Walgreens 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

Sales
In billions of dollars
Page 2 2009 Walgreens Annual Report
Earnings
In billions of dollars
* Striped portion represents after-tax
restructuring costs of $163 million
*
to provide health care coverage and are increasing their
focus on health and wellness, medication compliance and
chronic disease management, while seeking greater price
transparency and lower costs.
These are Walgreens strengths. Our drugstores are
conveniently located in communities in all 50 states and
Puerto Rico, and we communicate face-to-face, on a
personal level, with patients in ways that improve health
care outcomes. With more than 70,000 health service
providers, and our stores located within five miles of nearly
three-quarters of all Americans, Walgreens is truly on the
“front line” of health care delivery. By providing products
and services enabling families to more effectively manage
their health, we are playing a growing role in bringing
affordable and convenient pharmacy, health and wellness
services to consumers, patients, employers and payors.
To promote health and wellness and better treatment of
chronic disease, we are committed to meeting the needs
of our customers by giving them the choice of getting
their 90-day medications through the mail or at their
local community pharmacy.When patients have a choice,
moreoften than not they prefer and choose a community
pharmacy. Recent studies show two important trends.
First, interaction with a pharmacist leads to greater adher-
ence to medications, and secondly, when a 90-day option
is added to a prescription plan, total utilization increases.
Both of these trends can lead to lower costs for both the
patient and the payor – and that’s good for all of us.
With preventive health care services growing in impor-
tance, we are committed to playing a vital role in helping
consumers protect themselves from both seasonal influenza
and the threat posed by the H1N1 flu virus. Patients
appreciate the convenience and affordability of being able
to stop at their local Walgreens for a flu shot, or to purchase
prescriptions or over-the-counter medications and preven-
tive supplies like masks and hand sanitizer products.
Our network of 17,000 immunizing pharmacists, nurse
practitioners, registered nurses and physician assistants
represents a vast public health resource that can be
mobilized on short notice to administer vaccinations.
Our nearly 350 Take Care Clinics continue to expand
their presence and scope of services. Research shows that
consumers arecomfortable receiving many health care
services at these drugstore-based retail clinics.
We’re also seeing growing interest from employers
in establishing worksite health centers as a means of
supporting their existing health and wellness initiatives.
These health centers and pharmacies provide early
detection and deliver convenient and affordable preventive
care – when health conditions are more treatable and
less costly to manage. These sites are linked electronically
to the rest of the Walgreens network, so all employees,
no matter wherethey work, as well as their dependents,
can be treated at any Walgreens point of care.
Consistent with our strong commitment to greater price
control for payors is our exciting new partnership with
Caterpillar Inc., which is designed to help Caterpillar
2009 Milestones
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•Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2009
sales of $63 billion. The Company has 238,000 employees.
•This is the Company’s 35th consecutive year of record sales. It’s
also the 34th consecutive year Walgreens has raised its quarterly
dividend – paid every quarter since 1933.
•Walgreens fills 651 million prescriptions – 18.3 percent of the U.S.
retail market. Pharmacy is 65 percent of our business.
•The Company acquires 39 drugstores, including 29 Drug Fair stores
in central and westernNew Jersey and eight Rite Aid locations in
San Francisco and eastern Idaho. Walgreens also acquires a
specialty pharmacy business from McKesson Corporation and the
home infusion and respiratory therapy operations of Pennsylvania-
based Air Products Healthcare.
•Nearly two million people enroll in the Walgreens Prescription
Savings Club, which provides prescription discounts for uninsured
and underinsured patients, such as those taking medication not
covered by their insurance plans.
•The Company launches Complete Careand Well-Being, a cost-
effective program serving large employers, that connects Walgreens
community pharmacies, in-store clinics, worksite health and wellness
centers, and its prescription drug offering.
•After the successful pilot of the Company’scustomer-centric store
format in 35 stores, Walgreens begins to implement the new format
across most of the chain.
•Walgreens is named to Fortune magazine’sMost Admired Companies
in America list for the 16th consecutive year, and is ranked 36th on
the
Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S.-based companies.