BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- The nation's demographics foretell a significantly increased use of prescription drugs, according to Wal-Mart senior vice president and general manager of pharmacy merchandising Paul Beahm.
Older Americans are living longer and taking more medications than earlier generations of seniors, he says. And demand for drugs will soar as the baby boomers, now entering their 60s, swell the ranks of the elderly.
In light of that, he says, WalMart pharmacy has become a mainstay of the retailer's operations, because of both its value and service. 'What Wal-Mart has done in its time in the retail business, in pharmacy and outside of pharmacy is to bring value to the consumer,' Beahm comments.
Pharmacy is one of the foundations--and the biggest piece-of the health and wellness strategy at the discounter, he notes. With more than 3,500 pharmacies, the chain's prescription drug offering will be a core component, complementing its vision care business, walk-in clinics 'and whatever else [WalMart health and wellness president] Dr. John Agwunobi sees in the big picture for health and wellness,' says Beahm.
But whatever grand designs the home office comes up with for bettering customers' lives, pharmacists will be on the front line of care, he notes.
'At headquarters we can come up with lists of drugs and outstanding pricing programs, but the customer interaction that our pharmacists foster every single day is the real power behind WalMart pharmacy,' he remarks.
'My hat is off to the quality and the professionalism that these pharmacists exhibit. They are the reason that $4 generics and our broader programs have been accepted as much as they have been.'
The commitment of Wal-Mart pharmacists meshes seamlessly with the retailer's community support, he adds.
'The pharmacist acts as one of the health care providers in the community,' says Beahm. 'And when we look at the direct feedback we get from customers we see the way they talk about pharmacists and the way pharmacists take care of them and take an interest in their care. It is absolutely the reason $4 generics have been accepted as well as they have.'
Another major component of that care is the chain's effort to boost compliance. Wal-Mart is endeavoring to bring more unit-of-use medications to customers to raise adherence to regimens, says Beahm. Just as unit-of-use packs for antibiotics and oral contraceptives foster high compliance with scripts for those products, such packaging for other drugs also lifts adherence, he says.
'How do we bring compliance more broadly to maintenance medications?' Beahm asks. 'We've had an internal push to deliver more compliance packs. That's one of the things we're doing around innovation and technology.'
Wal-Mart has made the effort both with and without drug manufacturers, he notes. 'We've taken it upon ourselves to have a package that's suitable.
'We've gone a step beyond what the drug companies are doing to try to fill the void we think has been left, and the patient response has been very good.'
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Another example of technological innovation is Wal-Mart's branded Connexus pharmacy system, which was developed in-house. 'We're proud that that system delivers high quality, accuracy and support for our pharmacists that is rivaled by very few systems in the industry,' Beahm comments.
Connexus covers work flow from prescription receipt to the end of the dispensing process, from technician tasks to the pharmacist's job. And its flexibility suits it well to different state pharmacy regulations, according to Beahm.
