Google Cloud technologies to help Rite Aid
make its pharmacies more personalized, data-driven, and
resilient
PHILADELPHIA and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 11,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) and Google
Cloud today announced a new, multi-year technology partnership that
will help Rite Aid realize its vision of a modern pharmacy. Google
Cloud technologies will provide Rite Aid with better insights,
increased agility, and improved customer experiences. Modernized
applications for personalized digital experiences will enable
pharmacists to spend more time directly engaging customers.
As part of the new partnership, Rite Aid will be migrating key
applications to Google Cloud's Anthos, a managed platform for
application deployment. Applications include Rite Aid's popular
vaccine scheduling tool, customer messaging infrastructure, and
digital engagement platform. With Anthos, Rite Aid's approximately
2,350 pharmacies will have cloud computing capabilities on-site,
providing resilient operations. Strategic business continuity
enables the company to continue to provide elevated care during
natural disasters through robust patient information, advanced
prescription management, and offering recommendations without
needing to be connected to centralized, legacy mainframe
technology.
"The power of pharmacies, and the important role pharmacists
play in the health of their communities, greatly expanded during
COVID. Realizing that potential means making strategic investments
in technology that can truly help our customers and maximize the
capabilities of our pharmacists," said Justin Mennen, executive vice president and
chief digital and technology officer at Rite Aid. "Google Cloud's
solutions are uniquely positioned to run at each pharmacy location
to allow our store teams to help our customers to achieve whole
health for life."
In addition to modernizing the technologies powering its
pharmacies, Rite Aid has also tapped Google Cloud for digital
transformations across other areas of its business, including:
- Complete enterprise data migration: Rite Aid will
migrate its enterprise data to Google Cloud using BigQuery. This
move will allow the pharmacy to have better insights into its
finances, supply chain inventory, and customer information,
powering data-driven decisions for its business operations.
- Enhanced search capabilities: Rite Aid has selected
Google Cloud's Retail Search solution to provide customers with
more precise search results when shopping on Rite Aid's ecommerce
site and mobile app. Retail Search will provide Rite Aid customers
with an improved search experience that uses Google-quality search
models to understand customer intent and takes into account Rite
Aid's first-party data (such as promotions, available inventory,
and price) for product ranking results.
- Updated pharmacy benefits management application suite:
Elixir, Rite Aid's pharmacy benefits and services company, will
update its current pharmacy benefits management application suite
to a cloud-first experience with artificial intelligence and
machine learning-infused business logic capabilities. New Google
Cloud data analytics and processing capabilities will help the
pharmacy benefits manager better manage prescription benefits on
behalf of health insurers.
"As a healthcare company with a retail footprint, Rite Aid is at
the intersection of two quickly evolving industries and making
strategic technology investments to meet rising customer
expectations," said Carrie Tharp,
vice president of Retail and Consumer Solutions, Google Cloud.
"Through these innovations, Rite Aid is defining the modern
pharmacy."
About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates every
organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We
deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's
cutting-edge technology – all on the cleanest cloud in the
industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn
to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve
their most critical business problems.
About Rite Aid Corporation
Rite Aid is a full-service
pharmacy that improves health outcomes. Rite Aid is defining the
modern pharmacy by meeting customer needs with a wide range of
vehicles that offer convenience, including retail and delivery
pharmacy, as well as services offered through our wholly owned
subsidiaries, Elixir, Bartell Drugs and Health Dialog. Elixir, Rite
Aid's pharmacy benefits and services company, consists of
accredited mail and specialty pharmacies, prescription discount
programs and an industry leading adjudication platform to offer
superior member experience and cost savings. Health Dialog provides
healthcare coaching and disease management services via live online
and phone health services. Regional chain Bartell Drugs has
supported the health and wellness needs in the Seattle area for more than 130 years. Rite Aid
employs more than 6,400 pharmacists and operates approximately
2,350 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states. For more
information, visit www.riteaid.com.
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SOURCE Google Cloud