There's a Better Way Episode 1

How COVID-19 Has Upended Assumptions About Care

TIME recently named Walgreens one of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022, noting that as of March 2022, the company had administered 60 million COVID-19 vaccines and 26 million tests. In this episode, host Melanie Marcus, Chief Marketing Officer of Surescripts, sits down with a guest who has had a truly noteworthy career:

Tasha Polster began as a cashier at the Walgreens across the street from her high school before rising through the ranks to become the company’s Vice President for Pharmacy Quality, Compliance and Patient Safety. In this role, she led the national rollout of COVID-19 tests and vaccines in thousands of stores across the country. As a leader who is helping to reimagine how care can and should be delivered in this “new normal,” Tasha shares both personal stories and her perspective on the value of innovation, collaboration and partnership during challenging times.

Listen and follow here

Featured on this podcast

Tasha Polster

Vice President for Pharmacy Quality, Compliance and Patient Safety, Walgreens

Now an accomplished and dedicated pharmacy executive, Tasha began her career as a cashier at the Walgreens across the street from her high school. Over the course of 40 years, she became a pharmacist and gradually rose through the ranks to become the company’s Vice President for Pharmacy Quality, Compliance and Patient Safety. She enjoys the daily challenge of mitigating risk and ensuring compliance in the ever-changing landscape of healthcare.

Melanie Marcus

Chief Marketing Officer, Surescripts

Melanie joined Surescripts as Chief Marketing Officer in 2017, bringing with her more than 20 years of experience working at the intersection of marketing, technology and healthcare. Based in our Arlington, Virginia, office, she loves serving as “chief storyteller,” helping people understand how technology unites our fragmented healthcare system.

3/29/2023

#Interoperability is scaling up and simplifying workflows for payers, health systems, pharmacies and beyond. See ho… https://t.co/W1bhOjGHdL

3/28/2023

This proposed @CMSGov and @ONC_HealthIT rule moves eprescribing forward with the @NCPDP Real Time Prescription Bene… https://t.co/gsb1nhYWxy

3/23/2023

One of the best parts of HIMSS is seeing how #interoperability is taking flight across every kind of healthcare org… https://t.co/74V1RtvKgY

3/21/2023

Most Americans live within 5 miles of a pharmacy. The convenience is too good to pass up—especially since… https://t.co/tGxjabZJd2

3/21/2023

What could you do with a network that handles >38,000 transactions per second? Where could you plug into the real-… https://t.co/B9xBscl5jl

3/15/2023

(1/7) U.S. healthcare professionals made an impact on some of our biggest challenges, as seen in our 2022 National… https://t.co/IbbjyCCwM8

3/14/2023

If there’s anything the past year has taught us, it’s that there are reasons to be hopeful for the future of Americ… https://t.co/xp748tNyui

3/13/2023

More speed and efficiency. Less paperwork. Lower costs. Even with specialty meds, all this can be yours. Visit B… https://t.co/W4wT4OvWcz

3/10/2023

Drug pricing is complex. But making medications more affordable for patients can be surprisingly simple. If you’… https://t.co/eWdIFOE3ff

3/9/2023

#Interoperability tech is worth the investment for many reasons – but one stands out: equipping providers to delive… https://t.co/6mnO3G6olN