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The NACDS Total Store Expo Rewind | Part Two · Pharmacy Podcast Network

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: You are listening to the global network of podcasters dedicated
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: to the pharmacy profession. Welcome to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: We're here in Boston at the National Association of Chained
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Drug Stores Total Store Expo at Booth 2024 First Data Bank.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Are you a pharmacist Jedi or a pharmacist fossil? Master
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: your universe with revolutionary pharmacy tools. More coming from First
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Data Bank here with our podcast press coverage, the NACDS
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Total Store Expo Rewind. NACDS Total Store Expo 2026 in
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Boston here with Stephen Beckman.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: Hey, Todd.
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  Speaker 1: It's always a pleasure to be at NACDS and always
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a pleasure being on the mic with you.
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: The vibe here is all about our chain pharmacy, the
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  Speaker 2: transition between focused on prescription and now adding in other
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: things to the front end, making our pharmacies more profitable.
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  Speaker 4: I've talked to several people.
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  Speaker 2: Organizations and people who are taking their independence, the two,
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  Speaker 2: three stores, and they're starting to combine under larger groups
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: of pharmacies and starting to now put big opportunities to
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: merchandise and to put different products, skin care out front.
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  Speaker 2: What have you noticed at NACDS, Stephen, that's become an
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: interest to you?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think NACDS, you know, I had the opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to sit on a roundtable on Saturday. And it brought
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  Speaker 1: in members from across the supply chain, from manufacturer down
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  Speaker 1: to pharmacy. And I think NACDS is doing a really
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  Speaker 1: good job of trying to start to tackle some of
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  Speaker 1: the challenges that we have. And it was a real
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  Speaker 1: pleasure for me because you don't get better if you
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: don't listen.
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  Speaker 3: And that's what I was there to do.
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  Speaker 1: But what I shared with them is that these challenges
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  Speaker 1: or opportunities that we need to make sure that health
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: care flows all the way through from start to finish
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  Speaker 1: is better is these are big issues that affect all
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  Speaker 1: of us, right? So I think we have to learn
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  Speaker 1: how we can do it as one voice, not individual voices.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: So NSCDS can do some great things, and they have
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  Speaker 1: done some great things in moving things forward at a
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  Speaker 1: state level or a government level or, you know, all
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  Speaker 1: moving towards better patient care and improving the ability for
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: pharmacies to be successful and I think what I learned
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  Speaker 1: a lot about what from that event and plus just
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: being here for the week is that the service component
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  Speaker 1: of the pharmacy is going to change and can change dramatically.
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  Speaker 1: So whether as you said the service and product variability
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  Speaker 1: or dynamic that changes on the front end but also
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  Speaker 1: the services and the importance that pharmacy is going to
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  Speaker 1: play going forward, right?
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  Speaker 3: We know that it's not too far.
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  Speaker 1: In the future that we will literally have less primary
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  Speaker 1: care physicians to treat patients, and the pharmacist is going
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  Speaker 1: to be on that forefront. And when we bring this
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  Speaker 1: all together and figure out how pharmacy can deliver those
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  Speaker 1: additional services beyond just filling prescriptions, then they will become
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  Speaker 1: what they've always been, but it will be seen in
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  Speaker 1: a brighter light, meaning that they'll be seen as a
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  Speaker 1: core part of delivering health care. And when that happens...
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  Speaker 1: Then all the other things start coming together, right? Reimbursement
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  Speaker 1: starts to change, things like that change. And now they
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  Speaker 1: can be a profitable organization because they're being seen in
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: the right light. They're delivering expanded services. And that's what's
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: really important for a company like us to be here
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: is to hear and listen to where that is going
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: because it's coming. And if we're smart enough as an organization,
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  Speaker 1: we'll learn how to work even better with the pharmacy
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  Speaker 1: community and channel.
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  Speaker 4: I like the insights.
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  Speaker 2: And with 2030... being the estimated time in the United
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  Speaker 2: States where our population will hit the pinnacle of our
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: baby boomers, there's going to be a lot of need
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  Speaker 2: for additional senior care services and also testing services and
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  Speaker 2: also very specific like durable medical equipment into the home,
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  Speaker 2: long-term care pharmacy at home. There's huge opportunities for pharmacies
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  Speaker 2: that are preparing to be able to be the central
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  Speaker 2: hub of health care in their communities.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's a really good word, central hub, because
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  Speaker 1: I think whether it's a region that doesn't have a
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  Speaker 1: lot of services, where the pharmacy, by definition, becomes important.
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  Speaker 1: But I think what you're talking about is the fact
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  Speaker 1: that pharmacy is many, many different things than what most
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  Speaker 1: people think of pharmacy, right? They're doing long-term care. They're
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  Speaker 1: delivering at home, and now they're adding in services to
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  Speaker 1: go with that. But we have to find that platform,
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  Speaker 1: that service, and the tools in order to make it efficient, cost-effective,
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  Speaker 1: reimbursed correctly, so that they can continue to do that.
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  Speaker 1: But we're going to have to solve that. Because if
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  Speaker 1: we don't solve it, those needs are still going to
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  Speaker 1: be there, but we're not going to be able to
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  Speaker 1: deliver it effectively. And ultimately, I think pharmacy and the
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  Speaker 1: pharmacy channel is so important. So for us, we just
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  Speaker 1: try to continue to listen and learn and know that
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  Speaker 1: we are at some tipping points and some dynamic changes
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  Speaker 1: are going to happen, and we just have to actually
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  Speaker 1: work together to make sure that the service side with
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  Speaker 1: the pharmacy side, with the data side, all those things
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  Speaker 1: can come together so that we can do what we're
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: all talking about.
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  Speaker 3: We're all talking about the same thing, right?
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  Speaker 1: That is improving patients' outcome, improving patient lives, and the
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  Speaker 1: pharmacy is going to play a bigger role than ever has,
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  Speaker 1: as you said.
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  Speaker 4: Steven, I want to pull out something you just said
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  Speaker 4: about data.
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  Speaker 2: So in our hometown, the great steel city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: one of the major things that just took place is
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  Speaker 2: Kroger bought Giant Eagle. Yeah. And Giant Eagle Pharmacy and
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  Speaker 2: Kroger Pharmacy are both separately doing an incredible job at
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  Speaker 2: combining food as medicine education. For example, the Advantage Card,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: which is Giant Eagle's kind of lead Every time, from
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  Speaker 2: a retail perspective, every time a customer goes there and
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  Speaker 2: buys their groceries, if you use your Advantage card, you
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  Speaker 2: know how much vegetables you're buying.
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  Speaker 4: You know what kind of processed foods that you're buying.
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  Speaker 2: We talked with Humana about two years ago with Best
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  Speaker 2: Buy Health and Kroger about using the data to start
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  Speaker 2: incentivizing people to eat better and to take care of
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  Speaker 2: themselves better. I could see pharmacy coming alongside that kind
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  Speaker 2: of data and really making some very diverse and personalized
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  Speaker 2: treatment plans depending on what's going on in those people's lives.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a.
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  Speaker 1: Really good topic. And it was one that was actually
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  Speaker 1: brought up at the roundtable. And I think, look, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it should be common sense, right? We know that if
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  Speaker 1: we exercise and we eat well and we use a
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  Speaker 1: combination of prescription and OTC medicines at different times, If
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  Speaker 1: we're doing it in a more holistic way, in a
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  Speaker 1: more comprehensive way, and we actually understand the dynamics, then
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  Speaker 1: we should see better outcomes.
