News Briefs

FDB is introducing FDB Navigo, a cloud-based solution that provides retail pharmacists with targeted, consolidated and actionable clinical guidance at the most optimal time in their workflow.

Developed over the past three years in collaboration with a major retail pharmacy chain, FDB Navigo streamlines the retail pharmacist’s workflow by changing the focus of medication safety alerts and the way these alerts are presented and processed. Specifically, FDB Navigo provides actionable guidance to the pharmacist based on the most important risks to the patient as reflected in the patient's clinical record in the pharmacy’s system.

Additionally, FDB Navigo consolidates the appropriate information across all major clinical domains, including drug interactions, allergies, precautions and dosing information, to eliminate the current “siloed” approach in which retail pharmacists need to consider alerts within each clinical domain. 

FDB Navigo assists the retail pharmacist to determine the next best step for each patient, whether that is to fill the prescription, provide additional guidance to the patient or follow up with the patient’s physician.

“As retail pharmacists take on greater responsibilities beyond filling prescriptions and providing general advice for taking medications, demands on their time and energy have increased,” said president Bob Katter. “FDB is pleased to offer a transformative clinical guidance solution that helps pharmacists meet these demands and practice at the top of their license in order to best serve the health and safety needs of their patients.”

In addition, the tool also identifies therapeutic alternatives when available based on the patient’s risk and equips the pharmacist with a scripted narrative that can be used when counseling the patient or when discussing interventions with the physician. 

Moreover, FDB Navigo helps to significantly reduce the number of alerts retail pharmacists receive in order to alleviate their cognitive burden, according to the company. Unlike legacy clinical screening solutions, this new solution helps retail pharmacists, who are increasingly taking on expanded roles in patient care, to easily identify and respond to medication risks pertinent to individual patients to improve patient safety. Ultimately, FDB Navigo gives retail pharmacists more time and cognitive space to consult with patients and offer more primary care services, according to the company.

“FDB Navigo leverages additional patient information, such as prescription history, previous alert outcomes and universal medication schedule, to provide patient-specific context for clinical guidance, helping to ensure medication safety,” said Chirag Patel, senior product manager. “This product development approach, also reflected in other solutions within FDB’s PatientFirst suite, helps retail pharmacists make more precise, evidence-based decisions.”

With midterm elections on the horizon, members of the National Community Pharmacists Association have completed dozens of pharmacy visits with policymakers or their staff as part of NCPA’s Month of Action initiative.

The Month of Action was in lieu of NCPA’s Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In to Washington, D.C., which typically takes place in April. By inviting policymakers to pharmacies instead, this initiative provided firsthand insight into the important role independent pharmacies play in their communities, the many ways that pharmacy teams help patients and the challenges facing the industry.

[Read more: NCPA survey: Three-quarters of community pharmacies report staff shortages]

From Aug. 1 to Sept. 7, NCPA members across the country had plans for 60 visits in conjunction with NCPA’s Month of Action. Twenty-two of these were with legislators who serve in leadership roles in or on key committees for community pharmacy, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure visited a community pharmacy as well. Nearly 40% of pharmacies participating in the Month of Action hosted a legislator for the first time, an important step in building rapport with those making decisions central to the future of pharmacy. 

“Forging a relationship with my senator and representative over the years has made them much more attuned to independent pharmacy issues,” said NCPA president Michele Belcher, owner of Grants Pass Pharmacy in Grants Pass, Ore.

Belcher has hosted several policymakers at her pharmacy and, in August, joined Wyden, Brooks-LaSure and others in visiting River Road Health Mart Pharmacy in Eugene.

[Read more: 2022 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition finalists announced]

“These opportunities show how decisions made in Washington affect independent pharmacies and patients across the country are times well spent,” she said. “I’m glad to have participated in NCPA’s Month of Action and am proud that so many independent pharmacists were prioritized by policymakers’ offices for meeting with this summer.”

One Brand is adding a bit of a crunch to its popular protein bars with a new product line — One Crunch.

Featuring 12 g of protein and 1 g of sugar, the bars come in peanut butter chocolate chip, cinnamon French toast and marshmallow treat varieties.

“After a day of working hard, new One Crunch protein bars are the perfect way to power through afternoon hunger and fatigue,” said Eric Clawson, One Brands’ general manager. “One Brands is known for our flavor innovation, and you can expect more exciting and delicious flavors like marshmallow or French toast, delivered without all the sugar and combined with powerful protein in this new line of bars.”

One Crunch bars are available for purchase online and in select stores at Walmart. The products will be launched at a later date on Amazon and Target.

A new popcorn is joining the General Mills family.

Trix Popcorn is the latest launch from the company, which is a crunchy popcorn snack that contains a Trix-flavored fruity glaze along with bits of the cereal, the company said.

Inspired by other cereal and popcorn snack flavors that have been released, including Cinnamon Toast Crunch popcorn with Cinnadust Glaze and Cocoa Puffs popcorn with Cocoa Glaze, the snack features a balance of sweet and salty notes.

Consumers currently can find Trix Popcorn available at Sam’s Club in a 20-oz. bag that retails for $6.48 and in a 7-oz. bag that will retail for $3.69 at Walmart beginning in October.

Glamnetic is showcasing a brand new press-on manicure collection designed for those who prefer a short round nail shape.

The Choose Your Vibe line features eight designs that include Lots of Love, Pretty Picnic, A Good Day, Shroomies, Pure Intentions, Day Trip, Mu Cherie and Hot Dot.

Like all of Glamnetic’s press on, each set in this new collection is reusable, customizable and made with high-quality material that is easy to file or clip and will not bend or split, the company said.

Made to last up to three weeks of wear, the nails are vegan, cruelty-free and topped with a layer of UV coating to achieve a salon-quality finish.

Each nail design retails for $14.99 each and the entire collection is available for $89.94 online.

Sally Hansen is teaming up with Netflix to launch a collection of polishes that will have consumers feeling as if they are in a fantasy novel.

Inspired by the “School for Good & Evil,” premiering on the streaming platform, the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel X Netflix The School for Good & Evil collection was influenced by the young adult novel turned film.

Designed to help consumers achieve a perfect manicure with imaginative shades, Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel line features color set technology, lasts up to eight days and does not require a UV lamp for application.

Available shades include True Beauty Comes from Within; The Storian; Not What It Gleams; Lovey Dovey; Good is Great; Can’t Settle, Won’t Settle; Fresh Villainy; It’s Better Being Bad; Magic Mirror and Lesso Go.

The Sally Hansen Miracle Gel X Netflix The School for Good & Evil collection will be available in September at mass market, drug store, food and ecommerce retailers nationwide.