Top Retail Stocks To Buy For 2015

Top Retail Stocks To Buy For 2015: McKesson Corp (MCK)

McKesson Corporation, incorporated on July 7, 1994, delivers pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and healthcare information technologies. The Company operates in two segments: McKesson Distribution Solutions segment and McKesson Technology Solutions segment. The McKesson Distribution Solutions segment distributes drugs, medical-surgical supplies and equipment and health and beauty care products throughout North America. The McKesson Technology Solutions segment delivers enterprise clinical, patient care, financial, supply chain, strategic management software solutions, pharmacy automation for hospitals, as well as connectivity, outsourcing and other services, including remote hosting and managed services, to healthcare organizations. In February 2013, the Company completed acquisition of Pss World Medical Inc. In February 2014, McKesson Corporation announced that its ownership in Celesio AG exceeds 75% interest.

Distribution Solutions

McKesson Dist ribution Solutions consists of the businesses, which include United States Pharmaceutical Distribution, McKesson Canada, Medical-Surgical Distribution, McKesson Specialty Health and McKesson Pharmacy Systems and Automation. United States Pharmaceutical Distribution business supplies pharmaceuticals and/or other healthcare-related products to customers in three primary customer channels: retail national accounts (including national and regional chains, food/drug combinations, mail order pharmacies and mass merchandisers); independent retail pharmacies, and institutional healthcare providers (including hospitals, health systems, integrated delivery networks, clinics and alternate site providers). This business also provides solutions and services to pharmaceutical manufacturers. This business sources materials and products from a range of different suppliers, including the production of certain generic pharmaceutical drugs through a contract-manufacturing program.

The Companys United States pharmaceutical distribution b! usiness operates and serves thousands of customer locations through a network of 28 distribution centers, as well as a primary redistribution center, a strategic redistribution center and two repackaging facilities, serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico. It invests in technology and other systems at all of its distribution centers to enhance safety and reliability and provide the product availability for its customers. In addition, it offers Mobile ManagerSM, which integrates portable handheld technology with Acumax Plus to give customers complete ordering and inventory control. The Company also offers McKesson ConnectSM, an Internet-based ordering system that provides item lookup and real-time inventory availability, as well as ordering, purchasing, third-party reconciliation and account management functionality. Together, these features help ensure customers have the right products at the right time for their facilities and patients.

The offerings of the McKes son United States Pharmaceutical Distribution business by customer group can be categorized as retail national accounts, independent retail pharmacies and institutional healthcare providers. Retail National Accounts is a business solutions that help national account customers increase revenues and profitability. Solutions include Central Fill, Redistribution Centers, EnterpriseRx, RxPak, Inventory Management, McKesson OneStop Generics and ExpressRx Track.

Independent Retail Pharmacies is a solutions for managed care contracting, branding and advertising, merchandising, purchasing, operational efficiency and automation that help independent pharmacists focus on patient care while improving profitability. Solutions include Health Mart, AccessHealth, McKesson Reimbursement Advantage, McKesson OneStop Generics, EnterpriseRx, Sunmark, FrontEdge and McKesson Sponsored Clinical Services (SCS) Network. Institutional Healthcare Providers is a electronic order! ing/purch! as ing and supply chain management systems that help customers ! improve f! inancial performance, increase operational efficiencies and deliver better patient care. Solutions include McKesson Pharmacy Optimization, Fulfill-Rx, Asset Management, SKY Packaging, McKesson Plasma and BioLogics, McKesson OneStop Generics and McKesson 340B Solution Suite and Macro Helix.

Medical-Surgical Distribution business provides medical-surgical supply distribution, equipment, logistics and other services to healthcare providers including physicians' offices, surgery centers, extended care facilities, homecare and occupational health sites through a network of distribution centers within the United States. This business is a provider of supplies to the full range of alternate-site healthcare facilities, including physicians' offices, clinics and surgery centers (primary care), long-term care, occupational health facilities and homecare sites (extended care). McKesson Specialty Health business provides solutions for oncology and other specialty practices operating in communities across the country, as well as for pharmaceutical and biotech suppliers who manufacture specialty drugs and vaccines.

