Pharmacy Podcast Network

AI in healthcare is no longer a futuristic concept. It’s already answering the phones at your local CVS. We’re pulling back the curtain on how AI is currently being used in pharmacy practice, from encrypted "VA GPT" systems for note-writing to controversial new phone bots that some patients claim are a "stain on society".

We dive into the big news of the CVS and Google Cloud partnership to launch Health100, a platform designed to integrate your refills, copays, and even wearable health data into a single AI-driven hub. While the promise of centralized care sounds like a dream, the "real-world" experience can feel like a nightmare. We react to a brutal Reddit thread and even call a CVS live to demonstrate the frustration of wrestling with a robot that refuses to transfer you to a human. Whether you're a "tinfoil hat" wearer worried about data leaks or someone just trying to get a prescription after surgery, you need to hear the clinical and personal reality of the AI takeover.

This show is intended for educational and informational purposes.

TWIRx News:

Congratulations to Logan Eury and his new wife Emily, who were married today, May 1, 2026!

This C.O. Bigelow Collab Introduces the 188-Year-Old Pharmacy to a New Generation
Abbode is taking over the Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy-approved shop for a month-long pop-up.
https://fashionista.com/2026/05/co-bigelow-abbode-pop-up-carolyn-bessette-impact

Renewed interest in C.O. Bigelow shows how nostalgia, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s minimalist style, and “quiet luxury” storytelling can drive brand attention, foot traffic, and retail sales.

Q&A: Mayo Clinic leaders share strategies for managing high-cost drugs without breaking the bank | Asembia AXS26 Summit
https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/q-a-mayo-clinic-leaders-share-strategies-for-managing-high-cost-drugs-without-breaking-the-bank-asembia-axs26-summit

Mayo Clinic leaders say managing high-cost drugs requires structured formulary review, multidisciplinary collaboration, and careful evaluation of safety, efficacy, financial impact, reimbursement, and site-of-care decisions.

Where Gross-to-Net Pressure Actually Lives After Launch
Today’s guest post comes from Cindy Baksh, Chief Product Officer at ConnectiveRx.
https://www.drugchannels.net/2026/05/where-gross-to-net-pressure-actually.html

The article explains that gross-to-net pressure comes from rebates, discounts, fees, and policy shifts. As net pricing grows, manufacturers, PBMs, and pharmacies must rethink traditional rebate-driven strategies.

Today’s featured guest: Dr. Ndidiamaka Okpareke, PharmD for Congress

Dr. Ndidiamaka “Didi” Okpareke is a pharmacist, entrepreneur, and congressional candidate in New Mexico’s 1st District. A first-generation Nigerian-American and University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy graduate, she founded a compounding pharmacy and brings nearly two decades of patient care experience to public policy.

Her campaign focuses on healthcare access, rising costs, provider shortages, economic growth, and strengthening opportunity for future generations.

Special Episode: TJM Labs and AI-Driven Pharmacy Operations

This episode features Bhavesh Patel, PharmD, CEO of Carepoint Pharmacy, and Jonathan Adly, PharmD, MBA, CEO of TJM Labs, discussing how AI-powered automation can help pharmacies manage rising prescription volume, staffing challenges, and workflow complexity.

TJM Labs uses AI “digital workers” to automate prescription intake, data entry, and patient communication—reducing burnout, improving accuracy, and allowing pharmacy teams to focus more on patient care.

Tennessee lawmakers have passed a major pharmacy reform bill aimed at pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, by barring companies from owning both a PBM and a pharmacy. The legislation is widely seen as targeting CVS Health, which owns Caremark and operates pharmacies across the state.

Supporters say the bill is designed to curb vertical integration, restore fair competition, and protect independent pharmacies from reimbursement practices they view as harmful to patient access and community pharmacy survival.

CVS has pushed back hard, warning that the new law could force it to shut down its 134 Tennessee pharmacy locations and trigger a legal challenge. The company argues the measure would reduce access for patients and does not directly address broader PBM issues like pricing or formularies.

This Tennessee fight reflects a larger national battle over PBM reform, pharmacy ownership, market power, and the future of prescription drug access.

Clinical Pearls, Pain Pod edition: Pain Pearls Part 2 (of many) with Dr. Sing Ping Chow, PharmD as we discuss methadone, buprenorphine, gabapentin, pain pharmacists, AI, and beyond!

A cornucopia of pain conundrums and potential solutions and/or tools to help mitigate. All here, nicely packaged, randomly, in one episode of the Pain Pod! One of many more to come, in a miniseries titled: “Pain Pearls”, only here on the Pain Pod!

Come one, come all, to the Pain Pod!!!

P.S. Want to contribute or hear about a pain pearl of your own? Message Pain Guy on www.painguy.us or LinkedIn to directly reach Mark and have your voice heard!

What does it actually mean to be healthy if your labs come back "normal" but you still feel terrible?

For too many high-achieving professionals, that question goes unanswered for years. Today's guest knows that experience firsthand and has built her entire practice around closing that gap.

Ekat is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), Restorative Wellness Practitioner (RWP), and Board-Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. After 16+ years on Wall Street, she experienced firsthand what chronic stress, long hours, and burnout can do to a body, and what conventional medicine often misses when it does. 

Through her virtual practice, Healthfully Ekat, she helps busy, high-achieving women uncover the root causes behind persistent digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, and chronic fatigue using functional lab testing, personalized nutrition, and holistic lifestyle strategies.
Her message is as straightforward as it is powerful: you're only going to be as successful as your health allows you to be.

In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to stop guessing and start understanding what your body actually needs, so your energy, gut, and hormones can work for you instead of against you.

In this episode, we cover:
• Why "normal" labs don't always mean optimal health
• The connection between chronic stress, gut health, and hormonal chaos
• How functional lab testing changes the root cause conversation
• The microbes we often ignore but shouldn’t (including parasites!)
• What high-performing professionals consistently get wrong about their health
• Why true success requires your body to keep up with your ambition

Connect with Healthfully Ekat via:
Email: [email protected] 
Website: https://www.healthfullyekat.com/ 
IG: @healthfully.ekat

Visit https://marinabuksov.com for more holistic content. 

Music from https://www.purple-planet.com. 

Disclaimer: Statements herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.