McKesson collaborates with independent, small and medium chain pharmacy owners, pharmacists and industry leaders to empower independent pharmacy growth
McKesson ideaShare Conference - San Francisco - June 30, 2011 - This week, thousands of independent pharmacy owners are joining McKesson, the nation's largest healthcare services company, to share in the education, excitement and success of independent pharmacy at the McKesson ideaShare Conference, June 29-July 2 at the Moscone Convention Center in McKesson's headquarter city of San Francisco. At this annual business gathering, retail independent pharmacy owners are learning about new pharmacy solutions and technology from McKesson and its partners, as well as sharing best practices with peers to strengthen their ability to compete and grow in today's market.
"Today's evolving healthcare landscape is providing more opportunities than ever before for independent pharmacies to elevate their role in healthcare delivery, more tightly align with other healthcare providers, and increase their connection with patients," said Brian Tyler, president, McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical. Those attending McKesson ideaShare 2011 will leave the conference with additional tools, knowledge and solutions to help them grow and adapt their businesses to emerging trends in the market and changing consumer needs and behavior. McKesson ideaShare is designed to inspire and support independent pharmacies as they pursue and achieve new levels of clinical and business success."
Attracting More Patients
By leveraging McKesson's business-building, branding, and marketing solutions, independent pharmacy owners can grow their businesses by attracting more patients through their doors.
Physician Outreach Program: Today, McKesson launched the Physician Outreach Program, the industry's first solution that enables independent pharmacies to identify and better partner with physicians within their area. Pharmacists can target high volume prescribers to help promote the personalized services and clinical expertise they offer. (See McKesson's June 30, 2011 announcement, "McKesson Announces Physician Outreach Program for Independent pharmacy Customers.")
The Health Mart® Healthy Living Tour: The Health Mart Healthy Living Tour kicked off its 2011 tour today at McKesson ideaShare. The Tour features a mobile screening unit that will travel across the country to raise diabetes awareness by administering free health screenings and providing diabetes education. The Health Mart Healthy Living Tour enables community pharmacists to increase their visibility within their community and highlight the valuable role they play by helping those affected by diabetes. The tour will visit 20 states across the U.S. through November 2011.
Maximizing Profitability
McKesson continues to invest in solutions and services that help its independent pharmacy customers capitalize on new revenue opportunities while providing them with a range of service and product offerings that deliver value to their customers.
Health Mart Private Label: Today, McKesson unveiled the new Health Mart private-label brand with customers at McKesson ideaShare 2011. The Health Mart private-label brand will enable Health Mart pharmacies to extend their brand reach - in consumers' purses and medicine cabinets. McKesson will deliver the first category of products in October 2011, followed by a new category launch in each subsequent month.
McKesson Reimbursement Solutions: It's critical that pharmacists capture all of the reimbursement opportunities available to maintain and increase their profitability well into the future. McKesson announced this week a suite of reimbursement solutions to help pharmacists capture maximum reimbursement for the prescriptions they dispense. This suite includes tailored solutions to meet the needs for all independent pharmacies, whether they're part of the Health Mart franchise, McKesson's AccessHealth® managed-care network or unaffiliated with either.
Patient Clinical Services: In 1999, only 22 states allowed pharmacists to administer the influenza vaccine to adults, according to the CDC. Today, all 50 states allow pharmacists to provide this service to their patients. McKesson is helping its independent pharmacy customers provide flu vaccines to consumers so they can integrate clinical services into their businesses, while improving patient outcomes and boosting revenue.
Increasing Efficiency through Technology
At McKesson ideaShare 2011, attendees are receiving a preview of new and emerging technologies from McKesson and its partners designed to help independent pharmacies improve operational efficiency, better connect with peers and other healthcare stakeholders, and gain more time to spend with patients.
McKesson Connect? Community: To increase peer-to-peer interaction and encourage the sharing of ideas and strategies among independent pharmacy owners, McKesson will launch an online community for Health Mart pharmacists in the fall of 2011. Pharmacists will be able to gain easy access to McKesson Connect Community through McKesson Connect, McKesson's online pharmaceutical ordering portal. McKesson is committed to nurturing a community of successful pharmacy owners who can share and benefit from the knowledge of their peers. McKesson Connect Community will be rolled out to additional McKesson independent pharmacy customers throughout the year.
Mobile Messaging: As more patients are connecting to healthcare providers in new and different ways, McKesson continues to innovate and help community pharmacists stay connected with their customers. At McKesson ideaShare 2011, pharmacists can sign up to for McKesson's messaging services, which will allow them to send automated medication reminders, pick-up notifications and auto-refill messages via text, e-mail or automated phone messages directly to their patients' mobile devices.
Underlying McKesson's Mobile Messaging capabilities is the power of the RelayHealth? network, which links to multiple pharmacy systems and doesn't require independent pharmacies to use a specific pharmacy system.
RxOwnership®: McKesson's Commitment to the Future of Independent Pharmacy
McKesson continues to invest in RxOwnership, a program dedicated to providing independent pharmacy owners, prospective owners and pharmacy students with the confidential information, resources, financing options and advice to help successfully buy or transfer ownership of an independent pharmacy. Since the program launched in 2008, RxOwnership has supported more than 641 independent pharmacy ownership transfers.
"The future is bright for independent pharmacy as the next generation of pharmacists is interested in serving their communities with personalized, clinical services, in addition to being entrepreneurial and business-oriented," said Bob Graul, national VP, RxOwnership. "RxOwnership understands and supports the different needs of current and future pharmacy owners to ensure that all pharmacy owners reach their professional goals."
For more information on all of McKesson's announcements from McKesson ideaShare 2011, please visit McKesson's online newsroom at www.McKesson.com/newsroom.
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About McKesson
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payors, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.McKesson.com.
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