INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

NEW YORK The swine flu story first broke Friday, April 24, and quickly grew in prominence on the evening news with each chilling update from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. On April 24, it was 20 cases in three states. By Friday, May 1, there were 141 cases across 19 states and counting.

NEW YORK Surescripts’ announcement that more than 100,000 physicians have jumped aboard the e-prescribing bandwagon is an important milestone for the industry as one of the major hurdles for e-prescribing has been physician adoption.

As stated in the article, by the end of 2008, there were 74,000 doctors actively prescribing electronically, compared with 36,000 at the end of 2007. This means that physician adoption has increased more than 100% between 2008 and 2007.

NEW YORK The growth of private-label and what it means to retailers and suppliers all depends on which side of the negotiating table you’re sitting.

NEW YORK And then there were three.

With the decision by insurance giant Wellpoint to get out of the business of managing and coordinating pharmacy benefits for some 25 million of its members, the field of battle among the competing pharmacy benefit management firms will soon narrow. If the deal is approved, three large-scale players – CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Medco Health – will control the pharmacy use patterns of well over 100 million Americans and account for more than 2 billion prescriptions dispensed annually in the Untied States.

NEW YORK The fact that Congress stepped up to designate the week of April 13 as “Protect Your Pharmacy Week” is important as it further acknowledges and supports the fight against the growing problem of crime against retailers.