WALGREENS

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday promised to donate $1 to the American Heart Association, up to $100,000, for each complimentary blood-pressure test conducted in February at a Walgreens pharmacy or Take Care Clinic. The push behind the initiatives is a part of Walgreens' Way to Well Commitment, a four-year, $100 million commitment to disease prevention and to improving everyday health through education and early detection of today’s leading diseases, including cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Ever wonder how the convenient care industry blossomed into what it is today? One could say a fortune cookie.

“I love Chinese food, and my kids always get me Chinese food for dinner on Mother’s Day. My Chinese fortune cookie said, when I opened [it]: ‘You will be offered the opportunity of a lifetime, say yes,’” explained Sandy Ryan, Walgreens’ Take Care Health Systems chief nurse practitioner officer and clinical advocate.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Viewed through an Express Scripts lens, Walgreens' new hire announcement — naming Robyn Peters to group VP managed market sales — may appear timely. The drug store chain is approaching an aggressive marketing overture behind its entire lineup of healthcare proficiency during the first pharmacy benefit manager selling season that it is no longer part of the Express Scripts pharmacy network.

NEW YORK — Walgreens will be a feature sponsor of the 2012 season of "The Celebrity Apprentice" — the season premiere airs Feb. 6 on NBC — according to a report published online Monday by TalkTVworld.com.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday evening named 25-year veteran Robyn Peters group VP managed market sales, where she will lead all sales and account management activities in the company’s employer, health systems, health plans, government and small and individual payer segments, along with client retention, expansion programs and sales operations for Walgreens. Peters will report to Jeff Berkowitz, Walgreens SVP pharmaceutical development and market access.

Will the merger of Express Scripts and Medco go through? Not if pharmacy lobbyists can stop it. There’s nothing new about the fact that different industry groups connected with retail pharmacy or health care can hold strongly opposing views about what’s good or profitable for their own members. But for undisguised hostility and tit-for-tat charges and countercharges, nothing comes close to the long-running feud between independent pharmacy and the pharmacy benefits management industry.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday announced its acquisition of the prescription files and inventory from 33 Kmart pharmacies in 16 states.

Walgreens will purchase the pharmacy patient files and transfer them to nearby Walgreens pharmacies, the company stated.

Walgreens completed the acquisition of the first pharmacy's prescription files and inventory Jan. 27 in Rice Lake, Wis. Acquisition of the other Kmart prescription files and inventory is subject to certain customary terms and conditions, and is anticipated to happen throughout February.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Within the first week of 2012, Walgreens signed 125,000 patients to its Prescription Savings Club. By the second week, that number had blossomed to 200,000 patients and subsequently exploded to 500,000 new signees by the middle of week No. 4. You don't need a math whiz with a degree in economics to chart the direction this is headed.