WALGREENS

DEERFIELD, Ill. The healthcare landscape is changing. There’s a new value-driven consumer who has emerged and, in light of this, retail pharmacy giant Walgreens is in the midst of an evolution into “a retail health and daily living store” and is on a mission to “own well.” That was a key message that an optimistic Greg Wasson, Walgreens president and CEO, had for Wall Street during the company’s Analyst Day conference on Thursday in Chicago.

NEW YORK KidKupz on Tuesday announced its new medicine-dispensing cups soon will be available nationwide through Walgreens.

The KidKupz are fruit-flavored medicine dispensing cups that contain 2 g of sugar and no high-fructose corn syrup.

DEERFIELD, Ill. October sales at Walgreens rose 3.7% to $5.85 billion, compared with the same month last year.

The drug store chain reported that Duane Reade stores, which the company acquired in April, contributed 2.8 percentage points to the total sales increase for the month.

Calendar day shifts negatively impacted the drug store chain's comparable sales, as same-store sales dropped 1.3% and comparable-pharmacy sales decreased 1.6%, despite the fact that Walgreens' October pharmacy sales increased 2.5%.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. Up to 1-in-4 emergency room visits could take place at a retail-based health clinic or urgent care center, saving potentially $4.4 billion annually, according to new research published in the September issue of Health Affairs.

Furthermore, the research found that such retail clinics as Take Care Clinics have been shown to save patients $279 to $460 per visit compared with emergency room costs.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT “We don’t have to be the PBM.” That’s what Greg Wasson, Walgreens president and CEO, told Drug Store News in one interview last year, and it neatly encapsulates the dynamic that may be unfolding behind the scenes at the nation’s top pharmacy retailer.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens said to consider sale of PBM. For the full story, click here)