OREANDA-NEWS. July 04, 2013. McKesson Corporation y kicked off McKesson ideaShare 2013, providing the premier forum for community pharmacy leaders from across the nation to exchange ideas and share best practices for the ongoing advancement of community pharmacy.

The annual event provides attendees with access to industry thought leaders, the latest pharmacy solutions, Continuing Education (CE) courses, and networking events all focused on helping pharmacy owners achieve better overall pharmacy health by gaining insights into how to run a better business, achieve better results for patients, create a better future for community pharmacy, and seize the benefits of joining the Health Mart® franchise for greater scale.

"In today's dynamic healthcare landscape, there is tremendous opportunity for community pharmacies to grow their businesses and expand their role as community healthcare leaders," said Mark Walchirk, president, McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical. "McKesson is committed to helping our customers - and the industry - achieve better pharmacy health for the long term, and this week's ideaShare event is one of the critical ways in which we are bringing pharmacy owners and leaders together for continued innovation."

Better Business. To help pharmacies focus on the core aspects of their business, McKesson is highlighting several new and enhanced offerings designed to improve pharmacy margins and efficiency:

Mobile Delivery App™: For pharmacies that offer home delivery or hospitals with outpatient pharmacies, McKesson's new mobile delivery app captures payment and pharmacy signatures in a patient's home or at the bedside.

The app also provides controlled substance tracking, keeping pharmacies fully compliant with state regulations. Built for Apple iOS products, this free app ensures that prescriptions make it directly into the patient's hands, helping to drive adherence, reduce costly hospital admissions and drive greater operational efficiencies for retail pharmacies. "Before the launch of our mobile delivery app pharmacists were relying on pen and paper to capture patient signatures, and relying on drivers to memorize and report who paid for what," said Nathan Mott, president, McKesson Pharmacy Systems & Automation. "With this app we've streamlined delivery signature capture, automated payment acceptance and centralized the tracking of all delivery activities."

Better Results. To help community pharmacy improve patient health results as well as business results, several new and enhanced offerings are being highlighted this week at ideaShare:

Your Pharmacy OnlineSM and Mobile App: With the Your Pharmacy Online application, McKesson helps community pharmacies develop an online and mobile presence quickly and cost-effectively without a significant upfront investment. A customizable, consumer-facing digital platform, Your Pharmacy Online lets patients manage their prescriptions, receive refill reminders, or learn about store promotions and events. Additionally, for customers the Your Pharmacy Online platform now also includes a mobile app. These new communication tools can help increase patient medication adherence and positive health outcomes, while increasing prescription volume. (Mobile app available for Health Mart customers in late summer.)

Clinical Services: As pharmacy continues to elevate its role in healthcare delivery, McKesson is highlighting its portfolio of revenue-generating clinical services, such as medication therapy management, vaccination programs and award-winning behavioral counseling programs. "Patients who receive face-to-face behavioral coaching can increase adherence by as much as 25%," said Stacey Irving, vice president, strategic channel solutions, McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions. "Our adherence and disease state knowledge, pharmacy relationships, and proprietary technology platform make McKesson uniquely positioned to help customers implement pharmacy-based behavioral coaching programs."

McKesson ConnectSM Community: The McKesson Connect Community is a fast-growing area within the McKesson Connect ordering website that lets pharmacists and pharmacy owners connect with their peers. Since the beginning of 2013, membership has grown over 30% to 3,000 total members. Through a virtual ideaShare environment within McKesson Connect Community, members can exchange ideas and best practices year-round.

A Better Future. To help community pharmacy achieve a better future, McKesson experts will be on hand to provide information on programs that can help pharmacists grow their current business or expand to multiple pharmacies. A few highlights during ideaShare include:

Physician Outreach Program: To help pharmacists build relationships with healthcare professionals in their community, McKesson's Physician Outreach Program provides physician-specific data on more than 1 million prescribers. The data helps pharmacists identify high-opportunity prescribers in their area and determine the best mix of services to offer to successfully market their pharmacy and attract new patients. According to a recent McKesson study, current subscribers have experienced a 1.8%* average increase in prescriptions after using the tool, while subscribers using the tool more frequently and for longer durations have experienced up to a 7%** increase in prescriptions. McKesson ideaShare attendees can receive a free demonstration showing their community's physician-specific information.

RxOwnership®: Representatives from McKesson's RxOwnership program will host the Sixth Annual Ownership Transfer Luncheon where attendees will have the opportunity to come together in an interactive session to discuss two case studies on the processes of buying and selling a pharmacy. The RxOwnership team will also host its third annual Women in Pharmacy networking event during the Welcome Reception. "We have guided over 1,500 pharmacies through the ownership-transfer process and helped more than 500 owners start a pharmacy from the ground up," said Bob Graul, national vice president, RxOwnership. "Whether you are an existing pharmacy owner seeking to expand into multiple locations, a pharmacist or pharmacy student who aspires to own your own pharmacy, or an existing pharmacy owner looking to sell, RxOwnership can help."

Parata PASS™ (Patient Adherence Strip System) and New Business Growth Toolkit: This week, Parata is highlighting its PASS system, the award-winning medication management and packaging system that organizes medications in a strip by date, time and dose to help ensure meds are taken at the right time, every time. The strip packaging solution saves pharmacist time and tightens inventory management, helping to simplify a patient's treatment regime for greater adherence. A new addition to PASS being promoted at ideaShare is a Business Growth Toolkit that customers will receive with the purchase of Parata PASS. The new toolkit provides tools for pharmacists to market strip packaging, including press release templates, media guidelines, posters for doctors' offices, letters to potential strategic partners and more.

Better Together with Health Mart. Health Mart continues to provide the solutions that help its franchisees compete and thrive with the most comprehensive portfolio of solutions supported by a national brand widely recognized for superior customer service. At this week's event, Health Mart is announcing several new and enhanced offerings, including: a new Local Marketing Support program and Marketing Hub, new store designs and fresh decor options, a Health Mart mobile app from Your Pharmacy Online, adherence solutions, and much more. With more than 3,100 stores and growing, Health Mart ranked highest in customer satisfaction in J.D. Power & Associates' U.S. Pharmacy Study three times in the past four years, making Health Mart the franchise model of choice for community pharmacy owners looking to complement their local identity with a national brand.

For more information on all of McKesson's announcements from McKesson ideaShare 2013, please visit McKesson's online newsroom at www.mckesson.com/newsroom.

* Based on 5/1/13 McKesson analysis. Compared user data from the six months prior to Physician Outreach tool use with the six months post Physician Outreach tool implementation.

** Based on 5/1/13 McKesson analysis. Users logged in to the Physician Outreach website 20% more frequently and spent on average six hours longer per month on the Physician Outreach site.