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  Speaker 3: So why not?
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, we do have within the.
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  Speaker 3: Pharmacy channel, we do have the food channel.
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  Speaker 1: So they're actually a pretty interesting channel because most people
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  Speaker 1: don't really think a lot in my past experience about food.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: pharmacy at the food store or the food chain, right? Now,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, that's a pretty interesting dynamic. So
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  Speaker 1: as that really starts to take off, then the people
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  Speaker 1: that are more true pharmacy are going to have to
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  Speaker 1: think about how they're incorporating the stores, how they're designing
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: their stores in terms of the food dynamic. And yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I do think that it makes reasonable sense. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: an expert in it, but as an average human being,
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  Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, it makes sense that if we
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  Speaker 1: can understand the dynamic between What we eat, what medicines
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  Speaker 1: we take, what things that we do preventively, all that
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  Speaker 1: comes together in a better way. And if there's platforms
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  Speaker 1: and services like what you just articulated, then we would
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  Speaker 1: have to believe that patient outcome is going to be
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: better from it.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: NACDS Total Store Expo 2026. We're really excited to be here.
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  Speaker 2: A shout out to the NACDS communications team. Thank you
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: so much for the press pass. A shout out to you, Stephen,
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: and your team. for having us here at your booth
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  Speaker 2: and broadcasting and collecting insights in the future of chain
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: drug and chain pharmacy.
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  Speaker 4: So thank you.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: It's a pleasure.
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: As frontline healthcare providers, pharmacists like you understand the importance
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: of personalized care, especially in acute pain management. Ural Pharma
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: is dedicated to providing high quality, generic products tailored to
• 8:59
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• 9:02
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• 9:08
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• 9:12
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• 9:16
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• 9:19
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• 9:22
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• 9:27
  Speaker 5: boxed warnings, and important safety information, Visit yaraulfarma.com. That's Y-A-R-A-L, pharma.com.
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: And connect with them on LinkedIn.
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: Hi, I'm Art Savozzoli, CEO and co-founder of Neurologics, and
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: you're listening to the Pharmacy Podcast.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Hey, welcome to the NACDS Total Store Expo Rewind podcast.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: Marzio, it's so good to see you. Thanks for being
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: on the show.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: It's a pleasure to be here, Todd.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: All right, we're talking about mass opportunities for pharmacies. Without
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: revenue having to be connected to just a prescription and
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: really think of holistic health, talk to me about your
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: technology because I find it fascinating of what you guys
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: are doing. Share this with our listeners, what you guys
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: are doing here at NACDS Total Store Expert.
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: So we created something called a longevity mirror. It's an
• 10:32
  Speaker 6: actual mirror. And if you sit in front of it
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: in a 30-second scan, it has a little camera built
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: into it, it will then reveal Over 30 health insights,
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: health and wellness insights about, for example, your blood pressure,
• 10:49
  Speaker 6: your metabolic health, your heart health, your longevity. We have
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: specific algorithms that we developed that will make a prediction
• 10:58
  Speaker 6: over the next 20 years about your likelihood of living
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: a healthy life. We had a funny incident happen when
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: we premiered it at the Consumer Electronics Show, where it
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: was one of the highlights of the show, where some
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: people were afraid that, oh, no, no, it's going to
• 11:12
  Speaker 6: tell me when I'm going to die. No, no, it's not. Please,
• 11:15
  Speaker 6: it's not going to tell you that. But it will
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: tell you what the next 20 years look like from
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: a health and wellness point of view.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: That is really interesting.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: And then our consultative pharmacist could have an opportunity to
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: make recommendations based on those outcomes. Also, are you sharing
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: that information with the physician or the Other teams, that
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: the providers are out there waiting for that data?
• 11:37
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: The answer is yes. The short answer is yes. All
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: of that, yes and yes. And we give the pharmacist
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: or the company that's putting the mirror in the pharmacy. So,
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: for example, we have Nestle Health Sciences using it.
• 11:52
  Speaker 7: We have Opella using it.
• 11:53
  Speaker 8: We have Bayer Aspirin using it.
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: And when the information comes back, they will share that
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: information with the user. And it'll appear as a QR
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: code and get popped right onto their phone. So you'll
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: walk away with all those results. And then you can
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: share that. You choose to share that with your doctor
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: or your spouse. Like in my case, if I tell
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: my wife, then I have to go to the doctor. But,
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: you know, that's what you can do with it.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: That's a really fascinating technology. Do you see this being
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: set up in pharmacies and then announcing to the public
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: that this is an available tool for them?
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: That's actually what's going on right now. We have a
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: lot of, and we started in Europe. We have the
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: companies that I just mentioned putting it in pharmacies. We
• 12:39
  Speaker 6: have a beautiful video of it being used by Tofan Makeiu,
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: which is a Greek online pharmacy. And it's a lovely,
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: delightful video. If you want to see exactly how the
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: mirror works and how it's being used to promote and
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: Health products, right? A particular brand or to send people
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: for a particular service, to get a checkup, et cetera,
• 12:58
  Speaker 6: et cetera.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: You can do all of.
• 12:59
  Speaker 8: That with it. That's fascinating.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Tell our listeners where they can learn more. Share your
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: website or something so the listeners listening in says, I
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: want to know more about this.
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: Well, for sure, you can come to our website at www.neurologics.com.
• 13:14
  Speaker 8: N-U-R-A-L-O-G-I-X.com.
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: If you're here at the show, come to 2213, booth 2213,
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: and we'll measure you and tell you something about yourself.
• 13:27
  Speaker 6: In particular, we have a fun thing in there where
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: we predict your physiological age and your facial skin age.
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: And I get into lots of arguments with people about that.
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: And I tell them that the facial skin age... Is
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: never wrong. Because what the mirror is doing is it's
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: telling you.
• 13:46
  Speaker 8: How old you look.
• 13:48
  Speaker 7: Not your chronological.
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: It's just saying, under these conditions of lighting and makeup,
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: you look like this. And you can't argue with it
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: because it's always right.
• 13:56
  Speaker 9: Wow.
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: It's like my wife when she tells me things, right?
• 13:58
  Speaker 8: It's always right.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: It's programmed with women intuition, right?
• 14:03
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Hey, this has been a really interesting interview. We appreciate
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: you being here.
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: It was a pleasure, Todd.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Rob Hedman here with First Data Bank here at the
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Total Store Expo. Rob, thanks for being on the show.
• 14:19
  Speaker 10: Todd, thanks for having me.
• 14:20
  Speaker 8: Really appreciate it.
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: So I've been to, oh, my goodness, four, five, six,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: maybe six conferences so far. This one really drills down
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: into profitability in our chain stores. Tools that people are
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: going to be using are expanding on our front end.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: First Data Bank is leading in technology today. E-prescribing is one.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: I want you to talk about a specific topic and
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: product that First Data Bank has for our pharmacies and
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: explain kind of what it is and how pharmacies would
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: use it.
• 14:56
  Speaker 8: Thanks, Todd.
