INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT In January 2009, Walgreens’ top brass faced a few hundred worried stockholders on a frigid day -- a day whose forbidding temperatures and blowing snow seemed to match the grim mood of those inside Chicago’s Navy Pier ballroom. The economy was in a panicked freefall. Bank lending and consumer spending had evaporated as the nation hemorrhaged jobs. Walgreens’ stock price was down by almost half from its all-time peak.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT If specialty pharmacy is the future of the pharmaceutical industry, as evidenced by the amount of research and development currently being placed against specialty pharmaceuticals, then this partnership can only mean one thing — the future is now.

(THE NEWS: Hy-Vee, specialty pharmacy Amber form Hy-Vee Pharmacy Solutions. To read the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The recent report by the National Center for Policy Analysis is yet one more indication of the important role that retail-based health clinics play in today's overburdened healthcare system.

(THE NEWS: New report emphasizes importance of retail clinics, projects growth. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT It’s important for three reasons. First, the government is making a strong push for people to get their flu shots — both seasonal and H1N1. Second, that H1N1 flu shot is widely available at your local retail pharmacy. And third, this will further help establish retail pharmacy as the convenient go-to source for health.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT This is shaping up to be a Fight Night dream card, with the battle arena located in the digestives aisle of a pharmacy near you. Are you ready to rumble?

(THE NEWS: P&G develops new program in line with Prilosec OTC. For the full story, click here)

NEW YORK Cash-strapped consumers have been turning more to coupons and deals, no matter where those deals are, in the past year. So it’s not surprising that there are more coupons than ever for them to “clip.”

NEW YORK The Rite Aid weight-loss program is probably one of the better examples of how to tie in just about every component of a modern-day drug store — pharmacy, front-end (in this case, over the counter) and in-store clinics — with the extensive health knowledge of both the pharmacist behind the bench and the practitioner at the clinic.