Dive Brief:
- Publix and Juniper Medical Center opened a pharmacy inside the Anderson Family Cancer Institute in Juniper, Florida, according to a press release.
- In addition to the services and prescriptions available at traditional Publix pharmacies, this location will also include medications that treat carcinomas, leukemias, melanomas, lymphomas and sarcomas.
- Patients of the hospital will get their first prescription filled at the hospital's Publix pharmacy and then get refills at their neighborhood Publix pharmacy. Publix is also the preferred pharmacy for Juniper’s employee benefit plan.
Dive Insight:
Publix now has 13 hospital pharmacies in the state of Florida as the retailer continues to look for collaborations to boost its pharmacy business within the seven states it operates in. Growing its pharmacy presence allows the retailer to improve its overall health-focused image and boost sales as pharmacy customers may be more likely to pick up groceries with their prescriptions to consolidate errands.
In some of its other hospital partnerships, the collaboration included hospital-branded telehealth sites at various Publix stores. The telehealth services allows patients to speak directly via video-conferencing technology with a board-certified physician. In another collaboration with Beaufort Memorial Hospital Beaufort, South Carolina, Publix provided patients with prescription delivery services.
While Publix’s pharmacy was ranked second among grocery pharmacies after Wegmans in the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Pharmacy study, other retailers are making moves to grab some market share with new healthcare initiatives. In November, Kroger announced its Kroger 360care, which allowed hospitals and healthcare newtworks to use its resources to provide lower-cost care. The nation's largest grocer is also leading the charge in creating more accessibility to COVID-19 testing, and is one of a few food retailers like Southeastern Grocers to develop programs aimed at curbing opioid use. Hy-Vee is also setting up drive-thrus to offer flu vaccines at its more than 270 pharmacy locations.
Pharmacy-hospital system partnerships have been around for years in the grocery industry, but they have evolved as the food for medicine movement gains momentum. In 2015, UnitedHealthcare teamed up with Roundy’s to promote healthy living. Hospitals like Dignity Health in Southern California are now opening up grocery stores inside their facilities and foodservice company Amarak has converted existing retail space in hospitals to a pop-up grocery store.
