Pharmacy Technology


Max-Wellness, the unique health-and-wellness destination that made its debut in the Cleveland area in 2010, features “Max-Answers” information stations throughout the store. However, what really distinguishes these stations from typical mass-oriented information kiosks is their portability — the Web-based tablets can be picked up by a customer or Max-Wellness associate for use right at the shelf of interest.


Its leaders and member-owners call it “the newest and best independent pharmacy cooperative in the nation.” It’s certainly one of the largest.



Shopko’s story is sort of like a retailing version of “The Little Engine that Could.” Among mass merchandise retailers, it’s one of the smaller and less well-known chains, but that hasn’t stopped it from making its mark, particularly in new health-and-wellness and pharmacy initiatives.


A&P may be a supermarket chain, but judging by its string of new health-and-wellness initiatives and strong emphasis on pharmacy, one could argue that it really is a pharmacy with a grocery store wrapped around it.


Through A&P’s network of 200 pharmacies and 605 pharmacists, the company is aggressively looking for ways to improve the health and well-being of its shoppers. And that includes improving medication adherence. 


Call it “the attack of the coupon-crazed shelf sweepers.” It’s the most aggressive form of bargain hunting by consumers willing to spend hours searching out coupon deals, to stock up with enough product to last their families for a year and to turn their homes into veritable warehouses.


Counterfeit drugs are a problem that won’t go away. In a recent segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Sanjay Gupta explored the dark underworld of drug counterfeiting. While covering the bust of a counterfeiting operation in Lima, Peru, Gupta ­— himself a doctor — said he couldn’t tell the drugs were fake. But luckily, several technologies have been developed in recent years that allow quick detection of counterfeits. One company developing such a technology is Mobile Data Systems.