• 14:57
  Speaker 10: I appreciate that intro. And I will tell you that
• 15:01
  Speaker 10: for 25-plus years in the prescribing world, it has all
• 15:07
  Speaker 10: been done through one network. and that is one point
• 15:11
  Speaker 10: of failure as we see it. So FDB came up
• 15:15
  Speaker 10: with an alternative network about five years ago. We started
• 15:20
  Speaker 10: with pet meds and some innovative things around patient-facing pricing applications,
• 15:25
  Speaker 10: but more so what we became is really that second
• 15:30
  Speaker 10: rail in regards to delivering an e-prescription from a provider
• 15:35
  Speaker 10: into the retail pharmacy. And if you think about how
• 15:39
  Speaker 10: many prescriptions a day a pharmacy sees. If you can
• 15:44
  Speaker 10: imagine if that one network went down, what a catastrophic
• 15:49
  Speaker 10: event that would be in the United States. And so
• 15:52
  Speaker 10: FDB looked at that and said there's a glaring issue here.
• 15:56
  Speaker 10: Let's set up another network that will deliver these scripts
• 16:00
  Speaker 10: into the retail pharmacies and in the same manner that
• 16:03
  Speaker 10: they're accustomed to. So if there is an outage in
• 16:07
  Speaker 10: anyone's electronic medical record, the fax machine will not start
• 16:11
  Speaker 10: going off the rails, we're able to deliver those scripts electronically.
• 16:16
  Speaker 10: So a better way to deliver that script into a
• 16:20
  Speaker 10: retail pharmacy.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Once the prescription reaches the pharmacy management system within the
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: retail pharmacy, what communication, if changes are requested or maybe
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: someone catches something, one of our pharmacists during P2 picks
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: up on an issue, talk to me about the communications
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: at that point.
• 16:39
  Speaker 10: Yeah. So really one of the value adds of the
• 16:43
  Speaker 10: FDB Vela solution is that it's seamless for a pharmacist.
• 16:46
  Speaker 10: A pharmacist won't have any determining identifier as to whether
• 16:52
  Speaker 10: or not a script came over the existing network that
• 16:56
  Speaker 10: they have been accustomed receiving it for the past 20
• 17:00
  Speaker 10: plus years or from FDB Vela. The workflow doesn't change.
• 17:04
  Speaker 10: So that's really important that The pharmacists continue the same
• 17:10
  Speaker 10: workflow that they always have. They're not selecting the network
• 17:14
  Speaker 10: as to how it comes in, and they don't need
• 17:17
  Speaker 10: to select the network as it goes out from an
• 17:20
  Speaker 10: NCPDP compliant transaction such as RxChange or Cancel that they
• 17:26
  Speaker 10: would start. If it came through on the Vela network,
• 17:29
  Speaker 10: they would simply just click the button and it would
• 17:31
  Speaker 10: automatically go through the Vela network back to the provider
• 17:35
  Speaker 10: to have that communication if there was anything to be
• 17:39
  Speaker 10: changed about the drug or if there was a therapeutic
• 17:42
  Speaker 10: alternative or if they had questions about a PA. All
• 17:45
  Speaker 10: that happens and the pharmacist is still doing the exact
• 17:50
  Speaker 10: same things and still sees the exact same screens because
• 17:52
  Speaker 10: we're truly just a network of request and response.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: All right, so what about being here in Boston?
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  Speaker 2: How has Total Store Expo been going for you and
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: First Data Bank?
• 18:06
  Speaker 10: It's now, what, 3.15, and I've just come out of
• 18:08
  Speaker 10: that meeting room. It's been fantastic. We love coming to TSC.
• 18:14
  Speaker 10: It's just all the right people, all the right folks
• 18:16
  Speaker 10: to talk to, the stakeholders that are in this e-prescribing world,
• 18:21
  Speaker 10: and we're just fortunate to be here and have all
• 18:24
  Speaker 10: these great meetings and all these great partnerships.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Pharmacy Podcast Network is very grateful to First Data Bank.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: We're going to be doing some additional work and coverage
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: with you at the NASP in D.C. this year and
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: focusing on specialty. So thank you for being our sponsor
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: here for the Total Store Expo.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: We appreciate you.
• 18:44
  Speaker 8: Appreciate you, too. We'll see you there.
• 18:51
  Speaker 11: Hi, this is Justin Hammerling with Infinitrek, and you're listening
• 18:54
  Speaker 11: to the Pharmacy Podcast.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Justin with Infinitrack here at Total Store Expo.
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: Thanks for spending time with me.
• 19:04
  Speaker 8: Oh, absolutely.
• 19:05
  Speaker 11: Thanks for the time.
• 19:06
  Speaker 8: Appreciate it.
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: Bring us up to date.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Stop and start. Stop and start with DSCSA. You don't
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: know if I'm up. I don't know if I'm down.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: Infinitrack has been tracking this for years. And the technology
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: that you developed is something that every pharmacy in the
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: country should be invested in understanding. how it's going to
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: impact their operations.
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: So give us an overview.
• 19:29
  Speaker 8: Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:30
  Speaker 11: It is an extension for the small business exemption for
• 19:35
  Speaker 11: the FDA. 25 pharmacists or pharm techs and or pharm
• 19:39
  Speaker 11: techs or less, those size pharmacies have an FDA exemption
• 19:44
  Speaker 11: until next November. Here's the tricky part about all this
• 19:47
  Speaker 11: that your listeners really need to know. is the federal
• 19:51
  Speaker 11: law itself never changed. It actually went into effect November
• 19:55
  Speaker 11: 27th of 2024. So it's like the local cops letting
• 19:59
  Speaker 11: you speed through town for another year. You can do it,
• 20:02
  Speaker 11: but if something happens, you get in a car accident,
• 20:04
  Speaker 11: your insurance isn't going to cover you for speeding.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 20:06
  Speaker 11: And having an accident. So this is where it's important
• 20:09
  Speaker 11: for these small pharmacies and even the chains that have
• 20:14
  Speaker 11: a solution and are looking at something else to be
• 20:17
  Speaker 11: compliant with our solution because we have the industry-leading integrations.
• 20:22
  Speaker 11: We've got Pioneer, we've got Liberty Software, we've got PrimeRx,
• 20:26
  Speaker 11: now we've got Icon as a double check on the
• 20:29
  Speaker 11: pill counting space.
• 20:31
  Speaker 8: So there's really no excuse anymore. The FDA delayed it.
• 20:34
  Speaker 11: To get the small independent pharmacies time to be compliant.
• 20:39
  Speaker 11: And now it was really the business imperative to do it.
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Talk to us about how it actually works, how Infinitrack
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: integrates with my PMS system. Yeah.
• 20:49
  Speaker 11: So it's all through something called an API, an application
• 20:52
  Speaker 11: program interface. So that API is what our biggest distinction
• 20:57
  Speaker 11: factor from a technology standpoint is, is because we can
• 21:01
  Speaker 11: integrate into all these software systems because our technology is
• 21:04
  Speaker 11: so simple and easy to use. And then we've carried
• 21:07
  Speaker 11: that through the API layer. So homebrew solutions for the
• 21:11
  Speaker 11: larger chains that have their own internal system, we can
• 21:16
  Speaker 11: API into those. We've got APIs into the PMS system.
• 21:19
  Speaker 11: So you don't have to leave the system that you're in,
• 21:22
  Speaker 11: your current workflows are in, to be DSTSA compliant anymore.
• 21:26
  Speaker 8: You can do it right through the interface.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: That's nice to subscribe to something and then I'll have
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: to worry about it. And then talk to me about
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: auditing and talk to me about checks. For example, if
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: I am audited as a pharmacy, a chain pharmacy, for example,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: talk to me about what happens and how Infinitrack kind
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: of gives me some assurance.
