Essay Cvs Caremark
Overview In our society, many people suffer from ailments and diseases that require medication to help them manage their illnesses while trying to maintain a normal lifestyle. Approximately 75% of the US population lives within three miles of a CVS (Datamonitor,2011), a retail pharmacy which sells prescription drugs and a range of general merchandise including over the counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, photo finishing, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards, and convenience foods (Mergent, 2012). Pharmacy services for CVS also include a mail order pharmacy service, specialty pharmacy services, plan design and administration, formulary management and claims processing. CVS also possesses in store health clinics …show more content…
When compared to other companies in their same field, none of the other companies can generate as much net income as CVS. They compete with other drugstore chains, supermarkets, discount retailers, independent pharmacies, membership clubs, internet companies, and retail health clinics, as well as other mail order pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Companies. Walgreens is their top competitor and in 2011, they only grossed $2.71 Million while CVS grossed $3.46 Million. Despite their fierce performance, CVS does face threats when being compared to their competitors. Intense competition threatens to have a negative impact on its profitability (Datamonitor, 2011)
Competitors in the pharmacy benefit management arena include large PBM companies as well as many regional PBMs. There are also many local and regional PBMs and large healthcare insurers with managed care plans. The PBM industry has been experiencing margin pressure as a result of competitiveness and increased client demands for lower prices, enhanced services offerings and higher service levels (Datamonitor, 2011). All of these companies offer some or all of the same services as CVS