Discount Drug Mart pursues accreditation and training

Drug Store News, April 21, 2008 by Michael Johnsen

Discount Drug Mart is one of the few drug retail chains to get accreditation as a provider of durable medical equipment in an effort to capture Medicare-reimbursed DME business. The Ohio chain last year received an Exemplary Provider Certificate of Accreditation from the Compliance Team, an accrediting body for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for the home healthcare departments in all of its stores.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The program features annual validation visits and requires scoring of 90 percent or better to achieve accredited status.

This month, the company also launched a company-wide customer service program called "We C.A.R.E." in which new director of advertising and marketing Anita Fontana took the lead in implementation.

C.A.R.E. represents Committed to customers and community, Accurate and accessible, Reliable and respectful and Exceeding expectations.

"The goal of the program is to create awareness of our brand promise and to distinguish Discount Drug Mart," said Fontana, who was formerly with the J. Joyner Group.

Discount Drug Mart

Headquarters: Medina, Ohio

2007 sales: $630 million

% change vs. 2006:4.1%

No. of stores: 67

No. of stores with Rx: 67

Avg. store size: 24,500 square feet

Rx sales: $305.6 million

% of sales from Rx: 48.5%

Sales per store: $9.4 million

Source: Drug Store News