• 21:45
  Speaker 11: Yeah, absolutely. So we know there's going to be three
• 21:47
  Speaker 11: types of audits that are going to be happening. Two
• 21:49
  Speaker 11: have already started by PMS groups. So one's a date
• 21:52
  Speaker 11: range audit. Some of our clients were given a range
• 21:57
  Speaker 11: of a month. to produce all the track trace data
• 22:00
  Speaker 11: for all NDCs that they've received. The second is a
• 22:05
  Speaker 11: NDC-specific audit. So they were asked to provide their track
• 22:08
  Speaker 11: trace data for all 13 NDCs that they were given,
• 22:12
  Speaker 11: obviously the higher-cost ones, but from back to the beginning
• 22:16
  Speaker 11: of the law in 2024.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: So this is happening.
• 22:20
  Speaker 11: And then we know the third one are going to
• 22:21
  Speaker 11: be bottle audits by the FDA and state boards of
• 22:23
  Speaker 11: pharmacy where they're actually going to pull bottles off your
• 22:25
  Speaker 11: shelf and show me the compliance data for this particular bottle.
• 22:30
  Speaker 11: And Infinitrack takes care of all that. We have full-time
• 22:32
  Speaker 11: audit support. So when you are audited, you've got that
• 22:36
  Speaker 11: assurance that someone that knows the technology will walk you
• 22:39
  Speaker 11: through getting your data and be able to present it
• 22:41
  Speaker 11: to the auditor when it's requested.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Listeners, if you are tuned in to the NACDS Total
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: Store Expo Rewind program, here on the Pharmacy Podcast Network,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: I want you to take a look.
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: Go to infinitrack.us.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: Once again, that's I-N-F-I-N-I track, T-R-A-K, dot U-S. Or reach
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: out to Justin Hammerling on LinkedIn. Justin, thank you so
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: much for spending time with us here at the Total
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Expo 2026 in Boston.
• 23:16
  Speaker 9: All right.
• 23:16
  Speaker 11: Thank you very much, and thanks to everyone listening.
• 23:21
  Speaker 12: Hey, this is Matt Gilbert, Chief Revenue Officer for MedSense Health,
• 23:25
  Speaker 12: and you're listening to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: Matt, welcome to the NACDS Total Store Expo 2026 press coverage.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: It's great to see you.
• 23:37
  Speaker 8: Great to see you, Todd.
• 23:38
  Speaker 12: As always, 30 dates I think we have on the
• 23:40
  Speaker 12: road with each other each year, so it's always good
• 23:43
  Speaker 12: to spend a little quality time with you.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: The whole vibe here at Total Store Expo is profitability.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: expanding out your front end, merchandising, having the right products
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: in your pharmacy to engage your community. A part of
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: this that's really a behind-the-scenes solution that only people in
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: pharmacy really understand is the opportunity that our small and
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: regional chains have to grow out their long-term care pharmacy
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: at home business and using their pharmacies as the platforms
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: to educate People that are coming in, they might be
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: talking about their mother or their father or someone senior
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: that is going through a lot of difficulties getting to
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: the pharmacy themselves.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: MedSense has been a.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Catalyst in helping our independent community pharmacies employ and blueprint
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: out the difference between community and long-term care pharmacy at home.
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: So talk to me about the chain environment and what
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: MedSense has been doing.
• 24:47
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 24:48
  Speaker 13: Yeah.
• 24:48
  Speaker 12: Well, I've had a great reception here. I've had, it'll
• 24:51
  Speaker 12: be 50 plus meetings by the time we wrap up
• 24:53
  Speaker 12: today in three days, which I am tired. You could
• 24:55
  Speaker 12: probably hear it in my voice. My dad always said
• 24:58
  Speaker 12: I had a face for radio. Now, I don't know
• 24:59
  Speaker 12: if my voice is too shot for radio too. But yeah,
• 25:03
  Speaker 12: it's really MedSense offers clinical services or go to markets
• 25:07
  Speaker 12: pairing with pharmacies, no matter independent chain, the model stays
• 25:11
  Speaker 12: the same. We're letting pharmacists practice at the top of
• 25:14
  Speaker 12: their license. They're helping their patients be healthier through hypertension
• 25:18
  Speaker 12: and adherence programs. And they're making some revenue on the
• 25:21
  Speaker 12: back end of that, all with no capex or any
• 25:24
  Speaker 12: upfront or ongoing cost from us. So to go to
• 25:27
  Speaker 12: a chain and say, hey, I need one pharmacist resource,
• 25:30
  Speaker 12: no capex, and we can have you running in seven days,
• 25:33
  Speaker 12: that's pretty huge. And we've had 300 store chains that
• 25:37
  Speaker 12: we're moving forward with out of here. And then we're
• 25:39
  Speaker 12: talking to five or six others that are pretty serious
• 25:42
  Speaker 12: about moving forward in the next few months. So to
• 25:44
  Speaker 12: go from no traction, you know, call it a year
• 25:46
  Speaker 12: or two ago when MedSense was first kind of bubbling
• 25:49
  Speaker 12: to the surface to now going through and meeting with
• 25:51
  Speaker 12: these folks three, four or five times, they've come around
• 25:54
  Speaker 12: to see that, hey, we mean what we say. We've
• 25:57
  Speaker 12: onboarded over 600 stores already throughout the country, licensed and
• 26:01
  Speaker 12: contracted in all 50 states and bringing real revenue to
• 26:04
  Speaker 12: the bottom line of these chains.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: So when I think of the environment and the knowledge
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: that the communities and that the patients and people have,
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: the public understands Uber driving and Lyft and they know
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: about delivery, they get it. So when I think of,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: I'm going to use Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh as an example.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: So Giant Eagle has, I don't know, 200, 300, 400 stores.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: They just got bought up by Kroger and they have
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: a pharmacy division. Imagine we tie in that Advantage card.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: We know what people are buying. We know food as medicine.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: There's kind of leverage there. We get a clinical pharmacist
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: involved in digging down into hypertension or delivering something. But
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: now we can deliver groceries, durable medical equipment, medications, being
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: able to do remote patient monitoring. Like there is an
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: evolution in pharmacy driven by pharmacy as the hub of
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: health care. to really do so much more in collaboration
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: with some of the models that the chain stores, aka
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: these grocery store chains, have really had this amazing infrastructure.
• 27:13
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 27:14
  Speaker 12: Well, you talk about a typical pharmacy, even a mom
• 27:16
  Speaker 12: and pop independent, they're seeing a patient 12 to 14
• 27:21
  Speaker 12: times a year on average. So a grocery store is
• 27:23
  Speaker 12: seeing them once a week. They're going in, they're shopping,
• 27:25
  Speaker 12: they're popping into the pharmacy. So to have that pre-built-in
• 27:29
  Speaker 12: relationship with the patient A lot of these, especially these
• 27:32
  Speaker 12: grocery store chains, they have that on a regular basis already.
• 27:36
  Speaker 12: So now let's take care of the patient, make them
• 27:38
  Speaker 12: a little more healthier in the home, keep them living
• 27:40
  Speaker 12: at home longer. There aren't enough assisted living, skilled beds
• 27:44
  Speaker 12: out in the country to take care of all these
• 27:46
  Speaker 12: people as we keep aging that baby boomer population.
