Personnel Updates
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced the appointment of Jason Ausili as Director Pharmacy Affairs and Colin Brainard as the new Director of Federal Government Affairs.
The National Community Pharmacists Associaton announced Brad Arthur was named President.
Smith Drug Co. announced that Brian Purscell joined the company as Senior VP Pharmacy Solutions.
Mergers and Acquisitions
AmerisourceBergen announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase PharMEDium Healthcare Holdings.
Industry Insight
Birchbox is moving into product development as the company launches its own brand of beauty products.
CVS Health is opening hearing centers in seven CVS stores in the Dallas and Cleveland markets and will be providing optical services at CVS in five store locations around the Baltimore-Washington region. The hearing centers, which will be open Tuesdays to Saturdays, are staffed by licensed audiologists and hearing instrument specialists. Optical service at CVS will be available seven days a week later this fall at select locations around the Baltimore/Washington, DC market. Services will include comprehensive eye exams by an optometrist three days a week.
Walgreens has teamed up with Western Union and launched Western Union Bill Payment services via digital self-service kiosks at its stores.
Real Estate
Rite Aid Corporation celebrated the grand reopening of the Rite Aid at 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Baltimore this week. This marks the return of a store that had been operating out of a temporary trailer since May after sustaining significant damage during protests earlier this year.
Technology News
Hy-Vee and iMedicare announced a new service that serves up a consolidated Medicare Part D plan comparison report for seniors. Hy-Vee pharmacists will use iMedicare, a Web and mobile platform, to identify Medicare Part D plans specific to each patient and therapeutically equivalent alternatives that are covered by the patient’s insurance plan.