RITE AID

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, along with a coalition of healthcare industry stakeholders, on Wednesday issued a consensus statement regarding the collaborative steps that will be taken to help ensure the delivery of responsible and effective patient care as it relates to the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances. 

CHICAGO — Higi on Tuesday announced an agreement with Rite Aid to become the sole provider of health stations in stores nationwide. The company will deploy approximately 4,100 higi Stations across the United States beginning in the second quarter of 2014 and projects completion of the rollout by early 2015. 

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid's January same-store sales increased 1.8%, beating out an analyst projection of a 0.5% increase in overall comparable-store sales. Total drug store sales for the four weeks ended Jan. 25 increased 1.5% to $1.9 billion.

January front-end same-store sales decreased 1.3%, of which 1.4% was attributable to a decrease in sales of flu-related over-the-counter products. Pharmacy same-store sales, which included an approximate 124 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 3.2%. 

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid on Tuesday announced that associates in its corporate offices located throughout the greater Harrisburg area raised $613,555 during its 2013 fundraising campaign for the United Way of the Capital Region. Rite Aid has raised more than $6.4 million for the United Way of the Capital Region since it began holding a corporate campaign in 2002. 

NEW YORK — Tough comparisons against a robust flu season last year and the continued lackluster economy may put a chill in pharmacy comps for the month of January, wrote Credit Suisse research analyst Ed Kelly in a note published Wednesday. 

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Armada Health Care on Thursday added featured speaker Myrtle Potter to its card at the 2014 Specialty Pharmacy Summit and Expo to be held in Las Vegas May 5 to 9. The specialty pharmacy group also announced the addition of a pre-conference seminar/workshop to take place on May 5 and 6. 

Potter will join a speaker faculty of more than 50 other industry experts at this conference with a presentation titled, "Healthcare Leaders: How Will You Successfully Navigate the Healthcare Storm?". 

HAIFA, Israel — Users of a medication-management app can now refill their prescriptions using an enhancement to it.

MediSafe announced Monday an updated version of its Medication Refill Reminder app allowing users to enter contact information for their preferred pharmacies and, once alerted that a medication refill is needed, to click on the pharmacy logo that directs them to the mobile refill page of the specified pharmacy. The app currently supports refills for Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Health Mart.