Andrew Winakor’s Post

Who wants to receive warm insulin by post because the Koolpak has been exposed to the elements for far too long? Not me. Been there, done that. Access to insulin at retail pharmacies is rapidly declining. In April, 2024 RITEAID PHARMACY announced another 13 stores closing in 5 states, on top of 250 stores closed in October, 2023. Now 25% of Walgreens stores may soon be closing. Some small towns, like mine, only have one pharmacy. My RITEAID 5614 Riteaidpharmacy Healthcare uses just-in-time inventory and has to order #Novolog from a Novo Nordisk distributor every time I fill my prescription. If it closes, I would have to drive 30 minutes to the next closest pharmacy. As if the cost of insulin isn't bad enough, (unless you are a Medicare beneficiary with $35/monthly out of pocket), it is starting to feel like filling a prescription the old-fashioned way will require the cost of owning a car plus gas, or a taxi, or Lyft adding more costs and time to the burden of diabetes self care. #diabetes #insulin #breakthrought1d #fda What say you? David Schweikert Aetna, a CVS Health Company Express Scripts by Evernorth Phlow AmbioPharm - A Global Peptide CDMO Civica Rx Kaiser Permanente

Recent struggles for US retail pharmacies are not new news, however the impact on the communities impacted by these closures is something that must be discussed. In rural America there may be 40+ miles between a patient and the life saving prescription they need. These areas of the country do not typically have access to ride sharing services, couriers and other delivery connections that bridge the gap. Another contributing issue here is the lack of primary care services in these same areas. The combination of these will undoubtedly lead to poor outcomes for these communities that will need to be addressed. #ushealthcare #healthcare #pharmacy

I have noticed this in our area. Not sure why? “Sometimes Seattle earns its gloomy reputation. It was cold, dark, and wet on the February morning I arrived, and I needed a new umbrella.” “I’ve spent the last few months looking into the national meltdown of the American drugstore. As I report in a new feature Fortune published today, the industry-wide problems facing retail pharmacies—chains and independents—are hurting all of us. Big chains are shutting down hundreds of locations; CVS and Walgreens have seen their share prices slump over the past year, while Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy protection in October. Pharmacists citing burnout and overwork are fleeing the industry. For customers, whether we’re trying to buy allergy pills and toothpaste from a locked-up “plexiglass prison” or to fill a basic prescription, many of us are losing access to the front line health care services that pharmacies have long provided. “Pharmacies are in shambles,” Abdikadir Athur, a Seattle-area pharmacist, told me. “It’s unbelievable what’s happening right now.” I went out to Seattle in February to see some of these shambles firsthand. The epicenter of the local pharmacy implosion is Bartell’s, a beloved and storied corner drugstore founded in 1890 and family-owned until 2020—when the Bartell family sold it to the long-struggling Rite Aid. Since filing for bankruptcy protection last year, Rite Aid, trying to claw its way out of debt, has closed down more than a third of Bartell’s 67 locations in the Seattle area. “It’s heartbreaking,” several current and former Seattle residents told me. These closures are contributing to reduced pharmacy access across the city, and the state: Over a period of 13 months ending in early March, 81 pharmacies—more than 8% of all Washington pharmacies—have gone out of business, according to the Washington State Pharmacy Association. The fate of the state’s pharmacies is a microcosm of a crisis that extends far beyond the Pacific Northwest. American drugstores are caught in a perfect storm of factors, including the wide-ranging retail apocalypse, increased e-commerce competition, and the grim shadow of the opioid crisis. “. Fortune @scottmilner

"The Great American Pharmacy Meltdown" via Fortune published: A crisis is hitting your local drugstore. Why the slow demise of a 130-year-old family-owned #pharmacy chain spells disaster for consumers Gil Bashe points out some tough love for what's going to get a lot worse for our nation before it gets better. The #pharmacy sector of healthcare is in some trouble because macro-economics is real. When you suck out 'too much profit' without investing it back into our #Pharmacists support, technology, advancement of technicians, and helping to keep Independent Community Pharmacies alive, 20 years ago the waves began to build. Now, the wave of greed's impact is at our shores. Realize, the main payment conduit over 80+% of all revenue inside pharmacy is in the hands of 3 specific insurance companies. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that model. People will never be greedy enough to disintegrate #pharmacycare in areas of the nation which would cause #PharmacyDeserts and would cause a threat to mass #PublicHealth. These people in power, the pbms, the insurance companies, the "tall tales" of savings for our national and state tax-supported medication management programs, --they wouldn't squader these funds, would they? ...and worst of all the #Burnout of good Pharmacists. But. Here we are. Dear Pharmacist, You are more needed right now than ever before. The population is quickly reaching 350M+ we have about 300,000+ of you and they're closing pharmacies all over the country. Let's dicuss, on "This Week in Pharmacy" LIVE July 12th @ 12:30PM ET

