Expanding a regional drug chain

Care Pharmacies now boasts 79 affiliates, three more than last year, but grew its 2014 sales by almost $100 million. That’s not as much attracting larger operators to the consortium’s business model, where each of the independent operators own a stake in the parent company, as much as it is attracting operators pre-positioned for growth.

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“Bigger is not better for us, better is better,” Michael Wysong, Care CEO, told Drug Store News. Care Pharmacies has stores operating in 10 states, including Washington, D.C., and currently is looking to expand its East Coast regional drug chain model to the West Coast with additions of several California specialty pharmacy retailers in the year ahead, he said. “We want the very best community retail and specialty pharmacies in our organization because we know the changing reform is going to require the right groups of people working collaboratively in the service of the customers. If you can do that, and you can do that under the premise of taking advantage of what the independent community pharmacies do very well, and you can do that under an umbrella of continuity — I think that is a powerful combination.”



In 2014, Care Pharmacies continued its evolution toward a regional drug chain functionality with an independent’s flair for service and quality. “When you look at reform and what’s coming with the move from fee-for-service to fee-for-value, a lot of the local acute care institutions are looking for that solution. So in 2014, we’re really in the early seeds of our Transition for Care [hospital readmission] program. That’s why the quality piece has really become front and center for us as we head into 2015.”



The other big initiative headed into 2015 is Care Pharmacies’ transition to McKesson as its wholesaler.