Content about Express Scripts

December 28, 2012
Walgreens is paving the way toward a better pharmacy proposition

Walgreens executives last week were upbeat looking ahead to calendar 2013, identifying the company's growing base of Well Experience format stores, the expanding role retail pharmacy plays in the delivery of health care and the promise to be realized through creating a global pharmacy operator as the three primary reasons lifting their spirits.

A new, fast-growing loyalty card program and closure to the company's nine-month separation from Express Scripts' pharmacy network are working wonders on improving the perception of Walgreens' future potential. A fortified faith in Walgreens' full potential never left the company's executive suite, of course. It's Wall Street analysts that still need a little convincing, and that may be coming along as well.

December 27, 2012
Rite Aid shares trading some 40% higher in week following 3Q conference call

Rite Aid's fundamentals are improving, and Wall Street has taken notice.

December 21, 2012
Returning ESI patients, strong start to loyalty program has WAG executives bullish for 2013

Though total same-store sales were down 8%, Walgreens Friday morning characterized a first quarter lifted by a steady influx of returning Express Scripts patients and driven by a steady stream of new Balance Rewards members.

December 20, 2012
Rite Aid reports nearly $62 million profit

Rite Aid beat analyst expectations in third quarter 2013 as the generic wave and retention of Express Scripts customers helped drive better-than-expected adjusted EBIDTA and produced the company's first profitable quarter in five years.

December 12, 2012
Specialty patients in Los Angeles could be forced to use mail-order, advocates say

Thousands of patients in Los Angeles with serious, chronic diseases could soon find themselves unable to get their drugs from community pharmacies, advocates for the pharmacies said.

December 7, 2012
Focus on the loyalty card as the definitive barometer of pharmacy success, not won/lost ESI patients

Walgreens last Wednesday reported November sales of $5.9 billion, a decrease of 3.9% versus the same period last year.

December 5, 2012
WAG posts 3.9% November sales decline, but 38 million new loyalty members bodes well for future

Walgreens reported November sales of $5.9 billion, a decrease of 3.9% versus the same period last year.

November 30, 2012
Gets Well

By the time it had unveiled the latest evolution of its hot, new Wellness store concept this fall in Lemoyne, Pa., Rite Aid was coming off seven consecutive quarters of Adjusted EBITDA and same-store prescription count growth — the strongest growth period for the company in several years.

November 29, 2012
Pharmacy is star of the show in new programs, store concept

Ultimately, there’s no “retail pharmacy” without the “pharmacy,” and that’s true of any store that dispenses prescription drugs — whether it’s a small independent drug store, a nationwide chain, a supermarket or a mass merchandiser. But in many respects, Rite Aid is trying to make the “pharmacy” component of that phrase just a little bit bigger.


November 29, 2012
WAG, ESI bury the hatchet

When Walgreens and Express Scripts finally came to terms and agreed to again do business with each other in mid-2012, it marked the formal end of one of the costliest disputes in the history of pharmacy retailing and managed care. 


November 28, 2012
Traditional drug spending falls, specialty spending rises, ESI report finds

Price inflation for the most commonly used branded drugs has been more than six times that of overall inflation for consumer goods since September 2011, according to a new report by pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

November 20, 2012
Fred's looks to grow through Diplomat Specialty partnership and Drug and Dollar concept pharmacy

Any trickle-down of an improving economy hasn't trickled down to Fred's consumer base, Bruce Efird, Fred's CEO, told analysts Tuesday morning in discussing the discounter's third-quarter results.

November 15, 2012
Generics target specialty pharmacy with biosimilars

Perhaps the iconic scene at the end of Ridley Scott’s 1991 movie “Thelma & Louise” — with Gina Davis’ and Susan Sarandon’s characters hurdling into the Grand Canyon in a green convertible — is a good metaphor for what’s happening in the generic drug industry these days.


November 6, 2012
Strong 3Q, ability to retain ESI patients, finds CVS Caremark execs bullish

Coming off a strong third quarter, CVS Caremark executives expressed confidence that the company’s integrated retail/pharmacy benefit manager model and the unique programs and services it is able to deliver customers and clients are “making the difference,” president and CEO Larry Merlo told analysts during a Tuesday morning earnings call.

November 5, 2012
Retailers’ new programs target nonadherence

Improving medication adherence in specialty pharmacy could be equivalent to introducing a new blockbuster drug. That’s how Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy president and CEO Phil Hagerman put it at Drug Store News’ Specialty Pharmacy Roundtable two years ago. 


October 12, 2012
E-prescribing: Patients want it

When given a choice, patients prefer to receive an electronic prescription if they receive a prescription from their physician, according to the most recent Patient Views infographic. To be specific, 64% of respondents said they would choose an e-prescription when provided an option, according to an exclusive survey of nearly 800 patients conducted by AccentHealth and DSN in late July and early August. How many patients are actually given a choice as to how they receive their prescription, and how many currently are receiving electronic prescriptions?

October 9, 2012
CVS Caremark turns to innovation 
to capture a growing healthcare market

With healthcare reform on track to bring 32 million more Americans into the healthcare system in 2014, and with payers and patients looking for solutions to curb costs as the nation battles a shortage of primary care physicians and access to quality care, CVS Caremark’s role in reinventing pharmacy through its distinctive business model couldn’t be more imperative than it is today.


October 9, 2012
Integration key to managing specialty patients

Specialty may be the fastest-growing segment, but it may also be the most complicated, as this segment is comprised of very complex medications to treat such serious diseases as cancer, multiple sclerosis and hemophilia.

October 9, 2012
Moving beyond dispensing and toward adherence

CVS Caremark is also working to reinvent the role of its retail pharmacists and is gaining share by focusing on customer service, greater adherence, increased access and patient 
care improvements.

September 28, 2012
Walgreens all systems go for 2013; reports 4Q, annual sales

Fiscal 2012 is now in Walgreens' rearview mirror as the company looks ahead toward 2013 with its foot on the accelerator

September 25, 2012
A carrot, a stick and closing the space between

A carrot, a stick and a face-to-face encounter. Those are the tools that will chisel away at healthcare costs, noted Wade Miquelon, Walgreens EVP and CFO. And Walgreens is uniquely positioned to help realize those savings. 


September 20, 2012
Rite Aid looks to retain ESI patients, provide 'superior customer experience'

With the dispute between Walgreens and Express Scripts over, one of the biggest challenges for Rite Aid will be retaining the customers it won over during the impasse.

September 19, 2012
Most patients get prescriptions from doctors

People go to doctor offices for a variety of reasons — for annual physicals, for checkups after previous appointments, to figure out why something is acting up or if they just feel sick. Whatever the reasons, most of them walk out of the office with a prescription in hand, according to an exclusive survey of nearly 800 patients conducted by AccentHealth and DSN in late July and early August.

September 18, 2012
Healthcare reform: All in favor say 'aye!'

The interest in healthcare reform has reached a new high, especially in light of the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, yet there's no denying that consumers are still unclear as to the impact on their personal healthcare and insurance issues. That being said, Americans see a need for change as they battle rising costs and a lack of access to care, and many are saying "aye" to healthcare reform, according to the most recent Patient Views infographic. To be specific, two-thirds of respondents say they support healthcare reform, according to an exclusive survey of nearly 800 patients conducted by AccentHealth and DSN in late July and early August.

September 17, 2012
Healthcare-reform supporters show altruism

A lot of people have quite a few things to say about healthcare reform, whether they favor or oppose it. But supporters of the law show an altruistic sensibility and an understanding of how the law would benefit other Americans, according to an exclusive survey of nearly 800 patients conducted by AccentHealth and DSN in late July and early August.

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