Content about CVS

Walgreens. CVS. Rite Aid. Walmart. Costco. Health Mart. Sam’s Club. Ahold. H-E-B. Winn-Dixie. McKesson. Good Neighbor Pharmacy. Kerr Drug. Rexall Canada. Family Dollar. Shoppers Drug Mart. Giant Eagle. The list of participating companies in the 14th Annual Drug Store News Group Industry Issues conference reads like a “who’s who” of retailing.


Online Groupons for health services? Doctors and hospitals sharing patient data and treatment goals with retail clinics, pharmacies and urgent care centers? Hospitals luring patients with inviting atriums and indoor waterfalls? It’s all part of a wave of “retailization” as the nation’s transforming health system emerges from behind the walls of hospitals, labs and doctors’ offices, and repositions itself as a more retail-oriented, patient-friendly network of care.


WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced partnerships with several pharmacies to help customers learn about new Medicare benefits available to them under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

These partnerships — with CVS Caremark, Sam's Club, Thrifty White, Walgreens and Walmart — will provide Medicare beneficiaries with a range of educational materials on newly available preventive services, as well as savings on prescription drug spending in the "doughnut hole" coverage gap.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark paid tribute to disabled veterans from New England with a batting camp and full-day experience at Fenway Park in Boston on Aug. 7.

The Fenway Park opportunity marked an extension of CVS Caremarkʼs national philanthropic All Kids Can program, which aims to make life easier for children with disabilities. The special camp, which took place during Fenway Parkʼs 100th anniversary season, was a joint endeavor between CVS Caremark and the Boston Red Sox.

NEW YORK — Beginning this month, South Carolina is allowing retail-based health clinics to enroll as providers in Medicaid, a move that will enable Medicaid patients to use clinics for wellness visits, preventive services and to treat acute ailments, according to a local news report.

According to The Post and Courier, South Carolina Medicaid director Tony Keck said the move is designed to expand access to care and keep those patients with basic health issues from using high-cost emergency departments.

BOSTON — Massachusetts lawmakers passed a massive healthcare bill that seeks to control healthcare costs and expands the services of limited-service clinics to allow for anything within the scope of practice for a nurse practitioner.

The legislation, which Gov. Deval Patrick said he would sign into law, includes an array of other cost-curbing provisions and is estimated to save as much as $200 billion in healthcare spending over the next 15 years.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic has teamed up with the American Heart Association in a nationwide effort to improve the identification, treatment and management of high blood pressure.

According to the American Heart Association, 1-out-of-3 American adults has high blood pressure or hypertension. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney failure.

Prepare to roll up your sleeves, because the battle for the ESI patient has only just begun. While Wall Street is busy calculating the earnings-per-share impact this will have on all relevant parties (at press time, Walgreens’ shares had consistently hovered around the $35 range, up almost $4 in the week following the announcement), the business of pharmacy retailing will return to block and tackle mode.


WEST ORANGE, N.J. — The Kessler Foundation and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development last week released a research brief on disability employment titled “Strategies to Support Employer-Driven Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Employees with Disabilities” that explores the growing trend among employers in accommodating workers with disabilities.

SUPPLIER NEWS — La Roche-Posay has developed the new Redermic [C], an anti-wrinkle firming moisturizer that was inspired by the growing popularity of injectable filler technology. The products have a suggested retail price of $53.95 for normal/combination, $53.95 for dry, $53.95 for UV and $43.95 for eyes. The line will be offered beginning in September at select physicians’ offices and select CVS/pharmacy, Ulta, Walgreens and Duane Reade locations.


WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic, the walk-in medical clinics inside CVS/pharmacy stores in 25 states and the District of Columbia, is gearing up for the back-to-school season by reminding parents that it is a one-stop location where students can get their required vaccinations and sports and college physicals as four states issue new immunization mandates.

WOONSOCKET, R.I., and LOS ANGELES — MinuteClinic has entered into a clinical affiliation with the UCLA Health System to enhance patient access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services in Los Angeles County.