Content about In this Issue

According to Surescripts, almost 400,000 physicians — about 58% of all office-based doctors — were e-prescribing at the end of 2011. The net effect: About 36% of all prescriptions were sent electronically in 2011.


For the full report, click here.

New, holistic models for integrated, patient-centered care are emerging from the fog of health reform almost as fast as you can say “accountable care organization.” But pharmacy and retail clinic operators aren’t waiting for ACOs to fully ripen; they’re forging new alliances with hospital-based health systems and building the kind of continuity-of-care networks that could be a template for the new era of evidence-based medicine and improved patient outcomes.


A few months ago, I found myself commenting on another website focused on healthcare-related news about the future growth potential for retail clinics versus urgent care centers. Actually, I was on the verge of a full-on debate with some other user, saved only by the grace of a site error. It is an ironic example of how technology can make humans more efficient — even if by mistake.


The New York City health commissioner’s ban on the sale of big cups of fountain soda drew many an unfavorable accusation that the administration of mayor Michael Bloomberg was trying to turn the city into a nanny state, with NaturalNews.com editor Mike Adams asking, “What’s next? Is Bloomberg gonna pull a Singapore and ban chewing gum too?”


It turns out that the Baby Boomer generation was just the opening act. The Millennials are here, and the world changed overnight, at least for marketers. Brand loyalty is out the window, transparency rules and convenience is king. Millennials are savvy about marketing, and they want what they want when they want it. 


While traditional circulars still have their place within retail — especially when it comes to reaching older shoppers — there’s no doubt that the tides are changing as loyalty cards take a greater share of the 
promotional spotlight. 


A recent study by market research firm Polaris Marketing Research, for example, found that Americans are participating in loyalty card programs more now than ever before, and many are participating in five or more 
loyalty programs.


At first glance, the response might appear to be somewhat at odds with other national news polls. Indeed, according to a national Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll conducted Aug. 7 to 12 among 1,208 adults, 43% have an unfavorable view of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


For the full report, click here.

Can you feel that? 


It’s the seismic shift that currently is occurring in health care in this country. And really, it’s just a tremor. The intense stuff isn’t expected to hit until 2014.


That’s why we’re creating “Patient Views” (see page 6), a new department that will be featured Upfront in every issue of DSN and in every edition of our daily 
e-newsletter, DSN A.M.


AccentHealth’s Andrew Schulman, VP marketing, recently sat down with DSN to talk about a new regular DSN feature debuting in this issue called “Patient Views,” and how this series of surveys can help inform pharmacy operators and healthcare suppliers alike.


DSN: What is AccentHealth, and why should retail pharmacy, pharmaceutical manufacturers and consumer packaged goods companies pay attention?


A paradigm shift is under way in U.S. hospitals. To keep pace with health reform, the rise of accountable care organizations and the growing empowerment of informed and cost-sensitive patients, hospital-driven health systems nationwide are joining the retail health revolution.

As Paula Crowley reports in the publication Hospitals & Health Networks, “Healthcare consumers value what all consumers value: convenience and customer service.”

More than 11 million Americans are living with an uncorrected vision problem, according to the Vision Council of America, and 1-in-4 children have a common eye disease or other vision problem that goes undetected.

The U.S. healthcare system presents a paradox: It’s the most expensive system in the world, and yet it produces among the worst results among developed countries. According to the most recent report from the National Health Expenditure Accounts, spending on health care reached $2.6 trillion in 2010, or more than $8,400 per person and around 18% of the country’s gross domestic product.