In this Issue

Having been around for 39 years, Spartanburg, S.C.-based pharmacy solutions company QS/1 has seen the pharmacy business change several times, all the while providing tools to help pharmacies navigate the changes and provide services to their patients. As pharmacy shifts its focus to outcomes and implements more clinical services, QS/1 knows that its latest solution will be able to assist in managing the increasing amount of documents pharmacies deal with on a daily basis.

One disconnect Bausch + Lomb’s John Ferris sees in the conversation about health care is the relative lack of attention paid to eye health — even though age-related macular degeneration affects two-and-a-half times more people than Alzheimer’s disease, and baby boomers are as concerned about vision loss as contracting heart disease and cancer.

The front-end opportunity surrounding patients with diabetes is significant. Diabetes patients are spending between $1,000 and $2,500 each year on diabetes supplies alone, noted Sally Manoufar, senior manager health and wellness at Johnson & Johnson, during a recent GMDC webcast. According to Johnson & Johnson research, the front-end basket of a diabetes patient is five times larger than that of a patient who doesn’t have diabetes.

Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare manufactures more than 5,000 products — most of which consumers haven’t heard of or thought of as part of the DME portfolio. And according to SVP product management David Cohon, the main task that specialty DME stores have — and the task that presents the most opportunity in the omnichannel retail space — is providing a knowledge resource at the point-of-sale.

“We are on the verge of an economic crisis that could disrupt the whole U.S. healthcare system.” Our lack of preventive health care — and the implications of that — was a theme conveyed by numerous economists, healthcare entrepreneurs and technology experts gathered at a special thought leadership event co-produced by Mack Elevation and Drug Store News.

Retailers and suppliers are in the midst of a strategy shift in the consumable aisles. As consumers increase their focus on the role that diet plays in health care, retailers and suppliers are retooling their strategies to emphasize fresh, local, organic, natural, healthy products — something that Kantar Retail calls the FLONH effect.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

NEW YORK — The popularity of the movie “Frozen” ignited a braid craze. But how was David Shapiro supposed to get the plaited look for his 3-year-old daughter Hunter, who has a head of springy corkscrews? He is one of many men who have attended braiding courses taught by hair guru Cozy Friedman in her New York salons. The biggest demand comes from those who have to create the looks on offspring with curly or coiled hair.

NORWICH, N.Y. — One of America’s leading Greek yogurt brands is moving outside the yogurt aisle for the very first time. Chobani has introduced two brand new product offerings: Chobani Meze Dips and Drink Chobani. Chobani Meze dips are a new line of Greek-yogurt based dips with four flavors — Roasted Red Pepper, Smoked Onion Parmesan, Three-Pepper Salsa and Chili Lime. Each dip has just 1 g of fat per two tablespoon serving and is low in calories. The 10-oz. containers have a manufacturer’s suggest retail price of about $3.99.