• 27:50
  Speaker 8: So these types of tools are needed. It's not an option.
• 27:53
  Speaker 8: It's something that's needed to make sure we're keeping people healthy.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Matt, 2030, 2031, 32 is going to be the height
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: of our baby boomers in population. And that means a
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: lot more people are going to need services brought to
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: their home side, especially if they're not able to get
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: out of their home, just as even an option.
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: Talk to us about some of the planning.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: That MedSense is doing to assure that people in organizations
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: that are reaching out and asking, you know, what's next?
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: What steps should we be taking? What do you guys
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: say to that opportunity?
• 28:28
  Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, we've got two core programs right now,
• 28:31
  Speaker 12: an adherence program and a hypertension program. We're rolling out
• 28:36
  Speaker 12: constant new programs. So we've got a weight loss GLP-1
• 28:39
  Speaker 12: program coming out with a digital scale later this year,
• 28:42
  Speaker 12: an asthma program, a diabetes program.
• 28:45
  Speaker 8: We just rolled out.
• 28:46
  Speaker 12: On our adherence program a kind of a device that
• 28:51
  Speaker 12: will monitor the in-the-home patient's blister cards, which we're first
• 28:55
  Speaker 12: to market on, fully designed, built, all by our own U.S.
• 28:59
  Speaker 8: Resources.
• 29:00
  Speaker 12: So you take whatever type of card stock the patient's using,
• 29:03
  Speaker 12: drop it in our device, and we're monitoring them when
• 29:06
  Speaker 12: they're punching out the bubbles. And that's a billable service
• 29:08
  Speaker 12: through Medicare. So we kind of think of ourselves as
• 29:11
  Speaker 12: that last mile, right? You're looking at a patient and
• 29:14
  Speaker 12: you might med-sync them.
• 29:16
  Speaker 8: Okay, that's great.
• 29:17
  Speaker 12: You might put them in blister cards. Well, I used
• 29:20
  Speaker 12: to have 250 patients at my store on blister cards,
• 29:22
  Speaker 12: and I would call the patient for a MedRec call
• 29:24
  Speaker 12: and a MedSync call, and they'd have a week of
• 29:26
  Speaker 12: cards left when we were two days before the fielding.
• 29:30
  Speaker 8: So, you know, it's that last mile.
• 29:32
  Speaker 12: Short of, you know, putting a camera on them and
• 29:34
  Speaker 12: making sure the pill goes down their throat, but we're
• 29:36
  Speaker 12: making sure they puncture that pocket. So we're listening to
• 29:39
  Speaker 12: market resources. feedback, and we're designing products and programs that
• 29:43
  Speaker 12: people want and need.
• 29:45
  Speaker 14: All right.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: A shout out to our operators out there in our
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: micro chains and our regional chains. Reach out to MedSense.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Reach out to Matt Gilbert. Give us a place and
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: a way to get a hold of you, Matt.
• 29:57
  Speaker 12: Yeah, so on my email, mgilbert at medsense.health. You can
• 30:02
  Speaker 12: check us out at medsense.health. We'll also be at the
• 30:05
  Speaker 12: Missouri Pharmacy Association show Thursday and Friday this week. We're
• 30:08
  Speaker 12: doing an hour CE there on RTM and RPM. And
• 30:11
  Speaker 12: then follow up later this year, we'll be at the
• 30:13
  Speaker 12: Jerry Med Show. We'll be at NCPA. We'll be at
• 30:16
  Speaker 12: ECRM Pharmacy Technology. So like I said, 30 trade shows
• 30:20
  Speaker 12: a year, and we're out every month. The checks keep
• 30:23
  Speaker 12: clearing with my wife, so she's okay with it.
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: I like it.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: All right, Matt, thanks so much for being part of
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: the NACDS Total Store Expo 2026.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: Thanks so much, Todd.
• 30:32
  Speaker 8: Appreciate your advocacy as always.
• 30:51
  Speaker 13: One more time.
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: All right, ready? And in three, two, one.
• 30:54
  Speaker 8: What's going on?
• 30:55
  Speaker 13: This is Anthony Dragasus. I'm a co-founder of a company
• 30:57
  Speaker 13: called Elos Thermal, and you're listening to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: Anthony, welcome to the Total Store Expo 2026 here in Boston.
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: It's great to connect with you.
• 31:08
  Speaker 8: It's great to see you as well. All right.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: So we're talking pharmacy, chain pharmacy, regional chain. We even
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: know of micro chain where we have the independent starting
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: to bring together their three and another six and another
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: 18 and really starting to grow the space. The important
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: thing is to constantly have products that you can put
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: in pharmacies that now are coupled with healthcare services. Talk
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: to our listeners about your product. I found it really interesting.
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: Right, and you hit the nail on the head there, Todd.
• 31:41
  Speaker 13: I think we've been hearing it all week at all
• 31:43
  Speaker 13: the panels that we've gone to. the front end assortment
• 31:46
  Speaker 13: at any pharmacy, especially independent pharmacies, is becoming increasingly more important.
• 31:51
  Speaker 13: And a product like ours where we truly bring innovation
• 31:55
  Speaker 13: to a space that, in our opinion, I think to
• 31:58
  Speaker 13: the public's eye as well, has been underutilized on the
• 32:01
  Speaker 13: innovation side. And so with Elos, the problem that we've
• 32:04
  Speaker 13: been trying to solve in the foot care category, being
• 32:07
  Speaker 13: a heated insole, is how do we best service the
• 32:10
  Speaker 13: customer in the core value proposition of this category, which
• 32:14
  Speaker 13: is comfort, right? In five to six months out of
• 32:16
  Speaker 13: the year in cold states and in Canada and anywhere else,
• 32:21
  Speaker 13: you're not getting that comfort, right? You can buy that
• 32:24
  Speaker 13: top end insole, a highly custom insole, but if your
• 32:27
  Speaker 13: feet are cold, it doesn't really do much for you.
• 32:30
  Speaker 13: And so that's the problem that we're trying to solve
• 32:31
  Speaker 13: at Elos and We're really excited. This is our first
• 32:33
  Speaker 13: time exhibiting at TSE, and our new partnership with New
• 32:37
  Speaker 13: Fabrics is essentially allowing us to really meet the right people,
• 32:42
  Speaker 13: get the distribution in place for this category, and test
• 32:45
  Speaker 13: the right way. Historically, being a solely sporting goods product,
• 32:52
  Speaker 13: that jump is obviously complex and a little bit different,
• 32:55
  Speaker 13: but with New Fabrics and their current brokers and distribution
• 32:59
  Speaker 13: in place, it should make it a lot smoother for us.
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: I'm going to Give a shout out to the Sports
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Pharmacy Network. And I'm going to get you in touch
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: with Dr. Brandon Welsh down in Miami, who helped to
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: start the organization. Because there are pharmacists out there who
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: are dealing with athletes, professional and amateur, where there is
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: cold involved in what they're doing. Jogging, long distance skiing,
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: cross country, like whatever it is. This product would really
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: make sense to kind of couple it with Some of
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: the things that they're focused on.
• 33:34
  Speaker 10: Right.
• 33:34
  Speaker 11: Right.
