INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Since the turn of the 21st century, community pharmacy and its technology allies have waged a long fight to shift the nation’s fractious healthcare system to a common communications and record-keeping platform via electronic prescribing and information technology. Those efforts -- led by such companies as Surescripts, the pharmacy industry-founded e-prescribing network -- have made progress.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Take Care Health Systems’ announcement that its Take Care Clinics ranked among the top 10% of all organizations globally in engaging their customers, according to Gallup research, is not only important for Take Care but also for the overall convenient care clinic industry.

(THE NEWS: Gallup: Take Care Clinics tops at customer engagement. For the full story, click here) 

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT For more than a decade, retail pharmacy advocates have worked to convince every stakeholder in the U.S. healthcare system -- physicians, payers, policy-makers and patients themselves -- that community pharmacists have a lot more to offer the nation’s massive health-and-wellness network than simple medication dispensing and basic counseling. As the health-reform debate reached a crescendo last year, those arguments on behalf of pharmacy’s value found their way into congressional hearings and onto the pages of many newspapers.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The USA Today article highlighting nurse-managed centers as one “innovative” program that could help fill the primary care physician void is important because it underscores the important role that nurse practitioners play in delivering quality healthcare services.

(THE NEWS: Nurse-managed centers may fill primary care physician void. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT There are two key takeaways within the SMARTcare offering, and they both spell opportunity. First, there is the obvious tie-in with over-the-counter recommendations. Second is the scalability of this online counseling tool, because as the number of offerings provided at retail clinics continues to expand, this tool will be able to expand right along with it.

(THE NEWS: CCA to offer members SMARTcare counseling tool. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Procter & Gamble's plan to move toward sugarcane-based plastic packaging for some of its beauty brands marks the latest "green" movement by the company, and it is something the industry likely will see more of from manufacturers as the sustainable packaging industry is expected to see significant growth in the coming years.

(THE NEWS: P&G to roll out eco-friendly packaging for beauty brands. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT In these times of trillion-dollar spending bills and massive deficits, $16 billion may not seem like all that much. But it’s enough to throw another critical lifeline to states coping with the ever-rising costs of Medicaid health assistance to the poor and unemployed –– and to thousands of community pharmacies that have to provide prescription services to those millions of Americans.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT In the ever-evolving world of food retailing, two developments stood out last week.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens continues fight against food deserts in Chicago. For the full story, click here)