- Walgreens and HHS flu shot voucher initiative to deliver $15 million in vaccinations (drugstorenews.com)
Walgreens is providing up to $15 million worth of free flu shot vouchers through its collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, in an effort to improve immunization rates among uninsured and underinsured…the voucher initiative has been instrumental in helping to protect more people from the flu each season,… providing access to flu shots at no cost for those who are eligible, we can make a significant impact by protecting more people throughout the flu season…
- Telehealth portrays potential healthcare benefits (drugstorenews.com)
Telehealth represents a burgeoning,…opportunity for pharmacy operators, one that has the potential to not only drive traffic into a store, but also to drive new customers into that store…Pharmacy represents a…touchpoint for telehealth operators...making pharmacies that provide access to telehealth services a convenient and less-expensive option for those consumers who are assuming a greater portion of their individual healthcare costs…also an opportunity to improve outcomes through telehealth/retail pharmacy partnerships…many…doctor associations,…support telehealth models,..making retail pharmacy operators fielding in-store telehealth services attractive care partners for health systems.
- 3 Third-Party Claims Tools Pharmacy Technicians Can Use (pharmacytimes.com)
Processing third-party claims and dealing with insurance companies can be frustrating even for the most experienced pharmacy technicians...there are a number of tools available to pharmacists and techs to make it easier to adjudicate and reconcile prescription claims…Technicians looking to improve workflow in their pharmacies might consider using one of the following services.
- eConcile (FDS) - automates the reconciliation process, eliminating the need for paper checks and verifying the accuracy of third-party payments. The tool will also identify unpaid or underpaid claims, reducing the potential for write-offs…
- EnsurePay (PBAhealth) - automated service that allows pharmacies and technicians to reconcile third-party claims electronically…works by comparing remittance files submitted by a pharmacy to incoming payments..claim will be electronically reconciled… allows its users to manage the process entirely
- Scriptmax (Innovatix) - Web-based prescription claim support program and data analytics service available to long-term care, home infusion, mail-order, retail, and specialty pharmacies…helps to improve the accuracy of the adjudication process, matching third-party payments with adjudicated amounts… performs a number of reviews,…
- Target pharmacy workers form union, first in company’s history (reuters.com)CVS announces Union Cooperation Agreement in 500 stores (cvsworker.com)NLRA Process (Typical Election Timeline) (cvsworker.com)
pharmacy workers within Target Corp's store in Brooklyn, New York, have won a vote to form a microunion, making it the first unionized store at the retailer since its inception in 1902…a group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians won an initial ballot, 7-2, to form the union,.. "It is a big win for us," said…director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union that supported the vote…
- 12-year-old arrested in pharmacy robbery (indystar.com)
Incident is one of at least seven reported at area pharmacies in 24 hours, all involving suspects 18 or younger…At least seven reported robberies or attempted robberies at Indianapolis-area pharmacies in the past 24 hours involved suspects who were 18 or younger, according to police reports…In a robbery attempt at a Northeastside Walgreens, a 12-year-old boy was arrested….Indiana battles No. 1 rank in pharmacy robberies…
- How Value-Based Care Affects Community Pharmacy (pharmacytimes.com)
Doug Long, vice president of industry relations at IMS Health, talks about how the movement toward value-based care in the US health system affects community pharmacy.
- Pharmacy accidentally gave man chemo (radionz.co.nz)Patient given cancer drugs rather than immunosuppressant (mp3) (radionz.co.nz)Decision 14HDC00439 (hdc.org.nz)
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner (New Zealand) has found a man wrongly took a chemotherapy drug (cyclophosphamide) for three weeks because a pharmacy dispensed the wrong medication…The 79-year old man was supposed to be taking an immuno-suppressant (cyclosporine), following a kidney transplant…He took the chemotherapy drug for about three weeks before asking the pharmacist why his tablets had changed…The pharmacist checked the records and found a technician had filled the prescription, but that he had signed it off... he did nothing further, he didn't complete an incident form, he didn't alert the owner of the pharmacy…the pharmacist was also remiss for not offering any counselling to the patient…pharmacist has been ordered to apologise to the man in writing, and further action could follow.
- Missouri attorney general: Walgreen Co. deceiving consumers (washingtonpost.com)
Walgreen Co.’s persisting failure to remove expired sales tags from its shelves deceives customers and violates a 2014 settlement that sought to resolve the matter in Missouri, the state’s attorney general argued…in asking a state court to punish the pharmacy chain…Attorney General Chris Koster filed court documents asking a judge to hold the nation’s largest pharmacy retailer in contempt of the settlement and issue steeper fines, including up to $5,000 for each expired tag. Koster said that since July, undercover investigators have found a total of more than 1,300 shelf tags displaying sales prices that had expired...
- How Community Pharmacies Can Build New Networks of Customers (pharmacytimes.com)
Paul Greenall, senior vice president of strategy and business development at McKesson Corporation, discusses how community pharmacies can build new networks of customers.
- Update: Pager, Zipdrug partnership puts docs, meds on demand (drugstorenews.com)
Health care just got a whole lot more convenient in Manhattan, where a pair of health app developers …began coupling their offerings in what may become the ultimate in fast service — doctors to your door by way of Pager quickly followed by an on-demand prescription delivery from Zipdrug...Pager was launched…a healthcare startup reinventing the traditional doctor-patient experience…connects patients to board-certified doctors who make home, office or hotel visits within two hours…. Zipdrug…employs a trained delivery staff who picks up prescriptions at the pharmacy of the patient's choice and delivers them to the patient's doorstep.