Your New Year To-Do List

Take some time this week to kick off January and the New Year on the right foot by completing some of these timely tasks:

• Be aware of an onslaught of new price changes in the New Year. Schedule to have changes completed as soon as possible.

• Valentine's Day cards, gifts & candy should be out by now and Christmas items should be gone. (P.S. — Do you really need all of those heart-shaped candy boxes? Regular boxes do not have to go on sale Feb. 15. Order wisely.)

• Check that your "Flu Shots Available Here" signs are still up. Is staff reminding every customer that you offer flu shots?

• New Year, new health plans. Remind current and potential customers how easy it is to transfer prescriptions to your pharmacy. Use exterior signage, social media, website, phone messages, and paid advertising to spread the message.

Vitamins Make the Best Valentine's Gifts

The right supplements can be the best gift for the heart. Choose supplements that you feel comfortable recommending to patients and prepare a "Valentine's Gift to the Heart" display. Some possibilities include your favorite multivitamin, a CoQ10, fish oil with Omega-3, vitamin D, or even some green tea or red yeast rice extract and/or low-dose aspirin. Reading material to go along with the supplements and a sign encouraging healthy eating habits and exercise would be a nice addition to your display. With a red ribbon, tie three bottles of the same supplement together (roughly 90 days' worth). Promote the items as "90 Days of Heart Health." Unlike chocolates in heart-shaped boxes and little goofy stuffed bears with red ribbon, your gifts will not have to be marked down to 50 percent off the day after Valentine's Day. The only thing that comes off is the ribbon.

Winning Window Displays

Here are some ideas for Valentine's Day window displays: dangling paper hearts, hearts drawn with glass wax, a large sign that reads "Valentine's Gift Headquarters" and "Don't Forget Valentine's Day, Feb. 14th." I also have seen a plush dog resting in a dog house with a sign that reads "Don't Let This Happen to YOU!... Valentine's Day is Feb. 14th!" On the 15th, the sign can be replaced with "Did you forget Valentine's Day? Come on in, we can help!" What have you done to promote Valentine's Day? I'd love to hear it: gabe.trahan@ncpanet.org.

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Fertile Women Should Supplement Diets With Folic Acid, Study Finds

To help mitigate the risk of autistic traits in children exposed to antiepileptic drugs in utero, women may benefit from folic acid supplementation before they get pregnant, according to a late December article published in JAMA Neurology. Fertile women using antiepileptic drugs should take folic acid supplements continuously, the study concluded. Read more...