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 33:35
  Speaker 13: You hit the nail on the head. I mean, it's
• 33:37
  Speaker 13: the versatility of it is where we shine. And, you know,
• 33:42
  Speaker 13: you talk to you around the show, you show everyone
• 33:44
  Speaker 13: the product, make them feel the heat and you get
• 33:46
  Speaker 13: a different reaction from everyone on how they could use it,
• 33:49
  Speaker 13: where they would use it for.
• 33:50
  Speaker 8: Oh, my grandma. Oh, my kids. Oh, on the ski slopes. Oh,
• 33:53
  Speaker 8: on when I'm training for my next marathon, right?
• 33:55
  Speaker 13: I think the versatility of it is, you know, why,
• 33:58
  Speaker 13: you know, we exist and why, you know.
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: The pharmacy network is a perfect.
• 34:02
  Speaker 13: Location for us for sure.
• 34:04
  Speaker 14: All right.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about other applications because my wife's a nurse.
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: She's on her feet all the time.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: She doesn't sit down hardly at all. Then our own
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: pharmacists who are working eight, 10, 12 hour days, they're
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: on their feet all day. How does heat kind of
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: play into comfort where it's not necessarily about temperature, but
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: it's more about comfort?
• 34:24
  Speaker 11: Right.
• 34:25
  Speaker 13: And that's a really great point, Todd. I think when
• 34:29
  Speaker 13: you address the problem, it starts with circulation, right? And
• 34:32
  Speaker 13: that's ultimately a lot of people, especially as you age,
• 34:35
  Speaker 13: circulation becomes a major issue in the hands and toes.
• 34:39
  Speaker 8: And so for the everyday person.
• 34:40
  Speaker 13: You know, that's a core problem that is really, as
• 34:43
  Speaker 13: I mentioned earlier, under addressed with the current product offerings.
• 34:46
  Speaker 13: And so for us, you know, as we kind of
• 34:48
  Speaker 13: look at, you know, our current offering, our hero product
• 34:50
  Speaker 13: being just the standard ELOS heated insole, as we kind
• 34:53
  Speaker 13: of look forward, there's real opportunity for us. And what
• 34:56
  Speaker 13: we're dedicated to do is, you know, launch medical lines
• 35:00
  Speaker 13: and really address these problems more holistically. But even right
• 35:04
  Speaker 13: now with our current product line, the temperature, you know,
• 35:07
  Speaker 13: the temperature regulation that you get from the insole, that
• 35:09
  Speaker 13: allows you, You know, that obviously services that need of
• 35:12
  Speaker 13: more circulation, right? So anytime, you know, even though we
• 35:15
  Speaker 13: don't have it on the box yet, just yet, but,
• 35:17
  Speaker 13: you know, our customers are already using it for that purpose. And,
• 35:20
  Speaker 13: you know, we're trying to really make a stronghold in
• 35:22
  Speaker 13: that space too.
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: Shout out to IPC, Independent Pharmacy Cooperative. Shout out to APCI,
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: another buying group. There's these buying groups that are always
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: looking for new solutions to be able to build programs
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: around to be able to deliver these interesting products to
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: their community because.
• 35:38
  Speaker 4: Sometimes the community doesn't even know this stuff's available.
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: So, Elos, it's good to have you here. Excited that
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: your first Total Store Expo. If you ever want some
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: insights where to find the pharmacist, we absolutely know. Our
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: next show that's going to be very intensive to supporting
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: the future of independently owned, privately owned pharmacies will be
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: called the NCPA, the National Community Pharmacists Association in Kansas City.
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: That'll be October. Nice conference, even if you guys go
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: to walk around.
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: And meet some people.
• 36:09
  Speaker 8: Awesome.
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: But appreciate you being on the Rewind Show.
• 36:12
  Speaker 8: Thanks for having me.
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: I really appreciate it.
• 36:14
  Speaker 13: If you'd like to learn more about Elos, check out
• 36:16
  Speaker 13: our website, elosthermal.com or on Amazon.
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: Elosthermal.com. Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.
• 36:27
  Speaker 14: Hi, this is Richard Voskornikov from Walter's School. You're listening
• 36:30
  Speaker 14: to the Pharmacy Podcast.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: Richard here with me at the NACDS Total Store Expo
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: 2024 in Boston.
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much for being part.
• 36:40
  Speaker 7: Of the show. Thank you for your time.
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: Walter's Kluwer.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: I remember them way, way, way back in my day
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: in the usage of MediSpan, pulling up all of the
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: clinical information on medications for pharmacists to be able to
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: make clinical decisions, drug-drug interactions, drug allergy. Things have really accelerated.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: There's more products and services that are coming from Walters Kluwer.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: When we're in a chain environment, really concentrating on profitability,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: running our operations better. Talk to us what you're focused
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: on here at NACDS.
• 37:18
  Speaker 8: Yeah, absolutely.
• 37:19
  Speaker 14: So let me start off by giving the background on
• 37:22
  Speaker 14: Walters Kluwer. We've been empowering professionals everywhere. to give them
• 37:26
  Speaker 14: the tools they need to succeed for almost 200 years.
• 37:30
  Speaker 14: And within that, the health division focuses on all types
• 37:35
  Speaker 14: of innovations, technology for clinical decision support, but even across
• 37:40
  Speaker 14: the entire continuum of health care.
• 37:42
  Speaker 7: And one of the product lines, your point is, is MediSpan.
• 37:46
  Speaker 14: We've been in the business for over 50 years with
• 37:48
  Speaker 14: the drug intelligence, clinical decision support, empowering innovation. And today
• 37:55
  Speaker 14: we expand our portfolio into veterinary care. All right.
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: So when I think of our pharmacy operators, people trying
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: to build their business, there isn't any insurance involved in
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: that line. There's cash-based opportunities. Plus people love their pets.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: I have three corgis. I absolutely adore my pets, treat
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: them like my.
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: Little furry kids.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: So Talk to me about that opportunity for our microchains
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: and regional chains to really capitalize on building their vet
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: support business.
• 38:29
  Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely.
• 38:30
  Speaker 14: It is a cash business, high margins, definitely a growth opportunity.
• 38:36
  Speaker 14: The veterinary prescription business continues to grow at high CAGRs.
• 38:42
  Speaker 14: CVS just had a press release that they're providing the
• 38:47
  Speaker 14: prescriptions to the entire family nationwide they've rolled out. So
• 38:51
  Speaker 14: you can imagine from a consumer ecosystem that we are
• 38:55
  Speaker 14: all going to be looking to match that, all the
• 39:00
  Speaker 14: micro as well as the regional chains. Consumers are going
• 39:03
  Speaker 14: to be expected that our pharmacies in our neighborhoods will
• 39:08
  Speaker 14: be able to fill these prescriptions just like we get
• 39:13
  Speaker 14: usually at the veterinary clinics. Having said that, there's also
• 39:17
  Speaker 14: laws being passed, for example, in Florida that require veterinarians
• 39:22
  Speaker 14: to inform that there's a choice to fill your prescriptions.
• 39:25
  Speaker 14: You don't have to fill your prescriptions at the veterinary clinic.
• 39:28
  Speaker 14: You can get your prescriptions filled at the pharmacy of
• 39:31
  Speaker 14: your choice, so you can have yours, your child's, and your.
• 39:36
  Speaker 7: Pet child's prescription filled all in one place.