This is one placebo we can do without. With chain drug stores like Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS closing locations across the U.S., pharmacy deserts are popping up, which can make access to medications difficult. Amazon, Uber and Lyft may be able to fill the pharmacy squeeze, but even then, patients face challenges. It was only a few years ago when the major drugstore chains evolved their corner stores into full-service health clinics. Unfortunately, they also quickly discovered running them is completely different than operating a standard retail operation. From reorganizations to bankruptcies, these chains are shutting down locations, leaving many cities and customers most notably in the Midwest, high and dry with no nearby pharmacy. The largest chain, Walgreens, has plans to close as many as 25 percent of its 8,200 stores, which will further squeeze communities that lack pharmacies. CVS, on the other hand, is closing all of its locations in specific states such as Ohio. And even smaller pharmacies are facing their own challenges with pharmacy benefit managers, which are lowering reimbursement rates for medications, under-pay community pharmacies, and steer patients into their own pharmacies. Band-aids exist. Amazon is working to fill the gap with plans to provide same-day prescription delivery to half the country next year. And of course, Uber and Lyft offer similar delivery services. These coupled with the rise of telehealth services provide some level of access especially to seniors and those unable to travel in-person to facilities. The missing corner drugstore takes away something the band-aids can't fix. In one word, that's humanity. We can certainly talk about accessibility and convenience, but nothing can replace the ability to interact in-person with a pharmacist for medical needs. Pharmacy deserts threaten to further erode that especially in a society where interacting with others seems to be less important or common https://cnb.cx/4dFT9EJ #pharmacy #drugstore #retail #medication #walgreens #riteaid #cvs #amazon #uber #lyft #healthcare

Investing in VillageMD was never a good decision on the part of C-Suite. From the outset, it was unclear which party was benefiting. While the pharmacy likely aimed to use VillageMD to boost prescription traffic, VillageMD seemed to count on leveraging pharmacy resources. Amid these conflicting expectations, pharmacists were already facing burnout and staff shortages, complicating the partnership further. The problematic healthcare profit model complicates matters further, proving itself to be inherently flawed. Experience has repeatedly shown that profitability breakpoints are hard to predict and achieve. Just as it seems profits are within reach, the need for additional staff, equipment, and space arises, draining resources. This was a clear takeaway from the experiences with in-store clinics. In hindsight, a more cautious approach would have involved verifying whether VillageMD had effectively addressed these persistent challenges before committing billions in investment. Mary Langowski promises a solution to the profit model, focusing a capital-light services for which payers might need to pay a premium. Or, perhaps it is a cost plus benefit sharing agreement in which Walgreens receives a premium in the way of reduced payer risk. Either way, she will need Rick Gates to transform the pharmacy model and footprint to provide expanded in-store services. #Walgreens #WBA #hospitalmanagement #pharmacists https://lnkd.in/gKvAX2BM

As larger chains exit markets, independent pharmacies may face less competition, potentially allowing them to thrive in those areas. However, if closures lead to pharmacy deserts, it can exacerbate access issues for patients, impacting their health outcomes. Independent pharmacies often play crucial roles in community healthcare; thus, they must adapt and position themselves as essential healthcare providers to ensure they can serve their communities effectively. #HealthcareAccess #IndependentPharmacies #PharmacyDeserts #PublicHealth #CommunityHealth

"CVS also is squeezing primary care clinics with doctors into some of its stores. But Walgreens is backing away from a similar push." IMHO this is a mistake on Walgreen's part. CVS has become a go-to for what I call 'tiny maladies' like the flu or the cold. I never go to the ER for anything (I would truly never be there unless my life was on the line) and I don't want to go to Urgent Care where the cost is $250-300 per visit (though much better than an ER) when I know I just need an Rx and time to recover from the common illnesses we face. Clinics offer a way to spend just $80 to get that antibiotic or other Rx that cannot be purchased over the counter. I hope Walgreen's rethinks not being in that space, because now I have a reason to choose CVS over Walgreen's, though I enjoy Walgreen's aesthetics and product selection better. Let's not forget telemedicine. My mind was blown away during the pandemic when I was suffering from a bronchitis-like illness and I was able to speak with a doctor via phone, have an Rx sent to Kroger, and pick it up within the span of an hour. No more waiting in rooms with other sick people. This is what the drugstores are competing against. (Also, remember that the telemedicine visit is $25-$40 per encounter.) However, telemedicine doesn't offer that one-stop-shopportunity (I couldn't resist the word combo). Do you think I would choose Walgreen's if I could see a nurse practitioner, get my Rx, and crackers/chicken noodle soup all in one place along with my favorite Icelandic spring water? Heck yeah, I would do that. Note: I know that CVS is also closing stores, but this will hardly be the end of the corner drug store. Stores of both companies are closing for different reasons. Perhaps it will give Rite Aid some space? *whispers* Rite Aid is closing a lot of stores too. Maybe the quest for world domination isn't so hot right now. 😜 Just food for thought. ❤️

Unfortunately, pharmacy deserts are a growing issue across multiple states in our country. This article focuses on Minnesota and the specific pharma desert landscape that's taking shape there. This article shares a shocking fact: After Walgreens shut its W. Broadway store last year, there is only one pharmacy to serve 67,000 residents in the north Minneapolis area. Because of this pharmacy shortage, many people simply aren't able to access a pharmacy at all. Many people don't have reliable transportation, which makes it nearly impossible for them to get the medications they need. If we want to get rid of these pharmacy deserts, we have to ensure that independent pharmacies have the resources to open their doors and stay open. #IndependentPharmacies #PharmacyDesert #PharmaNews

Our next blog is in the works, and will cover how these closures and layoffs are affecting both pharmacy employees and employers. I'd love to hear how it's personally affecting you (good or bad) and how you're managing. Your response might even be featured in our world-famous blog, thus making you an unofficial celebrity. #pharmacy #celebrity