continue the regional chain’s journey as “a patient-oriented company dedicated to expanding the role of the pharmacist as an integral part of health care.”