Publix keeps pace with innovation

Publix routinely makes strategic moves to enhance the customer experience in the pharmacy and health-and-wellness arena that are rooted in the customer service mindset that has made its supermarkets so popular.

Last fall the company introduced a new larger, triangular-shaped pill bottle that is designed to be easier to open. While the pill bottle redesign didn’t go as far as the award-winning program Target introduced a few years back, the move underscored the fact that Publix is a pharmacy innovator.

It is a company that seeks its own unique position in the marketplace while others follow the leader. When Walmart launched a $4 generic program roughly four years ago and others quickly followed suit, Publix charted a different course with a free antibiotic program.

Publix also made sure it kept pace with competitive trends so its pharmacies offer flu shots and various other health screenings throughout the year, and was an early adopter of retail clinics through an affiliation with the The Little Clinic, which was acquired by Kroger in February 2010. Today, the 40 clinics are operated

by Health Solera.

Last year, Publix launched the first phase of a multifaceted diabetes management program that included free metformin for Type 2 diabetes patients in addition to resources to help manage medications, compliance and monitoring.