DSN's Pharmacy Technology Report takes a look at the hottest technology in the health-and-wellness space and where investors are looking to take health IT in the future. Also included is DSN's exclusive roundtable discussion with leading pharmacy retailers and executives from leading and emerging healthcare technology companies, which included new technologies to improve compliance, self-care and pharmacist-patient interactions.

Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy in late February released data showing that both patients and their health plans can realize savings of up to 60% on the cost of infused specialty medications by choosing alternate treatment sites, such as the ones fielded by Walgreens. DSN caught up with Michael Einodshofer, director of utilization management at Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, to discuss the potential cost-reduction impact savings it can have on employers and payers.

Community pharmacy brings innovation to patient care

As part of its Executive Retailer Viewpoint series, DSN sat down with Mike Cantrell, president at Good Neighbor Pharmacies, at DSN's Industry Issues Summit to discuss technology and the evolution of pharmacy care.

In an effort to tap into the minds of some of the industry's top executives, Drug Store News recently sat down and talked with some of these leaders in a multipart executive viewpoint video series.

CVS Caremark has grown from a go-getting New England-based regional player to a nearly $100 billion pharmacy healthcare giant known for its vertically integrated pharmacy-PBM model via the 2007 acquisition of Caremark, its highly successful loyalty card program and its innovative beauty concepts. Now, the industry trailblazer embarks on a new chapter with a new leader and an eye on driving medication adherence, curbing healthcare costs and improving the health outcomes of its patients.

85% — that’s more or less the combined market share for the companies that make up the 2011 DSN PoweRx50, approximately $185 billion of the total $218 billion retail pharmacy industry. The DSN PoweRx50 indisputably reflects the true titans of the retail pharmacy industry. It is the ONLY truly CHANNEL-AGNOSTIC ranking of the retail pharmacy industry that measures all of retail pharmacy, including traditional drug chains, independents, supermarkets, mass and club stores — ALL of it. BA-BOOM!

Talk about a bold retail vision. Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson said the nation’s top pharmacy retailer wants nothing less than to “own well.” He’s serious. Owning “well” — or, put another way, becoming the nation’s top retail resource for pharmacy and health-and-wellness services and products — is the kind of declaration few retail pharmacy executives would dare utter. But Wasson isn’t running just any drug store chain.

Forest Labs president and CEO Howard Solomon will retire at the end of 2013, the company said.

Johnson & Johnson expects to file for Food and Drug Administration approval of more than 10 new drugs over the next four years, the drug maker said Thursday.

More than half of all healthcare providers who are eligible have received Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for electronic health records, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

Responding to Monday’s devastating tornado in the Oklahoma City area, Walgreens this week mobilized increased shipments of essential supplies to its area stores; made an initial donation of three semi-trailers of food, water and first aid supplies to the Oklahoma chapter of the American Red Cross; and offered customers an opportunity to make donations at its Oklahoma drug stores.