Content about Insights and Perspectives

September 17, 2009

Question: What piece of compromise legislation proposes to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system at a...

NEW YORK Question: What piece of compromise legislation proposes to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system at a price tag of $856 billion and promises to address both the unsustainable costs of that system and the crisis of uninsured and under-insured Americans – while failing to fully satisfy almost everyone involved in the health reform debate?

 

September 17, 2009

Here’s the diabetic rub — there is no more efficient way to reach the growing...

NEW YORK Here’s the diabetic rub — there is no more efficient way to reach the growing multitudes of diabetics around improving disease-state management and testing/pharmaceutical compliance than through the one touch point with which they interact most often — that being the neighborhood pharmacist.

 

September 17, 2009

The announcement that Walgreens eclipsed the 1 millionth shot mark on Sept. 15 — just...

NEW YORK The announcement that Walgreens eclipsed the 1 millionth shot mark on Sept. 15 — just two weeks after it began offering them — is a very public demonstration of the important public health role community pharmacy can play in the U.S. healthcare system.

 

While extremists on both sides of the spectrum argue over the future of healthcare reform and what it will look like, community pharmacy continues to show America what it’s got.

 

 

September 13, 2009

Want to reach and effectively communicate with today’s diabetics? Then communicate with them through the...

NEW YORK Want to reach and effectively communicate with today’s diabetics? Then communicate with them through the news medium they turn to in favor of the nightly evening news, or even the morning paper that their grandparents turned to for information — the Internet.

 

September 13, 2009

California and Missouri legislatures may want to take a page out of Louisiana’s playbook in...

NEW YORK California and Missouri legislatures may want to take a page out of Louisiana’s playbook in the pursuit of curbing illicit methamphetamine production. Because here, everyone wins (unless, of course, you’re a meth addict).

 

September 13, 2009

There’s a reason there is such a great emphasis on school-aged children with the pending...

NEW YORK There’s a reason there is such a great emphasis on school-aged children with the pending “return” (it in fact never left) of the H1N1 influenza pandemic. That’s because kids are more likely to get sick from colds and flu — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children come down with a cold and/or flu between five and six times per year.

September 10, 2009

A murky and long-unresolved dispute over the prices pharmaceutical wholesalers pay for the drugs they...

NEW YORK A murky and long-unresolved dispute over the prices pharmaceutical wholesalers pay for the drugs they distribute has finally been laid to rest, at least as far as the parties involved in the class-action lawsuit and the First Circuit Court of Appeals are concerned. But the settlement has scrambled the carefully calculated sales and profit outlook for thousands of retail pharmacies.

 

September 10, 2009

Target is looking to its pharmacy business to drive customer traffic and average transaction size,...

NEW YORK Target is looking to its pharmacy business to drive customer traffic and average transaction size, areas where Target has struggled this year as the weak economy prompted customers to shop elsewhere.

The aggressive in-store communication effort is part of a larger marketing initiative the company announced at the end of its second quarter.

September 10, 2009

The complications that can result from unhealthy eating among middle-aged and elderly Americans with Type...

NEW YORK The complications that can result from unhealthy eating among middle-aged and elderly Americans with Type 2 diabetes have consequences for the whole healthcare system, but it’s not just diabetes, which already costs the U.S. healthcare system $116 billion. Unhealthy eating habits contribute to and exacerbate obesity, hypertension and kidney disease, diseases that often have causal relationships to one another. Obesity and diabetes already cost the healthcare system $147 billion and $116 billion, respectively.

 

September 7, 2009

One of the more significant points of differentiation between specialty channels that sell supplements and...

NEW YORK One of the more significant points of differentiation between specialty channels that sell supplements and mass retailers sporting supplements is education — those specialty channels oftentimes have a dedicated, educated sales force interacting with customers around what to buy and why to buy.

 

This kind of program levels that playing field a little bit.

 

September 7, 2009

Worth repeating: “Researchers reviewed the experiences of 2,100 patients treated in clinics in Minnesota in...

NEW YORK Worth repeating: “Researchers reviewed the experiences of 2,100 patients treated in clinics in Minnesota in 2005 and 2006 for middle ear infections, sore throats and urinary tract infections.”

 

Satisfaction ratings soared above 90% and the healthcare savings were as high as 40%. And every one of those three more popular conditions presenting at retail clinics have over-the-counter product solutions.

 

September 7, 2009

Images of “Sesame Street’s” Count tabulating H1N1 flu cases aside, this really emphasizes how serious...

NEW YORK Images of “Sesame Street’s” Count tabulating H1N1 flu cases aside, this really emphasizes how serious the government is in attempting to mitigate the spread of H1N1 through more traditional mediums, such as people’s laptops and their television sets.

 

First, kids spread colds and flu. With the rhinovirus (common cold), school children typically get between five to six colds each year; their parents two to three. So it makes sense to target and educate children and their parents around sound prevention techniques.

September 1, 2009

Bottom line: The CDC report means one of two things. The 2009-2010 flu season has...

NEW YORK Bottom line: The CDC report means one of two things. The 2009-2010 flu season has kicked off to a roaring start as early as late August/early September — it usually doesn’t pick up until mid-October. Or that the 2008-2009 flu season never really ended.

 

September 1, 2009

Findings from market research firm The NPD Group that U.S. prestige beauty sales took a...

