It’s not a simple time to be a retail pharmacy chain. That is very true for Ceremony Assist, which filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety in New Jersey on Sunday.

To ensure that the corporate to get again on its ft within the subsequent few years, specialists say it should begin performing extra like its opponents, resembling Walgreens and CVS, by leaning extra into care supply, forging sturdy payer partnerships, and enhancing its digital choices.

“It is extremely troublesome for conventional retail pharmacies to face nonetheless within the present atmosphere. It is advisable decide if you wish to shift in the direction of a web-based mannequin, turn out to be a payer, or turn out to be a supplier. The truth is, many retail pharmacies discovering success proper now have turn out to be a mix of all three,” stated Ash Shehata, KPMG’s nationwide chief for healthcare and life sciences.

Shehata additionally famous that Individuals live in an more and more digital world. Up to now, pharmacies aspired to be on each block all through a group. Now, many are questioning whether or not that’s significant when individuals get their groceries and drugs delivered proper to their doorstep, he identified.

Nathan Ray, companion at consulting agency West Monroe, echoed Shehata’s feedback, saying that retaining a detailed eye in your competitors has traditionally been the important thing to success within the retail pharmacy house.

“Keep near your opponents — attempt to do many of the similar issues. I believe Ceremony Assist has not been capable of put money into precisely the identical means as their friends. That doesn’t essentially imply shopping for expensive acquisitions or growing precisely the identical well being companies footprint, however it does imply with the ability to companion to ship comparable issues or discovering a special technique to compete — possibly discovering a foothold in several geographies or totally different approaches to their customers,” he defined.

Ceremony Assist is among the largest pharmacy chains within the U.S., with greater than 2,000 pharmacies in 17 states. Rumors of its chapter submitting emerged in late summer time amid reducing gross sales, billions of {dollars} in debt and greater than a thousand lawsuits claiming the chain stuffed unlawful prescriptions for opioids.

In accordance with the corporate’s most up-to-date monetary report, filed in June, Ceremony Assist had $3.3 billion in debt however solely $135.5 million in money readily available.

Sunday’s chapter submitting signifies that Ceremony Assist will stay in enterprise whereas restructuring its funds by a court-supervised course of. The corporate raised $3.45 billion in financing from lenders to assist help this restructuring, it stated in an announcement.

Ceremony Assist stated that its restructuring plan entails closing “underperforming shops”. The chain didn’t reply to MedCity Information’ inquiry about what number of places it plans to shutter.

The chain additionally stated the plan features a potential deal to promote Elixir, its pharmacy profit supervisor, to MedImpact. Ceremony Assist purchased Elixir for $2 billion in 2015. For the deal to undergo, it must be authorized by a chapter choose.

As well as, Ceremony Assist appointed a brand new CEO — Jeff Stein, founder of monetary advisory agency Stein Advisors — to steer the corporate amid its restructuring course of.

Image: Justin Sullivan, Getty Photographs