Chain Drug Review, February 4, 2019

Vol 41 No 3 www chaindrugreview com February 4 2019 Jhaveri appointed Health Mart president IRVING Texas Nimesh Jhaveri has joined the Health Mart family of community pharmacies as president Jhaveri who has 30 years of hands on pharmacy experience started in his new role on October 31 As president Jhaveri is responsible for developing strategies supporting the goals and success of more than 5000 Health Mart pharmacies In his role Jhaveri will work hand in hand with independently owned Health Mart pharmacies and help them provide quality health care in their local communities Nimesh is a proven leader says Chris Dimos president of McKesson Retail Solutions He began his career as a pharmacy technician and worked his way up to managing several pharmacies before moving to field operations corporate pharmacy operations pharmacy systems and health services business development As an established industry thought leader we are thrilled to welcome him and his leadership Jhaveri says what lured him to Health Mart from the executive ranks of Walgreens was the challenge to be part of the future of pharmacy practice noting that Dimos told him he would have the opportunity to positively impact pharmacy and health care for the long term And thats all I needed to hear says Jhaveri Despite changes facing pharmacy such as declining reimbursements the increased use of robotics the shifting health care landscape and new entrants in the marketplace community pharmacies remain optimistic about the opportunities ahead Health Mart pharmacies offer an ideal setting to provide patient care that enables a positive impact on medication adherence improving patient outcomes and reducing health care costs Jhaveri understands the challenges and difficulties that pharmacies face in todays competitive and complex landscape especially the independents He also understands how helpful a partner Health Mart can be for independents and how critical a component McKesson is in supporting Health Marts mission to help independents thrive McKesson is a great arm for Health Mart to execute its vision of providing health care in a more convenient location he says Concerning reimbursement rates Health Mart not only provides the tools to deal with Nimesh Jhaveri this challenge but supports pharmacists in practicing at the top of their license Specifically Health Mart assists pharmacy owners with DIR direct and indirect reimbursement fees by first helping them understand how they are calculated which allows them to better handle their cash flow and helps them prevent being blind sided from unexpected crippling charges Also Health Mart helps its owners understand that performance and better outcomes are the biggest factors that Wider role for CVS Sansone WOONSOCKET R I CVS Pharmacy has expanded the responsibilities of Judy Sansone the chains senior vice president of front store business and chief merchant In addition George Coleman has been promoted to senior vice president of merchandising reporting to Sansone He had been vice president of merchandising for consumer health care Sansones team will be responsible for CVS new health hub pilot stores expanded health services and new formats and partnerships The team will work alongside and in support of enterprise transformation initiatives being led by executive vice president Alan Lotvin Coleman joined CVS in 2012 to lead the store brands business and has led the health care portfolio since 2014 In his new role he will oversee all front store categories including general merchandise edibles beauty and personal care store brands and health care Sansone who joined CVS more than three decades ago became a senior vice president and chief merchant in 2011 She started her career as a part time cashier Continued on page 4 Continued on page 4 Continued on page 6 Case for DIR reform advanced ARLINGTON Va The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has submitted extensive and thoroughly documented comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS in support of the agencys proposal to reform direct and indirect remuneration DIR fees reform that relates directly to reducing patients out of pocket drug costs NACDS issued its comments in response to CMS proposed rule titled Modernizing Part D and Medicare Advantage to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out of Pocket Expenses which was released in November The proposed changes are consistent with several of the administrations priorities including the goal to reduce prescription drug costs for patients improve the Medicare program and use Department of Health and Human Services programs to build a value driven health care system NACDS wrote We therefore strongly urge CMS to use its current authority to further update the Part D Program by implementing these much needed reforms in the final rule NACDS members experiences confirm that the abuses and harms of pharmacy DIR fees are genuine the association added And the situation is rapidly growing worse as abusive pharmacy DIR fees continue to grow exponentially Pharmacies are calling on CMS to eliminate these and other harms now by implementing reforms to eliminate pharmacy DIR fees The comments say DIR fees are based on a regulatory loophole that plans have exploited to increase beneficiary drug costs and that CMS should close that loophole completely NACDS has established DIR fee reform and related reimbursement issues as its top priorities WBA joins Microsoft in health care partnership DEERFIELD Ill Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA and Microsoft Corp have teamed up to develop new health care delivery models technology and retail innovations to advance and improve the future of health care The companies will combine the power of Microsoft Azure Microsofts cloud and artificial intelligence platform health care investments and new retail solutions with WBAs customer reach convenient locations outpatient health care services and industry expertise to make health care delivery more personal affordable and accessible for people around the world Current health care systems are a complex combination of public and private sector organizations providers payers pharmaceutical companies and other adjacent players While there has been innovation in pockets of health care there is both a need and an opportunity to fully integrate the system ultimately making health care more convenient to people through data driven insights This is what brought WBA and Microsoft together Through their strategic partnership the companies will deliver innovative platforms that enable nextgeneration health networks integrated digital physical experiences and care management solutions Improving health outcomes while lowering the cost of care is a complex challenge that requires broad collaboration and strong partnership between the health care and tech industries said Satya Nadella chief executive officer of Microsoft Together with Walgreens Boots Alliance we aim to deliver on this promise by putting people at the center of their health and wellness combining the power of the Azure cloud and AI technology and Microsoft 365 with Walgreens Boots Alliances deep expertise and commitment to helping communities around the world lead healthier and happier lives CVS to disclose all beauty image edits WOONSOCKET R I CVS Pharmacy the retail division of CVS Health announced significant progress toward the goal of full transparency for all of its beauty imagery by the end of 2020 and its efforts to create new industry standards for post production alterations of beauty imagery Just one year after the company made the commitment to create new standards for post production alterations of beauty imagery nearly 70 of beauty imagery in CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide will be CVS Beauty Mark compliant First announced in January 2018 the CVS Beauty Mark initiative was introduced to lead positive change around transparency in beauty in order to educate customers on the difference between authentic and digitally altered imagery At an event at the CVS Phar WBAs Stefano Pessina left and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella