Article
NEW YORK — November 28, 2012 – U.S. News & World Report, the nation’s leading publisher of quality rankings, and Pharmacy Times, the leading publication covering the pharmacy industry, have created a new consumer online portal for top pharmacist-recommended brands in over-the-counter (OTC) products.
For the past 16 years, Pharmacy Times has surveyed pharmacists about their top brand recommendations in over-the-counter (OTC) product categories and published the results in an annual OTC Guide. Earlier this year, Pharmacy Times and U.S. News announced a collaboration to publish these pharmacist recommendations on usnews.com, therefore bringing them to a consumer audience.
The new web offering, which is located at health.usnews.com/health-products, links consumers nationwide with resources to help them make family and personal health care decisions. Through the U.S. News Health Products web portal, visitors will find 148 ranked product categories — ranging from cough, cold and allergy to pain and inflammation – with consumer-friendly information about each remedy.
In addition to the top recommended health product rankings, each category page links to relevant information from Pharmacy Times. For example, the Cold Remedies ranking page offers a link to the Pharmacy Times article titled, “The Common Cold: Tips for Avoidance and Relief,” which previously had been distributed only to pharmacists and now brings these insider tips to a consumer audience.
“We’re putting the best advice from pharmacy professionals into the hands of consumers,” said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News & World Report. “The Health Products web portal gives our website visitors even more information to help them care for themselves and their families.”
To collect this health product recommendations data, Pharmacy Times conducts a proprietary annual survey of the publication’s pharmacist readers. Feedback is gathered about 14 distinct therapeutic health areas comprising more than 140 product categories. This research results in the evaluation and ranking of more than 1,000 OTC products.
“For many consumers, pharmacists are accessible and trusted health care providers,” said Tighe Blazier, president of Pharmacy Times. “These new online tools — both the product rankings and complementary articles – are the perfect resources to help consumers make educated choices about the over-the-counter products that they purchase.”
To learn more, visit www.pharmacytimes.com and www.usnews.com.
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About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a multi-platform publisher of news and analysis, which includes the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Personal Finance, Education, Travel, Cars, and Public Service/Opinion, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. U.S. News & World Report’s signature franchise includes its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its annual "Best" series of consumer web guides and publications that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, mutual funds, health plans, and more.
About Pharmacy Times
Pharmacy Times is the industry’s leading publication, providing practical, clinical information pharmacists can use in their everyday practices when counseling patients and interacting with physicians. Each issue contains articles and features covering medication errors, drug interactions, patient education, pharmacy technology, disease state management, patient counseling, product news, pharmacy law, and specialty pharmacy. The Pharmacy Times Office of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). As an independent continuing pharmacy education (CPE) provider, Pharmacy Times Office of CPE offers accredited live and home-study CPE activities—many, free of charge. Learn more at www.pharmacytimes.com, info@pharmacytimes.com or 609-716-7777 and on Facebook at Facebook.com/PharmacyTimes and on Twitter @Pharmacy_Times. Pharmacy Times is published by Intellisphere, LLC, a leading provider of health care publishing, research, information, and education.
Media Contacts:
Alexi Turbow
For U.S. News & World Report
202-955-2000
Mike Gross
For Pharmacy Times
856-628-6169