Rite Aid: Before and after ... and still to come

Anyone who knows me knows that I spend a lot of my free time in the gym. Some time around 2007, disgusted with myself and in dire need of a physical reinvention, I fell in love with the weight room. I started consuming such “muscle rags” as Muscle & Fitness and others, looking for workout tips, new exercises, training programs, nutritional information — anything I could find that would make me bigger and stronger. I remember spending a lot of time looking at all the “before and after” pictures.



One thing I learned pretty quickly: There are no short cuts. Having the body you want means commitment and dedication over the long haul.



I had been thinking a lot about that in these last few weeks, as we put together this issue’s special report on Rite Aid. No doubt, the “before and after” pictures of Rite Aid would show some serious results. And, you better believe, it wasn’t some kind of hocus pocus that got them where they are today. In the roughly six years since Rite Aid chairman and CEO John Standley rejoined the company, he and his leadership team have brought Rite Aid back in a very big way, restoring profitability and paving the way for future growth behind a bold mission to transform itself into a retail healthcare company at the center of healthcare delivery in America.



It is reflected in its stores, where Rite Aid continues to test and create the next best version of its Wellness format — don’t call it a “prototype.”



It is reflected in such innovative programs as Health Alliance and the growing cadre of Care Coaches that are working with chronic and polychronic patients — at their physicians’ directions — to meet specific life-changing, and perhaps life-saving, health goals.



It is reflected in Rite Aid’s commitment to invest in the broad infrastructure it needs to be a retail healthcare company, through such strategic acquisitions as Health Dialog — which drives its Health Alliance partnerships and provides the training for its Care Coaches — RediClinic and most recently, the PBM EnvisionRX.



It is reflected in Rite Aid’s commitment to enabling its pharmacists to practice at the very top of their licenses and engage in more of the clinical services and face-to-face care that is a critical component of any plan to expand patient access and lower costs.



And in this issue of DSN, it is reflected in greater detail through a series of exclusive interviews with Rite Aid’s senior leadership team.



But don’t think of this as Rite Aid’s “after” picture. Rite Aid isn’t done yet. In the years to come, DSN expects Rite Aid to emerge as a chief innovator of healthcare delivery in this country.