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The use of homeopathic medicines as part of a self-care solution to treat such ailments as the common cold or back pain is becoming more and more commonplace through conventional channels. While a Harvard survey on the use of homeopathy published earlier this year in the American Journal of Public Health revealed that only 2.1% of U.S. adults have used homeopathy in the past 12 months, conventional outlets including Walmart, CVS Health and Rite Aid command 86.5% of the homeopathic dollar share, according to SPINSscan (powered by IRI).

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.

Hallmark is bringing music from some of the most popular country artists into the greeting card aisle with CMA Sounds Cards, thanks to Hallmark’s new licensing partnership with the Country Music Association. The new collection includes 12 song cards, each featuring a sound clip from CMA artists, including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan. Priced at $4.99, each card features a 15-second sound clip from some of the artists’ top songs, including No.

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.

In the retail and CPG industry, few terms get thrown around quite as much as “omnichannel.” But regardless of how it is defined, the in-store experience is still a major part of the customer engagement equation.

“We are on the verge of an economic crisis that could disrupt the whole U.S. healthcare system.” Our lack of preventive health care — and the implications of that — was a theme conveyed by numerous economists, healthcare entrepreneurs and technology experts gathered at a special thought leadership event co-produced by Mack Elevation and Drug Store News.

The keys to providing an omnichannel experience are being able to provide customers with consistency and a clear value, according to Procter & Gamble’s associate director of brand marketing for personal health care, Phil McWaters, whose company has been looking closely at the intersection of big data, cognitive science and behavioral economics.

How can pharmacy retailers and their vendor partners help make health care more accountable, accessible and cost-effective? And what role can they play to help their customers to lead longer, healthier lives?