CVS 2001 Annual Report Download - page 7

Our investment in technology and workflow
improvements help CVS pharmacist s focus on what ’s
most import ant — t aking care of our cust omers.
address this co ncern, and there’s no questio n that a
Medicare pharmac y benefit wo uld drive utilizatio n,
whic h should create pharmacy gro wth o ppo rtunities.
Focus on Excellence
Our prescriptio n fo r healthy gro wth in o ur
pharmacy business capitalizes o n all these gro wth
o ppo rtunities while at the same time intensifying
o ur fo cus o n service excellence, inno vatio n
and c o nvenience.
We hired 2,000 pharmacists in 2001, a reco rd
number. Approximately 60% were hired from the
co mpetitio n, while the rest were recent graduates. Given
the reco rd number o f hires, we are in the best
pharmacist staffing po sitio n we have been in fo r 3
years. As a result, we are better able to provide the
fast, co urteo us, co nvenient service that o ur
custo mers deserve.
In additio n, o ur pharmacist turno ver has
decreased dramatically o ver the past 2 years. Our
co mpensatio n and benefits are attractive, and the
value pro po sitio n we offer is co mpelling.
Pharmacists cho o se the CVS wo rkplace fo r many
reasons. They appreciate that pharmac y is o ur co re
business, no t a seco ndary department, and they
value the co mmitment CVS has made to
invest in techno logically advanced
systems and a pro fessio nal wo rking
enviro nment.
Our Excellence in Pharmacy
Innovatio n and Care ( EPIC)
initiative is an example of bo th.
This project is co mprised o f
proprietary techno lo gy and
wo rkflo w impro vements that
co mbine to make o ur
pharmacy o peratio n mo re
pro ductive and more
efficient. Our custo mers
benefit fro m increased
quality assurance and
reduced wait times, and o ur
staff benefits fro m a mo re
pro fessio nal atmo sphere.
Pharmacists place a
high value o n well- trained
technicians who suppo rt them. As a result of o ur
training pro gram, o ur pharmacy technicians have a
pass rate fo r state certificatio n that is significantly
abo ve industry average.
EPIC enables trained, licensed technicians to
perfo rm many of the administrative tasks asso ciated
with filling a prescriptio n, freeing pharmacists to do
mo re o f what they have devo ted their careers to
do ing—assuring quality, spotting po tential drug
interactio ns, and co unseling patients.
Our Drug Utilizatio n Review ( DUR) techno lo gy is
ano ther example o f ho w we leverage techno lo gy to
pro vide custo mer-focused services and increase o ur
pro fessio nalism. DUR reduces the risk of adverse drug
interactio ns by cro ss-c hecking each prescriptio n
against o ther medicatio ns, even o ver-the- co unter and
herbal remedies that the custo mer may be taking.
These inno vative and unique services fo ster the
health and safety of o ur customers.
Our pharmacists and custo mers also appreciate
CVS’ Rapid Refill system—o ur 24-ho ur service
that enables custo mers to renew prescriptio ns
auto matically by telephone—whic h no w acco unts fo r
50% o f all refills. Custo mers can schedule renewals
at their co nvenience, and pharmacists can better
manage their wo rkflo w.
The stro ng gro wth dynamics in the
pharmacy industry co mbine with o ur
inno vative, custo mer-fo cused,
co nvenient healthcare strategies
to give CVS a healthy, lo ng-
term future.
A Healthy Tomorrow
2001 Annual Report
5
Counseling
cust omers on
their drug
therapies is
one of t he
most import ant
duties our
pharmacist s
perform.
Pharmacy is our core business, defining CVS’
reputation as a world-class healthcare company.