Content about Pharmacist

January 11, 2011
Kaz supports cough-cold-flu continuing education

Cough, cold and flu are among the most commonly experienced conditions in adults and children, leading them to seek medical care.

NEW YORK — Cough, cold and flu are among the most commonly experienced conditions in adults and children, leading them to seek medical care.

In an effort to support healthcare provider education around these topics, Kaz has sponsored CE lessons for pharmacists, technicians, and nurse practitioners.

January 7, 2011
At CES, Walgreens’ medical chief cites advances in multichannel technology to boost access to care

Walgreens’ increasing use of mobile technology platforms is transforming the way the company reaches patients and is expanding its ability to deliver health services via smart phones and other devices, a Walgreens official asserted Friday.

LAS VEGAS — Walgreens’ increasing use of mobile technology platforms is transforming the way the company reaches patients and is expanding its ability to deliver health services via smart phones and other devices, a Walgreens official asserted Friday.

Speaking at the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show’s Digital Health Summit this morning, Walgreens chief medical officer Cheryl Pegus laid out the ways the health services and retail pharmacy giant is leveraging technology to make personal health management easier for patients.

January 5, 2011
Collaborative care alchemy: Pharmacists + nurses = gold



Last month, the American Journal of Managed Care published a review of more than 40 years worth of studies from various medical journals that demonstrated that the best way to improve adherence is to get patients to talk to the store pharmacist; the second-best way is to get them to talk to a nurse before they leave the hospital.


January 5, 2011
Congress exempts pharmacies from ‘red flags’ rule

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Congress handed community pharmacies a Christmas present in December, voting to exempt them from burdensome accounting requirements imposed by the Federal Trade Commission.


January 5, 2011
Indy franchisees a model of pharmacy ‘Care’ in nation’s capital

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It’s a 53-store collection of independents that serves as a model of neighborhood pharmacy to the nation’s lawmakers. That’s in part thanks to the number of Care pharmacies operating in the nation’s capital and in part due to the franchisee-owned group’s proximity to the headquarters of the National Community Pharmacist Association, which is located across the hall.


“[That proximity] really is an opportunity for us to represent independent pharmacy,” said Michael Wysong, Care CEO. 


January 5, 2011
Kerr Drug sustains its innovator reputation ... ‘Naturally’

RALEIGH, N.C. — Kerr Drug, North Carolina’s regional pharmacy power, had a busy year in 2010. After shedding 11 stores in the Charleston, S.C., market in 2009, the 90-store chain turned its full focus to serving the healthcare needs of North Carolina’s population.


It was, in retrospect, a wise move. Kerr has launched a series of initiatives in pharmacy care, store design, community health services and iPhone technology at a breathtaking pace, easily sustaining its reputation as one of chain pharmacy’s leading innovators. 


January 5, 2011
Life after Kinray

WHITESTONE, N.Y. — Call him “Stewie Rah Rah.” He doesn’t mind. Stewart Rahr, the man in the bright yellow sunglasses who led Kinray to become the nation’s top independently owned pharmaceutical wholesaler, soon will have more time for his other interests.

January 5, 2011
Making friends with pharmacy in the heart of Kinney Country

GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. — When you get north of Syracuse, N.Y., you enter a special part of Retail Pharmacy America known as “Kinney Country,” where people know their neighbors and everybody knows their neighborhood drug store.


January 5, 2011
Navajo pharmacist fills patient education gap

TSAILE, Ariz. — Some people enter the twilight years of college without a clue of what they want to do, only to decide at the last minute. Others, like pharmacist Terry Teller, know early on.


For Teller, a member of the Navajo Native American tribe originally from Lukachukai, Ariz., helping to heal people is part of his heritage, with multiple generations of medicine men and women on both sides of his family.


January 5, 2011
NCPDP summit to explore emerging technologies

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs said Wednesday it would host an educational summit on the use and impact of new pharmacy and health-integration technologies next month in Las Vegas.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs said Wednesday it would host an educational summit on the use and impact of new pharmacy and health-integration technologies next month in Las Vegas.

January 5, 2011
Pharmacy practice pioneer Paul Lofholm tapped for APhA’s Remington Honor Medal

The American Pharmacists Association on Wednesday announced the winners of its Remington Honor Medal and other professional awards.

WASHINGTON — The American Pharmacists Association on Wednesday announced the winners of its Remington Honor Medal and other professional awards.

January 5, 2011
Rx software-data linkups ease verification process

FORT WORTH, Texas — Unveiling its second pharmacy automation alliance in the space of a few weeks, integrated pharmacy systems provider PDX announced a new partnership in December with Health Market Science, a leading source for health provider data and solutions. Both firms said the goal is to make the prescription verification process safer and more accurate for dispensing pharmacists.


January 5, 2011
Senator to float bill to address drug shortages

Responding to what she termed an “unprecedented” shortage of prescription medicines for such serious conditions as cancer, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is promising new legislation to deal with the problem.

EDINA, Minn. — Responding to what she termed an “unprecedented” shortage of prescription medicines for such serious conditions as cancer, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is promising new legislation to deal with the problem. The senator said she also is pressing the Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry to address a growing shortage of prescription medications, especially drugs for treating cancer.

January 5, 2011
Small-town service forms pharmacy familiarity for Fruth customers

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — A customer visiting any of Fruth Pharmacy’s 25 stores in West Virginia and southern Ohio will find many of the same products and services one would find at any national chain pharmacy; but on top of that, the chain offers a highly personal approach to retailing.
“

The thing that sets Fruth apart is excellent customer service,” Fruth Pharmacy president Lynne Fruth told Drug Store News. “It’s kind of a mix of the best of what the bigger chains can provide with that small-hometown service.”


