Speakers at DSN’s Issues Summit address opportunities in health, beauty
Drug Store News’ 26th annual Industry Issues Summit, co-hosted with The CPG Guys, explored a myriad of issues and trends in the health, wellness and beauty space, with speakers putting a heavy emphasis on meeting patients’ and consumers’ needs.
A prime example was the panel titled “How Pharmacy’s Footprint Plays an Increasingly Important Role Providing
Access to Healthcare.” Moderated by Scott Miller, president of strategic, community and specialized pharmacy at McKesson, the panel included Stacy Burch, vice president of North America marketing at Embecta; Davey Lavergne, VP, health and wellness business unit operations at Walmart and Rina Shah, senior vice president, pharmacy growth at Walgreens.
Lavergne shared how Walmart is aligning its offerings to meet healthcare trends and patients’ needs.
“The trends we see and believe are most relevant are convenience and exceeding customer and patient expectations,” Lavergne said. He advised that one of most important things teams and companies can do is to listen to customers and patients.
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To that end, Walmart recently launched pharmacy delivery, which includes prescriptions, groceries and general merchandise as part of the order. “This truly enables a mixed product experience that’s convenient and accessible,” Lavergne said. Pharmacy delivery, which is currently available in six states, will be available in 49 states by the end of January.
Next, Shah addressed the importance of Walgreens’ physical store footprint and how being present in communities plays a role in Walgreens’ long-term strategy in delivering health care.
“What is the value of a human-to-human connection?” Shah asked, noting that the value of a pharmacist or pharmacy team is where Walgreens can engage with patients and understand what is going on in their lives.
“Being able to connect with patients to help them navigate through the various aspects of the journey and leveraging technology and solutions like delivery, which is very customer centric, is going to be critical, but the physical aspect of it is also a key component to ensure that you are heading on the right track,” Shah said.
Lastly, Burch emphasized that diabetes prevalence continues to grow. “We know that you need to get ahead of it and our best way to do that is through education and partnerships with retailers and suppliers,” she said.
This year Embecta launched a campaign that focuses on ensuring diabetes patients are receiving the care they need, including ensuring proper injection technique and adequate supplies. The omnichannel education campaign includes videos, online tools and education materials at local pharmacies.
Another panel, “Dermatology and Retail Alliance,” showcased how collaboration across sectors strengthens access to skin health and advances the path toward accessible health care for all. Panelists included Carolina Howski, senior director, DMM at Walgreens; Gina Daley, assistant VP, integrated health at L’Oréal and Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, dermatologist and founder of DermFriends.
Daley noted that the inspiration for the creation of The Dermatology and Retail Alliance is the fact that the number of certified dermatologists in the United States is not keeping up with the demand from patients who are seeking skin health solutions. “One in four Americans is impacted by skin conditions and yet in 2022 only 10% of Americans saw a dermatologist, and the wait times are pretty long,” she said.
Pointing out that consumers are turning to unreliable sources such as social media for solutions, Daley said, “We know that retail can play a role in demystifying skin care for the consumer, but in order to effectively do that they need to understand dermatological approaches and how the board certified dermatologist thinks about OTC solutions and skin care.”
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Daley went on to say that the DRA has grown from 2021, when its first event featured four dermatologists and executives from three retailers. The recent event in October 2024 included 14 board certified dermatologists and executives from 12 retailers, including Kroger, Meijer, Walmart and Amazon.
Noting that pharmacy makes more than 310 million skin care recommendations per year, Daley said, “I’m proud L’Oréal has fueled this initiative because it creates access to dermatologic care and expertise, which is much needed in this country.”
Howski added, “When we think about the importance of skin health and how much Walgreens prioritizes not only skin health, but sun care and scalp health, and how we’re bringing that education to life to our customers through in store graphics and displays as well as through our beauty events is where we leverage what we’ve learned at DRA.”
Lastly, Woolery-Lloyd pointed out that in addition to prescribing medications, dermatologists often recommend OTC skin care products. “One of the huge benefi ts of the DRA is that it helps dermatologists learn what happens when patients go to retailers,” she said. “A lot of dermatologists didn’t know about the beauty and wellness coordinators that many retailers have that help guide patients to make their purchase.”
