SAN FRANCISCO -- Health Mart pharmacists--through the individual actions they take in their communities to the programs and services they provide through their affiliation with McKesson Corp.--are helping to meet the health care needs of millions of Americans while demonstrating that they have emerged as effective and efficient operators in an increasingly competitive retail pharmacy environment.
Collectively, the more than 2,600 Health Mart drug stores are able to leverage the pharmacy banner's scale so they have the power of a national brand, says Gary Butler, owner of Village Health Mart Pharmacy in Hot Springs, Ark. And Tim Davis, owner of Beaver Health Mart in Beaver, Pa., notes that as recently as 2006, Health Mart was a group of about 350 stores surviving with little identity.
Butler and Davis are among the operators who have helped 'put a face' on the franchise. 'Regional ambassadors such as Gary and Tim have challenged us to do more,' said Health Mart president Tim Canning. Butler and Davis introduced Canning to their colleagues and others attending McKesson's Pharmacy Strategies Conference in Las Vegas.
Today, Health Mart is the fourth-largest retail pharmacy network in the United States, according to Canning. He pointed out how Health Mart's strength has been recognized by such key companies as Novartis Consumer Health Inc., which turned to the franchise as a key retailer in its successful rollout of over-the-counter Prevacid. 'Health Mart now has a seat at the table for other national brand launches,' Canning remarked.
Health Mart pharmacists are clinical experts designed to answer patient questions on prescription medications, over-the-counter products and health and wellness items, explains Matt Lowe, vice president of retail marketing at McKesson. 'In supporting community pharmacists, we are committed to ensuring Health Mart stores have access to the most up-to-date health and wellness items and information to support their communities,' he says. 'Health Mart connects community pharmacists to the care process so that patients feel like the patient is part of their team.' Pharmacists working under the Health Mart banner, he notes, fill a gap in the health care system by providing screenings for a number of conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and osteoporosis.
Throughout the year, more consumers have come to know the franchise through television advertising, distinctive signage and in-store decor.
Health Malt provides a variety of services and special programs to its franchisees. For example, 'HealthSmart,' a monthly newsletter, serves up tips on improving and maintaining health. Health Mart also interacts with customers online by offering health and wellness information on HealthMart.com and through healthmart.staywellsolutionsonline.com, its consumer Web portal.
One example of a Health Mart pharmacist with a keen interest in being recognized as a health and wellness provider is Christine Jacobson, owner and manager of Wasatch Pharmacy Care in Ogden, Utah. Besides providing patients with everyday pharmacy needs, Jacobson is a registered compounding pharmacist and specializes in bioidentical natural hormone replacement therapy, as well as in pain management.
She also provides expertise on anti-aging, natural medicine, functional medicine and sexual dysfunction.
'Many of my patients have been referred to me by local physicians,' says Jacobson, who has over 25 years of experience as a retail pharmacist. 'I work closely with the doctors to devise individualized plans to fix problems that medicines alone can't fix.'
Those plans, she says, can range from vitamin recommendations to diet programs and other lifestyle management solutions.
'For some pharmacists, this may seem like thinking out of the box, but this is what we went to school for--to make a difference,' Jacobson notes. 'It's all about wellness, what I can do to make patients' lives better beyond dispensing drugs.'
Another Health Mart pharmacist who focuses on health and wellness, with a particular interest in diabetes, is Jonathan Marquess, who owns three stores in the Atlanta market. Marquess is also president of the Institute for Wellness and Education, a disease management company.
'One of the main things I stress to patients is the need to take their medications when prescribed and as prescribed,' Marquess explains. 'There are some great medications out there, but if the drugs are not taken properly, or if the pharmacist doesn't explain them properly, they're not of much benefit.'
HEALTH MART
* HEADQUARTERS
One Post St.
San Francisco, Calif. 94104
Key pharmacy executive: 'lira Canning, Health Mart President and McKesson Senior
Vice President
Phone: (800) 369-5467
Fax: (415) 983-9353
Web site: healthmart.com
* TRADE CLASS--Drug chain
* PHARMACY RANK--6 in sales, 5 in pharmacies
* Full-year results (3/31/10)
Pharmacy sales--$5.9 billion (+20.4%) *
Overall sales--$6.2 billion (+21.6%)
* Number of stores--2,663
* Number of pharmacies--2,663
* Number of states operating--50 plus the District of Columbia
* CDR estimate.
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