The jobs report might have been a punch to the gut, and the economy definitely still has not figured itself out, yet there appears to be some cause for optimism amid drug store shoppers, as consumers tell DSN they shopped longer and bought more than they anticipated during their most recent trip to the drug store.

In many ways, the future of community pharmacy relies on evolving the role of the pharmacist to drive better patient adherence, improve health outcomes and perhaps most importantly, from a business perspective, to get paid for it. To help independent pharmacy owners and community pharmacists step closer to that future today, McKesson, the largest healthcare services company in the country, showcased Tuesday its Sponsored Clinical Services Network to hundreds of attendees here at McKesson ideaShare 2012.

McKesson, one of the largest healthcare services companies in the country, on Monday extended its technology solutions to change the way community pharmacies collaborate, communicate and share information with customers and peers.

This month, DSN C2B Mobile Insights presents the Drug Store Shopping Report Card. We asked our C2Bers to rate their most recent trip to the drug store — or wherever it is they go primarily to shop for pharmacy and health and beauty items. We received more than 1,500 responses from all over the country.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has officially launched its 2012 Marketplace Conference mobile application.

GoGo Squeez announced the launch of a new campaign that will include a national mobile playground tour and the "largest game of catch."

Given all the attention around the hotly contested Express Scripts-Medco merger, we thought we’d ask our C2B consumer reporters, if all things were equal and every pharmacy accepted their insurance, what would be the most important factors in choosing a pharmacy? Ninety-four percent said location/convenience, followed by customer service (50%). That's just a taste of what they told us.

Supervalu announced that its Albertsons/Sav-On banner is offering inoculations for whooping cough at 54 of its pharmacies in Washington.

Recently during one of our Elevation Forum meetings, we asked the question: which competitors do you worry about the most? Many of the leaders in the room listed either the largest or the fastest growing competitors they compete against. But one honest executive shared a provocative reflection. He said we are not as worried about who’s outside, but more focused on the enemy in the mirror.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores launched its 2012 Annual Meeting mobile application and the NACDS mobile website has been fully updated with information about this meeting and all 2012 NACDS events.

“How does that help me sell more cases, pallets and truckloads?” That’s a question I have been asked repeatedly, particularly as the world of retail pharmacy has evolved to play a larger role in health care. With that, the business that we cover in Drug Store News has become incredibly more complicated.


Hamacher Resource Group has created a workshop designed to help consumer packaged goods manufacturers in the health, beauty and wellness industry increase sales within the independent pharmacy segment through healthcare distributors.