Recent Articles
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Why would health insurers choose brand‑name drugs over generic?
Jason Poquette PharmaceuticalAn interesting illustration of retail pharmacy economics is playing out before our eyes. It is not a new thing, but it is being seen more frequently these days than in the past. Health insurance plans are starting to demand that expensive brand-name medications be dispensed instead of their approved generic. For those working in retail pharmacies, but unfamiliar with this strategy, it is often puzzling. Patients too are sometimes confused by this, as they are transitioned from a "cheap" generic back to the brand-name product.
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Checking the check: Why billing mistakes slow down supply chains
Delany Martinez Distribution & WarehousingIn logistics, a great deal of discussion surrounds methodology — speed is crucial to the supply chain in terms of fulfillment. Money, however, tends to shift to the backburner — quotes, line items and invoices.
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How would a Target-Kroger merger affect the grocery industry?
Bambi Majumdar RetailWhat do you when you face Goliath and the path ahead looks tough? You make peace with your rivals, and that is precisely what Kroger and Target seem to be doing. As Amazon tightens its hold on the grocery industry, big names that once led the grocery wars are struggling. The only ones who have deftly used resources to keep ahead of the curve are Walmart and Costco.
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Can AI actually make recruiting more ‘human’?
Shawn Smajstrla Science & TechnologyIn the news last week was a recruiter named Vera. What made Vera newsworthy is that she's a robot. A Russian startup developed Vera, and big-names like PepsiCo, Ikea and L'Oréal are listed among the 300 or so clients already using the artificially intelligent software to help vet for open positions.
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Customer engagement: How to get your employees to buy in
Elizabeth Donat RetailIf you own or manage a business in the service industry, then this topic applies to you. If you would like to have employees who perform at their highest degree of productivity along with loyal customers driving sales and revenue, then read these expert tips today.
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The expanding risk management universe
Dr. David Hillson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementLike the physical universe, the risk management universe is expanding. This is true in two distinct ways: enhanced depth of analysis and increased breadth of application. We might describe these as the micro perspective (looking closely at the nature of the risks we face) and the macro perspective (looking at the bigger picture to see if we are missing anything). In addition to these, we need to think about how to manage the risks that we currently cannot see.
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Aware or unaware: Exploring the brain during unconsciousness
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareThe unconscious brain is difficult to investigate. Yet we know that even when the body rests deeply in a coma — beyond the reach of sensation and thought — the brain works to pump blood, move air into and out of the lungs, and digest food.
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Research: E-cigarettes do more harm than good
Dr. Denise A. Valenti Medical & Allied HealthcareHealth experts had hoped that moving from chewing tobacco and paper products to vaping systems to deliver nicotine would result in advances in health and safety. The thought was that e-cigarettes would be a bridge to quitting other tobacco products and that the decrease in long-term harm would be significant.
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Games are memorable teaching tools for ESL learners
Sheilamary Koch EducationChildren love playing games, particularly during school hours. Yet there's no need for alarm — playing is a good use of students' time. Fun experiences are memorable to the brain, which has been shown to help information stick — an especially important component to ESL learning.
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Great Pacific Garbage Patch now twice the size of Texas
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalThe Great Pacific Garbage Patch that so many of us have heard about in recent years is much bigger than previously thought. In fact it's estimated to be more than twice the size of Texas and at least three times the size of France. The garbage patch is a "floating" island that surpasses more than 600,000 square miles, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.