January 5, 2011
Travel clinics, immunizations take flight at Bartell Drugs

SEATTLE — You can say Bartell is getting into the travel business.


Bartell, which had an estimated $353.4 million in sales in 2009, began operating travel clinics eight years ago and now has them at 10 of its 59 stores. They were the brainchild of pharmacists Jolene Kalmbach and Sharon Woodward, who got the idea after noticing that patients’ doctors often lacked necessary expertise in travel medicine and that commercial travel clinics were overbooked.

January 5, 2011
WAG unveils benefits 
of ‘Dimensions’ project

Pharmacists who intervene with diabetes patients are having a clear and positive impact on clinical outcomes, a new study from Walgreens found.


In a presentation last month, two Walgreens healthcare leaders unveiled the results of a groundbreaking pilot project on pharmacy-based diabetic care. Walgreens launched the project, called Dimensions, at its worksite pharmacies in 2008.

January 4, 2011
APhA promotes medicine cabinet cleanout

The oldest national organization of pharmacists is making a New Year’s push to encourage Americans to clear out their old and expired medicines.

WASHINGTON — The oldest national organization of pharmacists is making a New Year’s push to encourage Americans to clear out their old and expired medicines.

January 4, 2011
NACDS Foundation encouraging research on problem of primary medication nonadherence

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation is inviting health and pharmacy experts and other researchers to join the Herculean effort to improve patient adherence rates.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation is inviting health and pharmacy experts and other researchers to join the Herculean effort to improve patient adherence rates.

The invitation comes in the form of a new Request for Proposal, issued Tuesday by the NACDS Foundation. The foundation is seeking bids from research organizations to study primary medication nonadherence, which occurs when a patient fails to fill or pick up his or her newly prescribed medication.

January 3, 2011
Shopko to open store in Wisconsin

Mass merchandiser Shopko will open a new Shopko Hometown store in the city of Seymour, Wis., the chain said in December.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Mass merchandiser Shopko will open a new Shopko Hometown store in the city of Seymour, Wis., the chain said in December.

The company said the new store would focus on retail health by offering pharmacy services and a full eye care center. Shopko had acquired the former Seymour Pharmacy and planned to run the store at its current location until it could construct a new store, but said it would retain the pharmacists and staff.

December 23, 2010
Improving medication adherence is critical

The CVS Caremark-sponsored study that illustrates pharmacists and nurses are the most effective healthcare "voice" in promoting medication adherence among patients is important because it marks the first step toward unlocking the potential of the collaborative care model (i.e., pharmacists and nurses), and getting those people who matter to pay attention.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — The CVS Caremark-sponsored study that illustrates pharmacists and nurses are the most effective healthcare "voice" in promoting medication adherence among patients is important because it marks the first step toward unlocking the potential of the collaborative care model (i.e., pharmacists and nurses), and getting those people who matter to pay attention.

December 22, 2010
Adherence is boosted by face-to-face contact, study finds

Pharmacists at a retail pharmacy are the most influential healthcare "voice" in getting patients to take their medications as prescribed, followed by nurses talking with patients as they are discharged from a hospital, according to research sponsored by CVS Caremark.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Pharmacists at a retail pharmacy are the most influential healthcare "voice" in getting patients to take their medications as prescribed, followed by nurses talking with patients as they are discharged from a hospital, according to research sponsored by CVS Caremark.

December 20, 2010
Kerr Drug to extend free drug delivery program

Just a few months after launching its free delivery program, Kerr Drug on Monday said it will continue the service into the New Year.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Just a few months after launching its free delivery program, Kerr Drug on Monday said it will continue the service into the New Year.

The delivery program allows Kerr Drug customers to call their prescriptions in to the store pharmacist and request the prescription be delivered to their home or office and may add any other item from the store to their delivery list, which also can be delivered free of charge.

December 20, 2010
Reform will bolster pharmacy, GAO confirms

A study by the Government Accountability Office confirmed that the health-reform law enacted earlier this year established a more reasonable reimbursement level for pharmacies dispensing generic drugs to patients covered by Medicaid. But pharmacy retailers still face the continued threat of further Medicaid cuts at the state level, the independent pharmacy lobby warned Friday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A study by the Government Accountability Office confirmed that the health-reform law enacted earlier this year established a more reasonable reimbursement level for pharmacies dispensing generic drugs to patients covered by Medicaid. But pharmacy retailers still face the continued threat of further Medicaid cuts at the state level, the independent pharmacy lobby warned Friday.

December 16, 2010
NACDS Foundation grants funds to expand CPRPs

The education, research and charitable affiliate of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced its contribution of $1.5 million in grants to expand the availability of Community Pharmacy Residency Programs for pharmacy graduates.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The education, research and charitable affiliate of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced its contribution of $1.5 million in grants to expand the availability of Community Pharmacy Residency Programs for pharmacy graduates.

CPRPs allow pharmacy residents to focus on providing direct patient care, developing patient care services with pharmacist preceptor oversight, the NACDS Foundation said. The NACDS Foundation seeks to jumpstart 30 new community pharmacy residencies nationwide — a 25% increase in total residency positions.

December 16, 2010
Sav-Mor pharmacist gets human “Billboards” to promote diaper rash brand

"The Billboard Family," a family of four that has attracted national media attention for donning sponsored T-shirts, wearing them all around the St. Louis area and then plastering that day’s photos all over such social media sites as Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, has gained an exclusive sponsor for the baby Billboard that’s on the way.

MUSKEGON, Mich. — "The Billboard Family," a family of four that has attracted national media attention for donning sponsored T-shirts, wearing them all around the St. Louis area and then plastering that day’s photos all over such social media sites as Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, has gained an exclusive sponsor for the baby Billboard that’s on the way.