|
Retail News Breaks Archives Pending legislation in Pennsylvania would help level the playing field between community pharmacies and mail-order pharmacy services run by pharmacy benefit managers, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association. Walgreen Co. ended a rough fiscal 2012 with a steep bottom-line decline that reflects onetime costs from its acquisition of a 45% stake in Alliance Boots GmbH and the impact of its dispute with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Inc., which ended earlier this month. Safeway is giving its grocery customers extra incentive to get a flu vaccination at its pharmacies. A survey of CVS retail pharmacists revealed that cost remains an obstacle in medication adherence and underscored the pivotal role of the pharmacist in helping people take their chronic medications as prescribed. Patient satisfaction with mail-order pharmacies continues to decline, while satisfaction with brick-and-mortar pharmacies has held steady, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Pharmacy Study. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation has announced 15 more academic institutions selected for the Community Pharmacy Residency Expansion Project (Community PREP). Cardinal Health Inc. is helping its retail pharmacy clients educate their patients about new Medicare benefits and options to be available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act starting next year. Uniprix is marking its 35th year in business with a series of promotions, including a first-of-its-kind panoramic insert and a special anniversary magazine. Larry Merlo, president and chief executive officer of CVS Caremark Corp., is slated to participate in a Wall Street Journal CEO summit that will examine the nation's economic challenges. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is hailing the Senate's approval of a bipartisan bill aimed at battling organized retail crime and bolstering consumer safety. Rite Aid Corp. has entered a multiyear partnership with Valassis to develop and execute in-store marketing and media programs. As part of its sponsorship of The Partnership at Drugfree.org's The Medicine Abuse Project, CVS Caremark Corp. will ask millions of its customers to take the project's pledge to learn about teen medicine abuse, safeguard medicines in the home and talk to teens about drug misuse and abuse. A continuing shortage of primary care doctors and overburdened emergency rooms are pushing a rising number of consumers to retail health clinics and urgent care centers, according to a study by Marketdata Enterprises Inc. McKesson Corp. has appointed Mark Walchirk, a top executive in its specialty drug unit, as president of McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical, the company's largest business. As the presidential campaign season kicks into high gear, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores said its grassroots advocacy program, NACDS RxImpact, is "having a banner year" in giving lawmakers a firsthand look at the value of community pharmacy.
|
