DDM refines service with DME, generics


The pharmacies of tomorrow are expected to be more service-oriented, and Discount Drug Mart is preparing to be exactly that: a comprehensive pharmacy point of care. 


“We are really marketing pharmacy more now than we have in the past,” noted Tom McConnell, Discount Drug Mart VP and CFO. For every month since an October 2010 implementation of the pharmacy-focused marketing, and a $1.99 generic drug program covering 50 generics, Discount Drug Mart has been realizing comparable-prescription gains, he said. 


The regional operator has had an extensive durable medical equipment position since 2007, and that department has been expanded further to incorporate breast cancer products. “We have a separate department within home health care that deals with counseling [breast cancer patients],” McConnell said. 


Expanding retail clinic offerings is another initiative around which Discount Drug Mart is focused. In a partnership with the hospital network Parma Community General Hospital, the retailer has three retail clinics up and running now, with two to three more slated to open later this year.