Issues Summit panels attract record attendance
Record-breaking attendance and four panel discussions on such topics as specialty pharmacy and diabetes set the stage for the 13th annual Drug Store News Industry Issues Summit held on Nov. 29 in New York City. This year’s event attracted more than 30 retailers and 200 industry suppliers.
Industry Issues Summit began 13 years ago as a small, closed-door event and has evolved into a must-attend day of education, networking and dialogue, with four separate panel discussions: Health, Wellness and Technology; Diabetes Leadership Forum; Specialty Pharmacy Leadership Summit; and Industry Issues Summit.
Retailer and supplier panelists discussed an array of issues impacting pharmacy. Topics ranged from the role specialty pharmacy can play in the management of new genetic and diagnostic testing, to the real value proposition of biosimilars, to the 2012 drivers that will impact specialty pharmacy.
Bob Dufour of Blue Ocean Innovative Solutions moderated the Health, Wellness and Technology panel; Dave Wendland of Hamacher Resource Group moderated the Diabetes Leadership Forum; and Dave Fong of Dave Fong Rx Consulting moderated the Specialty Pharmacy Leadership Summit. Participants for the three panels included:
Will Abbott, director of pharmacy strategy and innovation at CVS;
Michael Agostino, president of Amber Pharmacy;
Mike Cantrell, president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy;
Anthony Davino, VP manufacturer relations at Armada Health Care;
Bart Foster, CEO and founder of SoloHealth;
Phil Hagerman, co-founder of Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy;
Aaron Kaufman, GM/VP healthcare/life sciences solutions at Kony Solutions;
Massoud Kazemzadeh, COO at Kay’s Naturals;
Debbie Krasnow, director of managed care at Giant Eagle;
Michael LaMotta, senior manager of trade operations at Novo Nordisk;
Ashton Maaraba, GM and COO of PharmaSmart International;
Lee Merritt, VP business development at Medfusion/Ascend Rx;
John Musil, founder and CEO of Apothecary Shops;
Leon Nevers, business development and professional services at H-E-B;
Craig Norman, SVP pharmacy at H-E-B;
Darren O’Neill, senior director of sponsored clinical services at Health Mart;
Dev Patel, SVP technology at Moonshado;
Rick Sage, VP pharmacy solutions at Emdeon;
Murali Sastry, director of payer contracting at BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy;
Erick Von Schweber, CEO and executive co-chair at Surveyor Health;
Effie Steele, clinical services coordinator at Meijer;
Ray Tancredi, senior director of trade account management/contracting operations at Walgreens;
James Weeast, senior director of Rx health and wellness technology at Walgreens;
Chuck Wilson, VP of Health Mart operations at McKesson;
Michael Wolf, director of diabetes care merchandising at Walgreens;
Alan Yates, VP product development at Numera Social; and
Brahim Zabeli, SVP sales and marketing at UltiMed;
Ceci Zeigler, national director of patient care services at AmerisourceBergen/Good Neighbor Pharmacy; and
Burt Zweigenhaft, CEO of OncoMed.
The transcript of the Diabetes Summit will appear in the Feb. 27 issue of DSN; the full transcript of the technology summit will be available on Feb. 6 on DrugStoreNews.com; and the Specialty Pharmacy transcript will run in the spring edition of Specialty Pharmacy magazine.