Content about Opinion

Have a colonoscopy performed in some parts of the United States, and it’ll cost you and your health plan as much as $9,000 or more, versus a few hundred dollars in most of the rest of the developed world — even with countries whose healthcare systems are on par with ours in terms of quality rankings and outcomes. The average hip replacement costs $40,364 here, compared with $7,731 in Spain. An MRI scan in the United States runs $1,121, vs. $319 in the Netherlands.

As the editor of DSN, I decide what stays in print and what gets cut. Spatial limitations dictated that this snippet from our Amazon story had to go. But in the age of the omnichannel shopper, where every retailer competes against everyone else for a bigger share of the customer's wallet, how can you do an in-depth profile on the world's largest online retailer and not talk about omnichannel?

By now you probably have heard about "Walgreens University," the internal education center the company opened last month, complete with technology-enhanced classrooms, a mock drug store and video-conferencing capabilities for employee educational programs.

Competing in the new age of retail, where bricks, clicks and anything in between compete for a larger share of the omnichannel customer, will require new skill sets and a generally better-educated workforce. The winners will create a more personalized shopping experience that leverages the expertise in their stores.

What is DSN+?

DSN+ is a brand-new app that turns a page in Drug Store News into an interactive experience, linking readers seamlessly from print to digital just as quickly and easily as it is to take a picture with your smartphone.

How does it work?

First, go to Apple’s App Store and download our free DSN+ app. Or for Android phones and tablets, click here.

It’s been several weeks now since Hurricane Sandy, virtually erased neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and New Jersey. For those of us who live and grew up here, the stories of loss and devastation are all around us. 


As many as 100 Rockaway boys from Xavier High School — my alma mater — lost their homes and everything in them. 


It’s times like these when you really understand what it means to be a part of this great city and its indomitable spirit.


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.


There was something that jumped out at me during the one-hour interview with Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson that helped set the tone for the massive, 86-page exclusive report on the company that appears in this issue. It had to do with Wasson’s vision for the role of community pharmacy in the future of 
health care.


They say hindsight is 20/20. With the Supreme Court’s ruling on healthcare reform, the luxury of looking back shows that the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and allies took the right course to battle the pharmacy Medicaid cuts of the Deficit Reduction Act. What we learned should inspire pharmacy to remain tenacious in its continued advocacy on this issue and in confronting all other challenges.

While the ultimate impact of healthcare reform is still being debated, one trend is clear: Accountable care organizations continue to pick up steam. An ACO is a unique healthcare delivery model defined as a network of healthcare providers who share responsibility for coordinating high-quality care across a specific patient population. The concept is not new and, in fact, is based largely on integrated health system models that have been successful for many years.

“I can’t hear you; I have a banana in my ear!”

-Ernie the Muppet


There is so much noise out there about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and what it means for America that at times I wish I could just stick a banana in my ear — actually, make that two bananas, one for each ear.


Sometimes even I am surprised by who is reading us. Last month, nearly 120,000 unique visitors came to DrugStoreNews.com. One of them was president of the American Academy of Family Physicians Glen Stream.


“We want to make sure we’re talking to our members where and how they want to be spoken to.”


That was something Sam’s Club VP health and family care Jason Reiser said to me for the special report we did on the company that appeared on the cover of our April 2 issue. In case you missed it, you can download the full report here.