WALGREENS

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The call to Congress to reject budget proposals that would increase co-pays for prescription medications at community pharmacies for Tricare patients is important as the war between the pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager lobbies heats up.

In IFC’s hit comedy series “Portlandia,” there’s a sketch in which the two main characters order chicken in a restaurant. But they don’t just order: They ask which farm the chicken came from to make sure it’s sufficiently local and whether the chicken was raised according to their exacting standards. The waiter quickly responds with a portfolio featuring the chicken’s pre-mortem photograph, biography and name (“Collin”).


Brian Cornell has stepped down as Sam’s Club president and CEO, and has been replaced by Rosalind Brewer, who previously served as president of the Walmart U.S. East business unit. Walmart also named Rollin Ford chief administrative officer with responsibility for information systems, global sourcing, global business processes, global shared services and global customer insights. Ford was most recently chief information officer; Karenann Terrell replaced Ford as CIO. Gisel Ruis was named EVP and COO of Walmart U.S., responsible for U.S.

LADY LAKE, Fla. — Walgreens and Greystone Healthcare Management on Thursday launched a collaborative therapy management pilot program at the Lady Lake Specialty Center in Lady Lake, Fla., aimed at enhancing medication adherence and reducing readmission rates for patients in post-acute care settings.

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska officials on Wednesday announced the state will switch health insurance carriers from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to United Healthcare, effective July 1, according to reports.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Friday launched @WAGSocialCare, a Twitter customer hotline that takes on complaints and praise from Walgreens customers via the social media site. The site is being followed only by 20 "tweeters" through Monday, as compared with the more-than 90,000 who follow Walgreens' corporate Twitter account.

Chances are, you didn’t enroll in pharmacy school to count out pills behind a counter. As part of the next generation of clinically driven PharmDs, you’re probably looking for a lot more.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The regulatory review of the Express Scripts-Medco merger now is in its final stages, and with the clock ticking down to that 30-day deadline, you can expect a full court-press from retail pharmacy interests looking to block the deal. The time for the three-point finesse shots from the corners of the court has passed, it's now time to charge the net and jam the message home; an Express Scripts-Medco merger is bad both for the retail pharmacy business and for consumers. However, it just might be good for CVS Caremark.