Chain Pharmacy

For 171 years a Thompson has been behind the counter at Thompson Drugs. Six generations of Heimstreets have counseled patients. The fourth generation of Seiferts recently began practice as a pharmacist, while Rupal Patel, a professor of pharmacy, is following the trail her grandfather blazed ... in India.

Pharmacist salaries are still climbing, but at a slower rate. Our exclusive survey shows who gets top dollar.

Pharmacy representatives attending an American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) editorial panel meeting recently in San Diego have asked the panel to make codes for medication therapy management (MTM) permanent.

CHD Meridian Healthcare, an I-trax Inc. company, appears to have struck the right note with large corporations seeking to bring on-site clinics to their employees.

Picture this. A man walks into a pharmacy to buy condoms. He hopes he can quickly whisk them from the shelf and pay for them without attracting attention. But ... they are locked up in a case along with the razor blade cartridge replacements. A note on the cabinet states, "Please ask attendant for assistance for items in this case."

Like it or not, health-system pharmacies are under tremendous pressure to perform at a high level. Addressing patient safety concerns, improving outcomes, implementing state-of-the-art technology, and keeping drug costs down requires a juggling act that pharmacists must perform on a daily basis.

NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is updating its list of hazardous pharmaceutical products. The new list will become part of the organization's 2004 alert, Preventing Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings.

When Michelle Rutledge, Pharm.D., heard about the fatal shooting of a hospital pharmacist at Shands Jacksonville hospital in Florida last November, it really hit home. The victim, 37-year-old Shannon McCants, was a fellow graduate of the Florida A&M College of Pharmacy. McCants was shot by a customer who was waiting for a prescription to be filled in the outpatient pharmacy. Rutledge, an associate investigator at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, said that e-mails from former student-colleagues began pouring in.

Picture this scenario: Family medicine residents complete a four-week rotation in a pharmacy, where they learn about the importance of collaborating with pharmacists to improve patient care. They also learn about over-the-counter medicines and how to write prescriptions.

The recent news that CVS and pharmacy benefit manager Caremark Rx are hooking up (Drug Topics, Nov. 20) didn't come as a surprise to pharmacy insiders. What does the industry think of the $21 billion agreement?

Recent years have seen dramatic growth in the specialty pharmacy market, a segment of the industry addressing the needs of patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer and HIV. Sales of specialty medications-though expensive, often injectable, and typically requiring more patient education-have trended upward at more than 25% annually for the past five years. Industry experts forecast annual increases of more than 30% through the rest of this decade, according to Armada Health Care, a specialty pharmacy group purchasing organization in Short Hills, N.J.

With dramatic demographic shifts under way in this country, pharmacies should tailor their marketing to multiethnic groups.

Lindora, which is recognized for its medically supervised weight management programs in Southern California, and Rite Aid have announced an agreement to open the first in-store healthcare clinics that will also offer medically supervised treatment for weight control.

CVS/pharmacy will offer flu vaccinations in 4,500 stores nationwide.

Walgreens and the Joslin Diabetes Center, a global leader in diabetes research, care, and education, have formed an alliance to improve health outcomes for Americans with diabetes.

Rite Aid pharmacists will lead teams of walkers this fall in the American Diabetes Association?s ?America?s Walk for Diabetes.? Rite Aid teams will participate in markets where the company is located to raise funds and help find a cure for diabetes.

In a trial to be held in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., beginning Sept. 7, Walgreens is being sued for allegedly mislabeling and misfilling a prescription that led to the death of a patient,Leonard Kulisek. In the papers filed during the lawsuit, Walgreens admitted that a pharmacy manager negligently misfilled the prescription.

Yet more chains are adding in-store clinics. The latest to go this route is Medicine Shoppe International (MSI), which is hooking up with MindGent Healthcare Clinics to open Classic Care Clinics.

dLife, the multimedia education network for the diabetes community, has formed a partnership with Wal-Mart to help elevate awareness and improved care for people with diabetes. For six weeks this August, September, and October, dLife will be part of the Wal-Mart and SAM's CLUB Diabetes Aware & Care program occurring at more than 2,200 locations.

Walgreen stores in Detroit have decided not to accept the Midwest Health Plan. The decision follows a recent announcement by CVS stores in Detroit that they would no longer deal with the Midwest Health Plan, which administers Medicaid coverage for 55,000 beneficiaries, and M-Care, a University of Michigan managed care plan.

Walgreens has joined forces with the National Urban League (NUL) to launch the NUL/Walgreens Wellness Tour. The tour features a customized traveling education and health-screening vehicle, which will appear at select NUL affiliates in key urban markets as part of a 12-month national campaign.

CVS/pharmacy announced that its CVS Photo Center is offering consumers the option of on-line photo processing with one-hour, in-store pickup. Features of the photo center at www.cvsphotocenter.com include: free on-line storage and sharing options, editing techniques and color-correction options, images that can be uploaded from any Internet-connected computer, and personalized photo gifts.