CHICAGO — Retail pharmacy is no stranger to technology. For many years pharmacy operators and their supply chain partners have relied on computer-driven systems to ensure efficient distribution of products, assist pharmacists in dispensing and adjudicate insurance claims. The digital revolution is now bringing about an exponential change in technology’s impact not only on pharmacy,
With massive change in the retail pharmacy industry — including mergers and acquisitions, downward pressure on reimbursement rates, consolidation of payers, and a nascent movement to transform pharmacists into providers — now is a good time to take a step back and look at the big picture. What forces will transform the industry, and which
Can retail pharmacies beat other players to patient intimacy? Many pharmacy retailers understand that big data can improve business operations, enabling intimate consumer engagement and thereby driving bigger baskets and more door turns, along with healthier customers and margins. They see impacts almost completely confined to the income statement. Too few grasp the strategic ability
It’s Monday morning and you wake up with a throbbing headache, stuffy and dizzy, recognizing that the next thing you absolutely positively need to hear is, “The doctor will see you now.” You roll over in bed, pick up your tablet, open your accountable care organization’s (ACO’s) telemedicine app, and in a few minutes you
