The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is applauding a proposed rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would withdraw two components of a contested 2007 rule that were related to pharmacy reimbursement for Medicaid.
CVS Caremark Corp. has appointed Jon Roberts as chief operating officer of its pharmacy benefit management business.
Retailers can look forward to holiday sales that are stronger this year than in 2009, but only if they cut prices. That’s the consensus of industry analysts, who say the anemic economic recovery will dissuade consumers from opening their pocketbooks for Christmas unless they find bargains.
Walgreen Co. has begun selling special envelopes to help consumers dispose of medications that they no longer need. Walgreens says the drug disposal program, which began earlier this month at its pharmacies across the country, is the first of its kind in the United States.
Chain pharmacies, already fully engaged in providing flu shots, have extended their immunization programs to respond to a whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak in California.
Walmart is stepping up its challenge to drug chains with the rollout of a new small-format store as part of an urban strategy. The discount store chain will target cities and small towns with the new outlets, which will be less than 30,000 square feet. It will also continue to open Neighborhood
The Jean Coutu Group Inc. has introduced a hypertension monitoring program that enables patients to control their blood pressure in cooperation with both their pharmacist and their physician.
For most of the past decade, community pharmacy has been one of Canada’s fastest-growing retail sectors. Not so in the first half of 2010. Health and personal care stores, the category that embraces pharmacy, had growth of only 2.4% in a period that saw total retail sales increase by 3.8%.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation has applauded the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) for advocating a national strategy to examine the role “care teams’ can have on improving medication adherence.
Allison Janda has been named vice president of retail store operations at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy.
Walmart and Humana Inc. will offer the least expensive nationwide Medicare Part D prescription plan. Called the Humana Walmart-Preferred Rx Plan, the prescription program will be offered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia at a monthly premium of $14.80.
Pharmaceutical industry veteran Jeffrey Berkowitz has joined Walgreen Co. as senior vice president of pharmaceutical development and market access. He reports to Kermit Crawford, president of Walgreens’ pharmacy services division.
Chain drug stores as a group have seen pharmacy customer satisfaction climb, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 National Pharmacy Study. The annual survey measures customer satisfaction with brick-and-mortar and mail-order pharmacies.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) has chosen Scott Melville, senior vice president for government affairs at the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA), to succeed Linda Suydam as president. Suydam is retiring from CHPA after eight years with the trade group.
The Jean Coutu Group has unveiled in Beloeil, Quebec, its first “green” store, built according to what the retailer says are environmental protection standards.
The Food and Drug Administration and drug regulators in Europe have restricted the sale of Avandia, the controversial diabetes medicine marketed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) that has been linked to significant heart risks.