The Company provides direct-to-physician specialty distribution services, ensuring supply chain safety and delivery of specialty drugs in manufacturer recommended conditions. Third party logistics (3PL), are offered primarily for vaccine distribution, including its exclusive distributor relationship in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Vaccines for Children program. The Company also offer its industry Lynx integrated technologies, the iKnowMed Electronic Health Record, and clinical and practice management tools, all of which help community practices improve inventory management, practice workflow and reimbursement processes, as well as deliver business efficiencies and clinical-decision support. McKesson Specialty Health works with manufacturers across all phases of the product d! evelopmen! t and commer cialization lifecycle, including clinical research, to optim! ize deliv! ery of complex medication to patients.

McKesson Pharmacy Systems and Automation business supplies integrated pharmacy management systems, automated dispensing systems and related services to retail, outpatient, central fill, specialty and mail order pharmacies. Its primary approach is to provide the customer with a pharmacy management system that suits the particular needs of their business operation.

Technology Solutions

The Companys Technology Solutions segment provides a portfolio of software, automation, support and services to help healthcare organizations. This segment also includes its InterQual clinical criteria solution, claims payment solutions and network performance tools. Technology Solutions markets its products and services to integrated delivery networks, hospitals, physician practices, home healthcare providers, retail pharmacies and payers. The product portfolio for the Technology Solutions segment is designed to a ddress a range of healthcare clinical and business performance needs ranging from medication safety and information access to revenue cycle management, resource utilization and physician adoption of electronic health records (EHR). Technology Solutions consists of businesses, which include McKesson Health Solutions, Enterprise Medical Imaging and Ancillary Solutions, RelayHealth, Revenue Management Solutions, Enterprise Information Solutions, Hospital Automation and International Technology.

McKesson Health Solutions services and software products is designed to manage the cost and quality of care for payers, providers, hospitals and government organizations. Solution sets include InterQual Criteria for clinical decision support and utilization management; Claims payment solutions to facilitate accurate and efficient medical claim payments; Business intelligence tools for measuring, reporting and improving clinical and financial perfo! rmance; N! etwork management t ools to enable health plans to transform the performance of ! their net! works, and RelayHealth financial solutions to facilitate communication between healthcare providers and patient aggregate data for claims management and trend analysis, and optimize revenue cycle management processes.

The Company offers medical imaging and information management systems for healthcare enterprises, including a picture archiving communications system, a radiology information system and a cardiovascular information system. The Companys enterprise approach to medical imaging enables organizations to take advantage of specialty-specific workstations, while building an integrated image repository that manages all of the images and information captured throughout the care continuum. Through its vendor-neutral RelayHealth and its intelligent network, the Company provides health information exchange solutions that streamline clinical and administrative communication between patients, providers, payers, pharmacies, manufacturers, government and financi al institutions. RelayHealth helps to accelerate the delivery of care and improve financial performance through online consultation of physicians by patients, electronic prescribing by physicians, and point-of-service resolution of pharmacy claims by payers.

The Company help providers focus their resources on delivering healthcare while managing their revenue cycle operations and information technology through a suite of managed services. Services include full and partial revenue cycle outsourcing, remote hosting and business office administration. The Company also provides a solution for physician practices of all sizes, whether they are independent or employed, that includes software, revenue cycle outsourcing and connectivity services. Software solutions include practice management and EHR software for physicians of every size and specialty. The Company provides clinical and financial information systems for hospitals and he! alth syst! ems of all sizes. These sy stems are designed to improve the safety and quality of pati! ent care ! and improve clinical, financial and operational performance. Clinical functionality includes a data repository, care planning, physician order entry and documentation, nursing documentation with bar-coded medication administration, pharmacy, surgical management, emergency department and ambulatory EHR systems, and a Web-based physician portal. Automation solutions include technologies that help hospitals re-engineer and improve their medication use processes. The Company provides patient administration systems and clinical products to health and social care systems of all sizes in the United Kingdom and other European countries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  McKesson (MCK) has gained 4.3% to $135.27 after the Wall Street Journal reported that it was in talks to buy Celesio.

  Arkansas Best (ABFS) has dropped 5.1% to $22.59 as the transportation-services company faces a potential strike.

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Memberships and Peers: CAH is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat and a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers Index. The company's peer group includes: AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC) with a 1.3% yield, McKesson Corporation (MCK) with a 0.6% yield and Owens & Minor Inc. (OMI) with a 2.5% yield.

• [By Sue Chang , Saumya Vaishampayan]

  McKesson (MCK) shares rose 3.6%. The drug distributor is in talks to buy rival Celesio AG for more than $5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. If the negotiations progress, McKesson could announce a bid as early as this month, the newspaper said.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-retail-stocks-to-buy-for-2015.html