drug promotions and pricing pressures remain a staple of the U.S. pharmacy market. Those pressures will continue to weigh on profit margins at the pharmacy counter as more drugs lose patent protection and such pharmacy giants as Walmart keep up the Solutions Continued FRoM page 9
Here again, however, the market may hold a huge opportunity for pharmacy providers willing to make a real break from the traditional business paradigm to forge new ties with health plan payers and patients, and new personalized services designed to keep those patients healthier at a lower cost.
Top 10 leading cos. in Rx volume
LEADING CORPORATIONS TRx*
U.s. iNDUs Try
3,867
maT JUNe 2009
MARKET
SHARE
%
GROWTH
100.0% 0.9%
1. Teva
625
16. 2
5. 2
survey, 61% of respondents said they would be open to talking to their pharmacists to learn more about prescription omega- 3 fish oils.
“It just reaffirms that the pharmacist is part of that healthcare team and plays an important role in educating patients,” GSK spokeswoman Bernadette King told Drug Store News. Supermarket pharmacies could have a role to play as well, especially because many have both a pharmacist and a dietician on staff.
But in a more direct sense, pharmacists can improve patients’ heart health by using technology to ensure that those taking medications ad-
Continued FRoM page 3
here to treatments. In December, pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions announced a 26-week study with the Illinois state government, the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, the Illinois Pharmacists Association and the National Community Pharmacists Association-owned Mirixa Corp. to close the medication adherence gap among Illinois state employees with chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases.
The UIC College of Phar-
macy will provide clinical
training and guidance to up
to 100 community pharma-
cists on how to identify and
address adherence prob-
lems. Meanwhile, Medco
will analyze prescription
drug records on a daily ba-
sis to identify patients who
have potential problems
with medication adherence.
2. Mylan Labs
320
8. 3
5.0
3. Novartis (including Sandoz) 237
6. 1
4. Watson Pharmaceuticals
225
5. 8
5. Pfizer (including Greenstone) 212
5. 5
6. Apotex
104
2. 7
32.9
7. Mallinckrodt
94
2. 4
3. 3
8. Qualitest Products
93
2. 4
4. 3
9. AstraZeneca
91
2. 4
1. 6
10. Merck & Co.
88
2. 3
TOP 10
2,091
54.1%
-0.2%
cations. Many other issues — such as the way medication therapy management services by pharmacists would be reimbursed, and plans to allow for direct importation of drugs from Canada and other countries not under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration — also remain clouded as lawmakers in both houses of Congress debate health reform.
*In millions
Source: IMS Health, National Prescription Audit, June 2009
In a coordinated lobbying campaign, NACDS and other pharmacy groups also have convinced many lawmakers to overturn newly hatched restrictions that would make it almost impossible for many pharmacy retailers to sell durable medical equipment and diabetic supplies to patients enrolled in the Medicare Part B program. A delay of those new rules expired Jan. 1, but at press time, NACDS Continued FRoM page 3
industry leaders were hoping Congress would grant another stay.
NACDS and its top executives also are closely monitoring the progress of health-reform legislation, as the Senate and House work to iron out differences between the health-reform bills from both sides of the Capitol. Of particular concern: the provision in the Senate bill for Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement at a paltry 130% of the average manufacturer’s cost that pharmacies pay for generic medi-
References:
Archives