Special Reports Archive

As pharmacies fill more prescriptions, while also needing to provide specialty clinical services, pharmacy technology company ScriptPro is positioning itself as a provider of solutions that will ease common pain points that come with increased script volume and the influx of paperwork from clinical services. ScriptPro’s CEO Mike Coughlin shared two forthcoming innovations from the company with Drug Store News, one of which addresses pharmacy documentation needs, and the other of which will help with pain points in the will-call process.

Having been around for 39 years, Spartanburg, S.C.-based pharmacy solutions company QS/1 has seen the pharmacy business change several times, all the while providing tools to help pharmacies navigate the changes and provide services to their patients. As pharmacy shifts its focus to outcomes and implements more clinical services, QS/1 knows that its latest solution will be able to assist in managing the increasing amount of documents pharmacies deal with on a daily basis.

The front-end opportunity surrounding patients with diabetes is significant. Diabetes patients are spending between $1,000 and $2,500 each year on diabetes supplies alone, noted Sally Manoufar, senior manager health and wellness at Johnson & Johnson, during a recent GMDC webcast. According to Johnson & Johnson research, the front-end basket of a diabetes patient is five times larger than that of a patient who doesn’t have diabetes.

Walmart’s Annie Walker

How can retailers and manufacturers work together to not only be partners in managing consumers’ disease states, but also to help educate a new generation about the importance of prevention? This was the driving question a panel of leading consumer health executives tackled in June, at a special one-day thought leadership conference in Bentonville, Ark., co-hosted by Drug Store News and Mack Elevation Forum.

Pfizer’s Nexium 24HR is the clear leader in the digestive aisle. However, in March 2017, store-brand versions of Nexium 24HR will be available. Perrigo has already secured a tentative approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its OTC Nexium 24HR generic equivalent. “We are currently working with our retail customers in making plans to launch the item as soon as possible after the late March 2017 market exclusivity period expires for the national brand,” John Henderickson, Perrigo president and CEO, recently told investors.

One disconnect Bausch + Lomb’s John Ferris sees in the conversation about health care is the relative lack of attention paid to eye health — even though age-related macular degeneration affects two-and-a-half times more people than Alzheimer’s disease, and baby boomers are as concerned about vision loss as contracting heart disease and cancer.

Christina Speck, senior director of consumer initiatives at Aetna

Successfully offering consumer-centric health care requires a multi-pronged approach that meets the needs of a wide variety of customer groups, Aetna senior director of consumer initiatives Christina Speck stressed at the recent Retail Health Summit.

By now, the retail pharmacy industry knows that its place within the American healthcare landscape is changing. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute has dubbed it the New Health Economy, and in May the firm highlighted the factors that are playing a key role in pharmacy’s transformation.