NEW YORK Findings from market research firm The NPD Group that U.S. prestige beauty sales took a beating during the first half of 2009 may not be the most upbeat news, but it does make you wonder where those dollars are instead being spent. Well, a separate NPD report suggested that drug and mass might be the answer.

 

As the article stated, U.S. prestige beauty sales dropped 7% during the first half of the year, and June marked the 11th consecutive month of negative prestige beauty performance. Even prestige skin care suffered a loss, with sales dropping 6%.

September 1, 2009

NEW YORK The health information technology revolution is sweeping beyond urban centers and into the...

NEW YORK The health information technology revolution is sweeping beyond urban centers and into the heartland.

 

Newest case in point: Harris Teeter, whose tagline is “Your Neighborhood Food Market,” and whose reach is deep in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions. The 188-store chain has adopted sophisticated electronic health record technology in 118 in-store pharmacies, giving both its customer-patients and its pharmacists a real-time, easily accessed information platform with which to make more informed health decisions.

 

August 30, 2009

Over-the-counter medicines save healthcare dollars. It’s certainly a value that consumers are taking advantage of...

NEW YORK Over-the-counter medicines save healthcare dollars. It’s certainly a value that consumers are taking advantage of in light of the current recession. According to this report, as well as others — i.e., the Kaiser Family Foundation polls — Americans are cost shifting from more expensive and more time-consuming (having to take time off of work to see a doctor) prescription therapies to OTC medicines.

 

August 30, 2009

Fearless prediction No. 1: You can bet a case of hand sanitizer that if and...

NEW YORK Fearless prediction No. 1: You can bet a case of hand sanitizer that if and when this survey is conducted in late October, as opposed to late July, there’ll be a whole lot more people not only aware of the importance of hand-washing and sanitizers, but they’ll likely be rubbing their hands raw with the amount of hand washing that’ll be going on.

 

August 27, 2009

When it comes to nonadherence of prescription medications, it is often senior citizens who are...

When it comes to nonadherence of prescription medications, it is often senior citizens who are the subject of the discussion, but the findings of the recent CVS Caremark study point to those under the age of 45. The findings are not only alarming but also important as they further demonstrate the need for healthcare reform and for retail pharmacy to rise to the challenge and be part of the solution.

August 27, 2009

Times, they are a’changing. Already, marketing and merchandising paradigms had been evolving or redefined on...

NEW YORK Times, they are a’changing. Already, marketing and merchandising paradigms had been evolving or redefined on a constant basis over the past decade — baby boomers, Gen-Xers, Gen-Yers, tweens, (remember metrosexuals?), e-shoppers, etc.

August 27, 2009

The news that Walgreens has reached an agreement with Caterpillar to help the company curb...

The news that Walgreens has reached an agreement with Caterpillar to help the company curb healthcare costs for its 70,000 employees, retirees and eligible dependents is one more indicator that the private sector cannot wait for healthcare reform and that pharmacy retailers are taking a greater role on the front lines of health care.

As explained in the article, Walgreens, through its Pharmacy Management Excellence program, will make transparent the prescription drug-pricing model, in turn, eliminating unnecessary and hidden costs for Caterpillar.

August 23, 2009

On the surface, this news highlights how serious the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

NEW YORK On the surface, this news highlights how serious the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take that “prevention” piece of their title. The fact of the matter is the novel H1N1 influenza pandemic, the virus that ran rampant in the spring, giving the United States a little taste of what could come, will be the top billing this coming cough-cold-flu season.

August 23, 2009

This agency pulls no punches. The merest blip of a post-marketing serious adverse event report,...

NEW YORK This agency pulls no punches. The merest blip of a post-marketing serious adverse event report, and the agency is acting sooner than later. Because when you get right down to it, out of all the prescriptions for Xenical (approved for sale April 1999), out of all the people who have tried Alli when the ingredient orlistat was switched over the counter (in February 2007), there have been as many adverse events reported in the United States around orlistat and liver injury as there have been Boston Red Sox championships in the past 70 years: two.

 

August 23, 2009

Perrigo’s latest quarterly report underscores the relatively high expectations around cough-cold-flu this year because of...

NEW YORK Perrigo’s latest quarterly report underscores the relatively high expectations around cough-cold-flu this year because of the novel H1N1 virus.

 

More importantly, Perrigo has identified a number of very-large brands that will be facing store brand competition in the coming year — MiraLax, Mucinex and Monistat-1. That’s great news for retailers. Private label offerings not only mean greater margins, but today’s economy continues to drive more consumers toward store brand trials.

 

August 20, 2009

It seems as though each week more evidence surfaces suggesting that retail-based clinics will be...

NEW YORK It seems as though each week more evidence surfaces suggesting that retail-based clinics will be a solution to the country’s healthcare crisis, regardless of which direction reform takes. This week was no exception.

 

August 20, 2009

Walmart isn’t letting the lack of a physical presence in select Midwestern and Northeastern markets...

NEW YORK Walmart isn’t letting the lack of a physical presence in select Midwestern and Northeastern markets hinder its ability to offer prescription drugs, thanks to the expansion of a mail-order program begun earlier this year in Michigan. The program enables customers to receive a 90-day supply of approximately 300 generics for $10 via free mail delivery, or any of approximately 3,000 other pharmaceuticals that the company offers.