Pharmacy Technology

JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — Innovation on Tuesday announced a new, non-exclusive partnership with IMA North America that’s aimed at bringing high-volume dispensing technology to central fill and mail order pharmacies. Under the partnership agreement, Innovation will be able to integrate its high-volume pharmacy systems with IMA’s Model 340-DRS EKC Automatic Pill Counter.

In the next 10 years, the retail landscape will look and feel much different than it does today. “You’re going to be looking at a world that, instead of [retail] channels, there will be points of influence and methods of fulfillment,” Bryan Gildenberg, chief knowledge officer at Kantar Retail, said during a two-day drug channel workshop Kantar hosted in May. “Where can I influence shoppers irrespective of where the buying takes place, and how do I fulfill that in a way where I can still keep my operations efficient and make money?”

With medication nonadherence estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system anywhere between $100 billion and $300 billion dollars, according to the National Institutes of Health, pharmacy technology companies are looking to create tools that pharmacists can implement to help patients be more adherent, saving the health system money and improving patient health in the process.

The one common denominator that will bring into focus all future visions on what retail pharmacy will look like 10 years from now is secure connectivity and big data. Successfully managing health at scale will be predicated on efficient population management algorithms that enable caregivers to successfully intercept patients before a health event occurs.

As interest in telehealth options increases, so too does the diversification of the services offered through telehealth providers. Both patients and telehealth companies are looking at behavioral health as the next frontier in remote care. In its look at the biggest health industry issues of 2016, PricewaterhouseCooper’s Health Research Institute found that 72% of 18- to 44-year-olds and 43% of those older than 45 years would be willing to use telehealth services to consult with a mental health provider instead of an in-person visit.

Wearables are beginning to gain purchase consideration and traction among all millennials, but especially with white non-Hispanics, according to the latest installment of the Hispanic Millennial Project, published by Sensis and ThinkNow Research in June.

DUBLIN, Ohio - Updox on Thursday introduced Pharmacy Connect, a care coordination suite for pharmacists, during Cardinal Health’s 26th annual Retail Business Conference. Pharmacy Connect offers retail and independent pharmacists an opportunity to enhance their ability to communicate and connect as the industry shifts to a value-based care model.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — A former McKesson legal chief on Thursday was one of two executives to join Theranos, the lab-testing company that earlier this month was sanctioned by  the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the company announced.

The two new executives will lead the company’s regulatory, quality and compliance efforts and will report to Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes.