Content about Insights and Perspectives

A new report shows that drug makers lose nearly $200 billion per year from medication nonadherence, illustrating that it's not just the healthcare system overall that loses when people don't take their medications properly.

This just goes to show the important role that pharmacy retailers have in helping to promote medication adherence by having pharmacists play an active role in patients' health care through services like medication therapy management.

The global market for generic drugs will reach more than $125 billion next year, according to a new report by a British market-research firm.

When it comes to medication nonadherence, the most oftcited statistic illustrating its effect on the healthcare system is the New England Healthcare Institute's estimate that it costs the healthcare system $290 billion per year. But a new report shows how much drug makers lose as well.

More than a quarter of adults have discussed health information online, and almost a third have changed their behavior as a result, according to a new survey.

More than 80 RediClinic employees and their families lost a total of 700 lbs. while participating in a companywide competition modeled after its Weigh Forward weight loss program.

Experience will make these providers better coaches for patients who sign up for the program. Aside from putting Rediclinic in place to battle one of the most chronic conditions in America — obesity — it also is creating important bonds between patients and practitioners.

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American College of Nurse Practitioners will merge the organizations effective in January. With approximately 40,000 members, the new organization, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, or AANP, will serve as the largest professional membership organization in the country for nurse practitioners of all specialties.

With the nation facing a growing shortage of primary care physicians and some 30 million Americans gaining health insurance in 2014 due to healthcare reform, it is no secret that the nation is grappling with a strained healthcare system. If nurse practitioners are serious about expanding their role in health care they need to speak with one voice.

Kroger announced Thursday it will acquire the outstanding shares of Axium Pharmacy Holdings, a leading specialty pharmacy, and merge the two companies. By now, it should be clear that specialty is becoming an increasingly important part of the retail pharmacy mix, having grown more than sixfold in revenues between 2000 and 2011, with everyone from Rite Aid to Costco to Hy-Vee biting off a piece for themselves.

As Specialty Pharmacy magazine reported in its fall 2012 issue, specialty drug development is starting to play a much bigger role in drug development overall than traditional pharmaceuticals. According to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, seven of the top 20 drug therapy classes will be in specialty by 2016, including cancer, autoimmune disorders and antivirals, and specialty and bioengineered drugs remain one of the few growth centers in the drug industry in 2012. And according to Express Scripts, the market for specialty and bioengineered drugs is expected to grow from 2011's 17.1% to 22% by 2014.

Reckitt Benckiser on Friday made an offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of VMS maker Schiff Nutrition for $42 per share in cash, or approximately $1.4 billion — a premium of 23.5% more than the $34 per share offer Bayer HealthCare announced Oct. 30.

A majority of retailers say delivering a consistent customer experience is their top priority this holiday season, according to a new survey.

CVS Caremark reported strong numbers on both the retail and PBM sides of its business — but the real bombshell for analysts on the call was the news that the company has raised its estimate on the number of Express Script patients that CVS feels it can keep from going back to Walgreens.

That's a big boast. But Rite Aid, too, likes its shot to keep the ESI customers who at one time frequented Walgreens' pharmacies to fill their prescriptions. And Walgreens, for its part, reminds analysts that there was a reason those ESI patients were filling their prescriptions in the first place. So the Chicago retailer is confident that they'll be able to entice many of their former patients to return to the pharmacy fold. But in the end, who's really going to capture that coveted ESI patient? Will they stay, or will they go?

Liquor can cost $2 more at liquor stores in states where the government has a monopoly on sales than at privately owned stores, according to a new study.

Omni-channel retailing is so yesterday. Omni-national retailing is the space where Walgreens is looking to play, and this magazine is just one of the first examples of how retailing concepts from the Old Country will be imported from across the Pond and translated for the U.S. market.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens launches new biannual magazine showcasing private label, Balance Rewards deals. For the full story, click here.)