LAS VEGAS — McKesson Corp. this week is showcasing its range of offerings for community pharmacies — including solutions for business, pharmacy and online, as well as its Health Mart franchise — at its ideaShare 2013 conference in Las Vegas.

The pharmaceutical distributor said Thursday that its annual ideaShare show provides community pharmacy owners and professionals access to industry thought leaders, the latest pharmacy solutions, continuing education and networking events to help them better run their businesses and position them for the future in the fast-changing health care environment.

"In today’s dynamic health care landscape, there is tremendous opportunity for community pharmacies to grow their businesses and expand their role as community health care leaders," Mark Walchirk, president of McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical said in a statement. "McKesson is committed to helping our customers — and the industry — achieve better pharmacy health for the long term, and this week’s ideaShare event is one of the critical ways in which we are bringing pharmacy owners and leaders together for continued innovation."

One new offering from McKesson is a free mobile delivery application for Apple iOS mobile devices, such as the iPhone and iPad. Designed for pharmacies that offer home delivery or hospitals with outpatient pharmacies, the app captures payment and pharmacy signatures in a patient’s home or at the bedside, as well as provides controlled substance tracking, keeping pharmacies fully compliant with state regulations.

In addition, the mobile delivery app ensures that prescriptions make it directly into the patient’s hands, helping to drive medication adherence, reduce costly hospital admissions and realize greater operational efficiencies for retail pharmacies, according to McKesson.

"Before the launch of our mobile delivery app, pharmacists were relying on pen and paper to capture patient signatures and relying on drivers to memorize and report who paid for what," explained Nathan Mott, president of McKesson Pharmacy Systems & Automation. "With this app, we’ve streamlined delivery signature capture, automated payment acceptance and centralized the tracking of all delivery activities."

McKesson also is unveiling a range of new and enhanced offerings to help community pharmacies improve their business results and patient health outcomes.

The Your Pharmacy Online and Mobile App is designed to help pharmacies develop an online and mobile presence quickly and cost-effectively without a significant upfront investment, McKesson said. A customizable, consumer-facing digital platform, Your Pharmacy Online enables patients to manage their prescriptions, receive refill reminders and learn about store promotions and events. The platform now also includes a mobile app for customers that features new communication tools to help increase patient medication adherence and positive health outcomes, as well as prescription volume. A mobile app for Health Mart customers is due out in late summer, the company added.

McKesson also is highlighting its lineup of revenue-generating clinical services, such as medication therapy management, vaccination programs and award-winning behavioral counseling programs.

"Patients who receive face-to-face behavioral coaching can increase adherence by as much as 25%," stated Stacey Irving, vice president of strategic channel solutions for McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions. "Our adherence and disease state knowledge, pharmacy relationships and proprietary technology platform make McKesson uniquely positioned to help customers implement pharmacy-based behavioral coaching programs."

The company noted that its McKesson Connect Community is a fast-growing area within the McKesson Connect ordering website that allows pharmacists and pharmacy owners to connect with their peers. Since the start of this year, membership has grown more than 30%m to 3,000 total members. Through a virtual ideaShare environment within McKesson Connect Community, members can exchange ideas and best practices year-round.

During ideaShare, McKesson’s Health Mart pharmacy franchise also is announcing several new and enhanced offerings, including a new Local Marketing Support program and Marketing Hub, new store designs and decor options, a Health Mart mobile app for Your Pharmacy Online, adherence solutions, among others.

The company added that with over 3,100 stores and growing, Health Mart ranked highest in customer satisfaction in J.D. Power & Associates’ U.S. Pharmacy Study three times in the past four years, further strengthening Health Mart as an option for community pharmacy owners looking to complement their local identity with a national brand.

Also at ideaShare, McKesson experts will be on hand to provide information on programs that can help pharmacists grow their current business or expand to multiple pharmacies.

For instance, McKesson’s Physician Outreach Program provides physician-specific data on more than 1 million prescribers. The data helps pharmacists identify high-opportunity prescribers in their area and determine the best mix of services to offer to market their pharmacy and draw new patients. According to a recent McKesson study, current subscribers have experienced a 1.8% average rise in prescriptions after using the tool, and subscribers using the tool more often and for longer durations have seen up to a 7% increase in prescriptions.

Representatives from McKesson’s RxOwnership program will also host the Sixth Annual Ownership Transfer Luncheon, where attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session to discuss two case studies on the processes of buying and selling a pharmacy. The RxOwnership team will also host its third annual Women in Pharmacy networking event during the Welcome Reception.

"We have guided over 1,500 pharmacies through the ownership-transfer process and helped more than 500 owners start a pharmacy from the ground up," commented Bob Graul, national vice president of RxOwnership. "Whether you are an existing pharmacy owner seeking to expand into multiple locations, a pharmacist or pharmacy student who aspires to own your own pharmacy, or an existing pharmacy owner looking to sell, RxOwnership can help."

In addition, Parata Systems is highlighting Parata PASS (Patient Adherence Strip System), a medication management and packaging system that organizes medications in a strip by date, time and dose to help ensure medications are taken as prescribed. McKesson noted that the strip packaging solution saves pharmacists time and tightens inventory management. A new addition to PASS being promoted at ideaShare is a Business Growth Toolkit that customers will receive with the purchase of Parata PASS. The kit provides tools for pharmacists to market strip packaging, including press release templates, media guidelines, posters for doctor’s offices and letters to potential strategic partners.