• 39:40
  Speaker 14: We've recently put out a survey nationwide, and nine out
• 39:45
  Speaker 14: of 10 customers actually prefer, they would like to have
• 39:47
  Speaker 14: their prescriptions filled at their neighborhood pharmacy, and nine out
• 39:52
  Speaker 14: of 10 would require that their pharmacist have access to
• 39:59
  Speaker 14: veterinary-specific resources.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: So talk to us about your gathering that information, the
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: manufacturer resources, the partnerships that you've created with those manufacturers.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: How are you pulling that information into a database that
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: then can be pushed through the pharmacy management software?
• 40:17
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 40:19
  Speaker 14: We've gathered, building upon the foundation for Medispan, we've incorporated
• 40:24
  Speaker 14: animal products as well as human medications that we have
• 40:29
  Speaker 14: and we deliver in our current form because human medications
• 40:34
  Speaker 14: are dispensed the majority of the time in our pharmacies.
• 40:38
  Speaker 14: So we're incorporating that, embedding that into workflows such that
• 40:43
  Speaker 14: our pharmacy operators are able to confidently and safely, responsibly
• 40:50
  Speaker 14: dispense those medications just like they do with our human medications.
• 40:58
  Speaker 14: And that includes species-specific dosing, interaction checks, allergy checks.
• 41:04
  Speaker 7: And any contraindications.
• 41:06
  Speaker 14: Today, when a veterinary prescription is received by the pharmacy,
• 41:11
  Speaker 14: either they get an alert that says, I don't know
• 41:14
  Speaker 14: what this prescription is, or they get an alert that's
• 41:18
  Speaker 14: not relevant. For example, this dose is too high for
• 41:22
  Speaker 14: a six-year-old child, but in fact, it's a six-year-old.
• 41:26
  Speaker 7: 100-pound dog.
• 41:28
  Speaker 14: Or worse, they get no alert at all, and it
• 41:30
  Speaker 14: could be a dangerous combination or a dangerous product to dispense.
• 41:35
  Speaker 14: So what we've brought to the market is a vet
• 41:39
  Speaker 14: med screening solution to help install those guardrails so pharmacists
• 41:44
  Speaker 14: can appropriately dispense to those pets without disrupting the workflow.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: Very good i want to expand upon this maybe we'll
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: have someone new on your team talking with some of
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: our pharmacy operator and owners who can make examples of
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: how they've used the information to not only keep the
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: pets safe, but also the education to the pet owner
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: and really explaining if there's special circumstances, how to follow
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: up with topicals or giving medication. But this is a
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: huge opportunity for our community pharmacies to capitalize on this
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: and build more business through the community pharmacy, like you
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: were saying, for our pets.
• 42:25
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: So thank you. Thank you for being part of the show.
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Todd.
• 42:29
  Speaker 7: Appreciate your time.
• 42:29
  Speaker 6: Thank you.
• 42:34
  Speaker 9: Hi, this is Chris Kress with NACDS, and you're listening
• 42:37
  Speaker 9: to the Pharmacy Podcast.
• 42:43
  Speaker 4: Chris, Total Store Expo 2026 in Boston. It's so good
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: to see you.
• 42:47
  Speaker 9: So good to see you, Todd. We've done this a
• 42:49
  Speaker 9: few years now together, and this is fantastic.
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: This is our sixth year.
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: The NACDS, your communications division, has been so good to us,
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: giving us a press pass, realizing how popular podcasting has become.
• 43:02
  Speaker 4: We're the OG.
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: We released the very first podcast in pharmacy in 2009.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: We now have 85,000 listeners and we know that the
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: chain store environment is so important, especially for communities who
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: have suffered the loss of their pharmacies, have closed down
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: with some of the right aids. Independent community pharmacies are
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: now becoming micro chains that are actually growing. This has
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: been an amazing conference and experience, Chris. Give us a
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: little bit of an overview of the success of this
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: year's Total Store Expo.
• 43:31
  Speaker 9: Well, based on what you just said, Todd, I just
• 43:33
  Speaker 9: need to thank you first. I mean, we always say
• 43:35
  Speaker 9: that NACDS is a force multiplier. That's what we do.
• 43:38
  Speaker 9: Whether we're advocating on behalf of the industry to address
• 43:41
  Speaker 9: some of the things that you just talked about, or
• 43:43
  Speaker 9: whether we're bringing folks together at an event like Total
• 43:46
  Speaker 9: Store Expo, we are the force multiplier. But In order
• 43:50
  Speaker 9: to be the force multiplier, you need to motivate that force.
• 43:54
  Speaker 9: And that's what you do. I think it's a tremendous
• 43:57
  Speaker 9: service to the profession, to the industry, that you are
• 44:00
  Speaker 9: bringing these issues directly to the people who can make
• 44:04
  Speaker 9: a difference. So thank you for all you do. This
• 44:06
  Speaker 9: has been a fantastic gathering. I mean, the energy is strong. Clearly,
• 44:12
  Speaker 9: there are challenges, right? And there are opportunities.
• 44:14
  Speaker 8: And that's what this is all about.
• 44:16
  Speaker 9: We often talk about the programming of NACDS and what
• 44:19
  Speaker 9: we do throughout the year, but you just can't underestimate
• 44:23
  Speaker 9: the power of bringing people together to meet the challenges,
• 44:27
  Speaker 9: to address the opportunities, and that's what's happening here with
• 44:30
  Speaker 9: every single meeting that takes place at Meet the Market
• 44:34
  Speaker 9: or whether you're here in the exhibit hall and just
• 44:38
  Speaker 9: seeing all these people getting together in these meetings, and
• 44:40
  Speaker 9: you just know that every one of those 10-minute blocks,
• 44:43
  Speaker 9: 30-minute blocks, that is going to be a force multiplier
• 44:48
  Speaker 9: in the lives of those companies and those individuals and
• 44:51
  Speaker 9: thus the people they serve and the communities that they
• 44:53
  Speaker 9: bring services to. So it's just invaluable to what this
• 44:58
  Speaker 9: profession and what this industry is all about.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: We've seen how do we strengthen the front end of
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: our stores, how do we strengthen the profitability of our
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: microchains and regional chains.
• 45:09
  Speaker 4: It's been so important.
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: So talk to us about things that you've seen and
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: you wanted to highlight today here at TSE.
• 45:15
  Speaker 9: Well, I'll tell you what, in our business program on Sunday,
• 45:17
  Speaker 9: I thought that our chair, Dave Warner, with KPH Healthcare
• 45:20
  Speaker 9: Services and NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson, they did
• 45:25
  Speaker 9: a fantastic job of laying out the strategic framework that
• 45:29
  Speaker 9: really is going to help guide NACDS moving forward. And
• 45:33
  Speaker 9: the board has done tremendous work in identifying those opportunities,
• 45:38
  Speaker 9: identifying those challenges, and really mapping out the ways that
• 45:42
  Speaker 9: NACDS can help transform the industry and and can continue
• 45:46
  Speaker 9: to drive that value to chain members and associate members
• 45:50
  Speaker 9: and all of their teams. And that really is going
• 45:53
  Speaker 9: to be the priority now, is executing on that strategic framework,
• 45:57
  Speaker 9: putting a little more meat on the bones, continuing to
• 46:00
  Speaker 9: listen to the membership, because this entire framework was built
• 46:04
  Speaker 9: on listening to the members, like everything that NACDS does
• 46:08
  Speaker 9: that's successful. So we're going to continue to do that,
• 46:10
  Speaker 9: and we're going to drive that strategic framework into the future.
