McKesson ideaShare: Day 1 and 2 Wrap-Up Podcast

Drug Topics: Hi everyone, we’re reporting live from McKesson ideaShare in Las Vegas, it’s been a great couple of days here and we want to let you know what we’ve been seeing, who we’ve run into, and some of the most interesting things we’ve learned in our couple of days here.

So, things really kicked off Thursday afternoon at the opening session, where we met the three finalists for the Health Mart Pharmacy of the year, who we introduced in our pre-show coverage about a week ago.

Additionally, we got the chance to hear about Freeman Drug, an incredible pharmacy operating out of Wisconsin that has been in business for 150 years now, which is really just unfathomable when you think about it, but they got some rightful recognition at the opening session. Mckesson did a great job highlighting these local, independent pharmacies, which continue to be so important for people to get their medications from, of course, but also make connections with these businesses that are right there in the communities.

Jumping into the more nitty gritty of it all, one of the big themes here at ideaShare has been showing love for the unsung heroes of pharmacy, the technicians. The tech track here has really been encouraging to see, and just the love for technicians has been great, really understanding how much they provide for pharmacies that goes unnoticed has been a cool aspect. McKesson heard that it’s something pharmacists asked for—more education and opportunities for technicians so they can return to their home pharmacy with new skills and a sense of empowerment.

One of the big “recipes for success” mentioned here at ideashare has been Community Health Workers, and how adding a community health worker, or elevating the technician’s role with community health worker training can really expand what you’re able to do as a pharmacy within the community. Beyond the regular responsibilities of dispersing drugs, they can connect their community members with the resources they need, like access to food banks, transportation, and other social determinants of health.

Following up the opening session, we were also given a tour of the exhibit hall, meeting some folks along the way who walked us through all the new, exciting projects McKesson has been working on and revealing as of late.

Pinpoint Community Solutions by Supplylogix was one of the stops, which really stood out because of the efficiency in which it integrates inventory management technology designed for independent pharmacies, to make their lives that much easier.

PPCS really helps to take all the questions and waiting out of managing inventory with some pretty cool software, and a big thank you to Spencer from Supplylogix for taking the time to chat with us on the media tour.

Another stop on the tour was Foster and Thrive, which is a new private brand of OTC products ranging from everyday care products to diagnostic care. Health Mart and Sunmark are names that will definitely ring a bell to folks, and now they have been combined to form Foster and Thrive. It was exciting to see their reveal and learn what they provide in terms of private label products.

So, the big takeaways we’ve seen so far at ideaShare, I think, are all about the changing landscape of community pharmacy and the various ways to keep up with the times, whether that be getting your voice out there on social media, integrating CHWs to further connect with the community you or being willing to adapt to new technologies that will expedite all processes within the operations side