Cardinal Health Encourages Independent Pharmacists To Discover New Horizons At 23rd Annual Retail Business Conference

SEATTLE, Aug. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of independent pharmacists will converge in Seattle for Cardinal Health's annual Retail Business Conference August 7-10. This year's event encourages independent pharmacies to Discover New Horizons for improving their businesses and for delivering quality, personalized care to patients.

The tradeshow features a 95,000-square-foot trade exhibit floor, highlighting buying opportunities with more than 330 exhibitors. Pharmacists can also access one of the industry's largest and most complete lineups of continuing education opportunities, with 55 courses on topics that can help them improve both their clinical and business operations. Cardinal Health will also highlight its broad array of solutions that help community pharmacies diversify and improve their businesses.

"RBC is the industry's best opportunity to celebrate independent pharmacy and to encourage owners to discover new opportunities to move their businesses forward," said Steve Lawrence, senior vice president of Retail Independent Sales for Cardinal Health.  "This event is one of the largest gatherings of independent pharmacy owners in the world, offers more continuing education classes than can be found anywhere else and features the largest trade show floor and more exhibitors than in the show's 23 year history. It's an outstanding opportunity for independent pharmacies to learn from their peers and gain valuable insight into how to improve their businesses."

Similar to years past, RBC 2013 will include a full line up of educational opportunities including:

• The RBC Opening Session featuring Chris Gardner, entrepreneur, author, philanthropist and single parent whose inspiring life story was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, which became a New York Times and Washington Post #1 best seller and was the inspiration for the 2006 movie by the same name. Gardner's childhood was marked by overwhelming need, domestic violence, illiteracy and abuse. Fascinated by finance, but without connections, an MBA or even a college degree, Gardner earned a spot in the prestigious Dean Witter Reynolds training program, willing to live on next to nothing while he learned a new trade and raised his young son as a single parent. He persevered through homelessness to later become a top earner at Bear Stearns & Co., where he worked from 1983-1987, before founding the brokerage firm Gardner Rich in Chicago. Today, Gardner is actively involved in multiple initiatives that help homeless families stay intact, and is the recipient of numerous humanitarian awards. At RBC 2013, Gardner will share his hard-won wisdom and practical guidance to encourage attendees to achieve their full potential, pursue new challenges, search for fulfillment at any stage of life and craft the legacy they want to leave behind.
• The RBC Industry Session featuring Mark B. McClellan, M.P.A., M.D., Ph.D., doctor and economist who formerly served as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and as senior director for health care policy at the White House. Currently, Dr. McClellan is senior fellow, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. He will lead the Industry Session at RBC 2013, titled Driving the Conversation: A Look at the Future of Healthcare in America. His discussion will focus on the important role pharmacy and specifically, community pharmacy, can play in shaping that future.

About the Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference (RBC)
The Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference (RBC), held August 7-10 in Seattle, provides independent pharmacists and pharmacy franchise owners with the opportunity to network with and learn from thousands of their peers from across the nation, while gaining new insights to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their businesses. The annual event provides independent pharmacy owners, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy industry professionals across the United States with access to pharmaceutical manufacturers, buying opportunities, continuing education sessions and programs to help pharmacists reduce costs and improve patient care and efficiency. For more information, visit www.CardinalHealth.com/RBC.

About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $101 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products and services to more than 100,000 locations each day and is also the industry-leading direct-to-home medical supplies distributor. The company is a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company operates the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs 34,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at www.cardinalhealth.com  and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.

SOURCE Cardinal Health