• 46:14
  Speaker 9: It's a very exciting time.
• 46:16
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: So give us some numbers of how we did this
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: year at Total Store Expo, because it was crowded over
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: the last two days and the exhibit hall has been pumping.
• 46:26
  Speaker 4: This is our second day and it's still busy.
• 46:29
  Speaker 9: Well, you know, anytime you're bringing together nearly 4,000 people
• 46:32
  Speaker 9: from 800 companies, and when you have the power of
• 46:35
  Speaker 9: the pharmacies and of the suppliers, the suppliers are so,
• 46:39
  Speaker 9: so critical to everything that's going on. You're talking about
• 46:43
  Speaker 9: suppliers of products and services and technology and just all
• 46:46
  Speaker 9: the insights that they bring. So you have the retailers
• 46:50
  Speaker 9: and you have the suppliers here.
• 46:53
  Speaker 8: Doing business, and that matters.
• 46:55
  Speaker 9: But when you think about just those ideas that are firing,
• 46:59
  Speaker 9: as I say, with every 10-minute block of meetings or
• 47:01
  Speaker 9: 30-minute blocks of meetings, Those insights that are firing are
• 47:05
  Speaker 9: going to ignite something into the future. And you just
• 47:07
  Speaker 9: know that that's happening throughout this exhibit hall. And here
• 47:10
  Speaker 9: we are, Todd, on the last day of the event,
• 47:14
  Speaker 9: nearing the closing bell, if you will. And this place
• 47:17
  Speaker 9: is still energetic. The meetings are still happening. The exhibit
• 47:21
  Speaker 9: hall is still buzzing. And that really is symbolic, I think,
• 47:25
  Speaker 9: of the energy of this industry, the energy of this event,
• 47:28
  Speaker 9: and of NACDS.
• 47:30
  Speaker 8: Yeah, they are.
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: Going into 2027, knowing how seniors are going to be
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: reaching the pinnacle of the demographic in 2030 with baby
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: boomers reaching that top, it's going to be a cry
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: to the community pharmacies and to the chain pharmacies to
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: back up other health care services that are needed. We're
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: seeing testing happening. We're seeing pharmacists more engaged in disease
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: state management. It's so good to see suppliers here not
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: only supplying their products and services, but it's the mind share,
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: it's the insights that's infusing, like what's the next thing
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: we're going to do to stay profitable in pharmacy?
• 48:07
  Speaker 9: Todd, I'm glad you brought that up, specifically the seniors.
• 48:11
  Speaker 9: This is, I think, a great opportunity to talk just
• 48:13
  Speaker 9: a little bit about how the NACDS Total Store Expo
• 48:16
  Speaker 9: and the advocacy agenda of NACDS really do align. Right now,
• 48:23
  Speaker 9: NACDS and many others are advocating for an incredibly important
• 48:27
  Speaker 9: piece of legislation in the U.S.
• 48:28
  Speaker 8: Congress.
• 48:29
  Speaker 9: It's the Main Street Pharmacy Access Act. And this is
• 48:32
  Speaker 9: all about seniors. It's almost unthinkable that while many states
• 48:38
  Speaker 9: have taken action to allow pharmacists to provide more and
• 48:42
  Speaker 9: more services to their customers, to their communities, that seniors,
• 48:47
  Speaker 9: because of a shortcoming in public policy, seniors in Medicare
• 48:51
  Speaker 9: are not able to participate in many of those services. Well,
• 48:56
  Speaker 9: this legislation would fix that. And you talk about how pharmacists,
• 49:00
  Speaker 9: pharmacies are constantly ranked as the most accessible healthcare destinations
• 49:05
  Speaker 9: and certainly among the most trusted. We've been polling on
• 49:09
  Speaker 9: these issues for about 20 years. And while pharmacies and
• 49:13
  Speaker 9: pharmacists are so highly regarded by the American people, by
• 49:17
  Speaker 9: the American voter, you pretty much have to add 10
• 49:20
  Speaker 9: percentage points to all of those positive stats when you're
• 49:23
  Speaker 9: looking at how seniors perceive the pharmacists and the pharmacies.
• 49:28
  Speaker 9: They need these services. They want to get them from
• 49:32
  Speaker 9: their trusted pharmacy. It really has to happen. We're closer
• 49:35
  Speaker 9: than ever. In May, the Key House Committee passed the
• 49:40
  Speaker 9: legislation for the first time. Now we have to get
• 49:42
  Speaker 9: it over to the finish line.
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: Chris, I love how NACDS holds the hands of other associations,
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: your partnership with NCPA, your partnership with the ASCP, focusing
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: on our consultant pharmacists, the APC focused on compounding. NACDS
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: has always done an amazing job of being collaborative.
• 50:01
  Speaker 4: So I very much appreciate seeing that.
• 50:04
  Speaker 9: Todd, I think what you just said does need to
• 50:06
  Speaker 9: be underscored because collaboration and speaking with one voice is
• 50:11
  Speaker 9: simply not a nice-to-have when it comes to public policy success.
• 50:15
  Speaker 9: It's a must-have. I can't tell you how many members
• 50:19
  Speaker 9: of Congress have said, if you had not been aligned
• 50:22
  Speaker 9: for the entire pharmacy community, if you had not been
• 50:26
  Speaker 9: aligned on PBM reform, pharmacy benefit manager reform, Those reforms
• 50:31
  Speaker 9: would not have been enacted in February of 2026. And
• 50:35
  Speaker 9: that certainly was a long-time effort. You know that as
• 50:38
  Speaker 9: well as anybody. We've talked about it for quite some time.
• 50:41
  Speaker 9: It wouldn't have happened if the independents, the chains, people
• 50:46
  Speaker 9: throughout the profession, if they hadn't been aligned on what
• 50:48
  Speaker 9: reform means and just how important it is for the
• 50:52
  Speaker 9: future of all Americans and their pharmacies.
• 50:55
  Speaker 8: So that's what got it done.
• 50:57
  Speaker 9: We need to stay united.
• 50:58
  Speaker 8: I love it.
• 50:59
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: NACDS, Total Store Expo 2027. Tell us where we're going
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: to be.
• 51:05
  Speaker 9: We are going to be in beautiful San Diego. Boston
• 51:08
  Speaker 9: sets up fantastically for this meeting. San Diego does as well.
• 51:12
  Speaker 9: And it has really become a powerful duo for this
• 51:16
  Speaker 9: industry and for this association. We can't wait to be
• 51:19
  Speaker 9: in San Diego. We look forward to welcoming everybody back.
• 51:22
  Speaker 9: We can't wait to hear how everybody's built on the
• 51:25
  Speaker 9: progress of the 2026 Total Store Expo. So we're looking
• 51:28
  Speaker 9: forward to rolling right from this into the new year,
• 51:33
  Speaker 9: the regional chain conference, the annual meeting, and then right
• 51:37
  Speaker 9: into 2027 Total Store Expo in San Diego.
• 51:40
  Speaker 4: We'll be there.
• 51:41
  Speaker 2: East Coast, West Coast, we'll definitely be there, Chris. Thank
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: you so much for being on the Rewind Show covering
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: the Total Store Expo.
• 51:48
  Speaker 9: Todd, thanks for all you do. You're pivotal to this profession,
• 51:51
  Speaker 9: to this industry, and to NACDS. We really appreciate you.
• 51:55
  Speaker 8: Thank you.