Whois & Analysis for cvsspecialty.com

CVS Pharmacy (stylized as ❤CVSpharmacy and previously CVS/pharmacy) is a subsidiary of the American retail and health care company CVS Health, headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

It was originally named the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1963.

The chain was owned by its original holding company Melville Corporation since its inception until its current parent company CVS Health was spun off into its own company in 1996.

CVS Pharmacy is currently the largest pharmacy chain in the United States by number of locations (over 9,600 as of 2016) and total prescription revenue.

As the retail pharmacy division of CVS Health, it ranks as the 7th largest U.S. corporation according to Fortune 500 in 2016.

CVS Pharmacy's leading competitor Walgreens Boots Alliance ranked 37th.

Specialty pharmacy refers to distribution channels designed to handle specialty drugs — pharmaceutical therapies that are either high cost, high complexity and/or high touch.

High touch refers to higher degree of complexity in terms of distribution, administration, or patient management which drives up the cost of the drugs.

In the early years specialty pharmacy providers attached "high-touch services to their overall price tags" arguing that patients who receive specialty pharmaceuticals "need high levels of ancillary and follow-up care to ensure that the drug spend is not wasted on them." An example of a specialty drug that would only be available through specialty pharmacy is interferon beta-1a (Avonex), a treatment for MS that requires a refrigerated chain of distribution and costs $17,000 a year.

Some specialty pharmacies deal in pharmaceuticals that treat complex or rare chronic conditions such as cancer or rheumatoid arthritis."cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, H.I.V.

psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Hepatitis C.

"Specialty pharmacies are seen as a reliable distribution channel for expensive drugs, offering patients convenience and lower costs while maximizing insurance reimbursements from those companies that cover the drug.

Patients typically pay the same co-payments whether or not their insurers cover the drug." As the market demanded specialization in drug distribution and clinical management of complex therapies, specialized pharma (SP) evolved.„ Specialty pharmacies may handle therapies that are biologics, and are injectable or infused (although some are oral medications).

By 2008 the pharmacy benefit management dominated the specialty pharmacies market having acquired smaller specialty pharmacies.

PBMs administer specialty pharmacies in their network and can "negotiate better prices and frequently offer a complete menu of specialty pharmaceuticals and related services to serve as an attractive 'one-stop shop' for health plans and employers.".

A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed.

In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription.

The reason for this difference in substance control is the potential scope of misuse, from drug abuse to practicing medicine without a license and without sufficient education.

Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug.

A pharmaceutical drug (also referred to as medicine, medication, or simply as drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease.

Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and relies on the science of pharmacology for continual advancement and on pharmacy for appropriate management.

A chronic condition is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time.

The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months.

Common chronic diseases include arthritis, asthma, cancer, COPD, diabetes and viral diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS.