Walgreen Electronic Prescriptions Gain, Enhancing Its Edge

(MoneyWatch)  Fast on the heals of a CVS move to expand online services that provide secure Google Health Account downloads for pharmacy customers, Walgreen announced that it had filled 3.1 million prescriptions electronically in March, a record for the company, representing about 15 percent of all the drugstore chain's eligible prescriptions and a 211 percent increase compared with March of last year.

Expanding service, electronic and otherwise, is critical for drug retailers as they seek to keep ahead of supermarket, supercenter and warehouse club pharmacies that are after their critical prescription customers. Electronic prescription fulfillment has other advantages as well. Greg Wasson, Walgreen's CEO, pointed out in a conference call that consumers are more likely to actually pick up prescriptions that are electronically sent from the doctor's office to the store pharmacy, which helps ensure folks get the therapy they need and certainly doesn't hurt Walgreen sales. Electronic prescription systems also provide more effective access to generic drugs that save consumers money, as doctors can see just what Walgreen has available and at what prices, and, keep in mind that Walgreen has a number of bargain programs in operation. Among them, the company will provide a 90-day supply of 400 listed generic prescription drugs for $12.

Electronic prescription fulfillment also can lower Walgreen costs, and thus fits in with programs including the retailer's POWER pharmacy initiative, which centralizes filling functions for certain prescriptions. The program shifts filling for, say, long-term conditions, as well as order entry and insurance filing out of stores and into the mail-order prescription facilities the company operate in each of its markets. That lowers costs and permits pharmacists to spend time advising customers about their medications and health, a function that Walgreen counts on to build loyalty. POWER pharmacy is under development in Florida and Arizona.

Folks have to eat. They almost certainly are going to visit a supermarket, supercenter or warehouse club every week, and most of them have pharmacy operations conveniently in place. By remaining on the cutting edge of services, Walgreen hopes consumers will find additional reasons to prefer its pharmacies over those of its competition.

Protecting its prescription sales is important to Walgreen. In the last fiscal quarter completed, its second, prescription drugs represented 63% of Walgreen sales.