Cardinal HealthCardinal Health
Mandatoryenters, and pharmacy departments of supermarkets and mass merchandisers. You may elect to purchase substantially all of the pharmaceutical inventory for your Medicap business from Cardinal Health or o
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Medicap Pharmacies
Health servicesMedicap Pharmacies, a 59-unit health services franchise headquartered in Ohio, mandates its own parent company Cardinal Health in its 2025 FDD. EQuIPP is named in the filing without any usage requirement, and the brand sits alongside sibling franchise The Medicine Shoppe under the same corporate parent.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
59
59 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-6.349%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
3%
of gross sales
Ad fund
—
national + local
Initial fee
$0
per unit
Investment range
$513K–$896K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Standards based
from the filing
Item 19
No claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing. It is a floor, not a total — the filing discloses one of the two headline fees.
3%+of gross sales (FY2025)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
EQuIPPEQuIPP
and pay all fees to the third party vendor, if any, arising out of your participation in this program (see Exhibit F – Reconciliation Service Agreement). (04) Provide you with our EQuIPP Program. This
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
17 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 10 explicit no's; 7 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall maintain its books and records in the manner reasonably required by the Company (including use of the Company’s bookkeeping and accounting systems)
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
If you use one of our recommended pharmacy management systems, we will have independent access to information in that system.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
All monthly financial and sales information shall be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and in the form prescribed by the Company and shall be received by the Company no later than the last day of the following month.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
As indicated above, our affiliates Cardinal Health 110, Cardinal Health 112, and RGH are currently the required wholesale suppliers and will derive revenues from the sale of goods to our franchisees.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 20
The following are trademark-specific franchisee organizations associated with the Medicap Pharmacy® System: Owners’ Advisory Council: Medicap formed this organization to foster and improve communications and the sharing of information between Medicap and its franchisees.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
The Company may, from time to time, provide Franchisee a list of approved suppliers of items used in the operation of the Business that meet the Company’s specifications. If provided, the Company may revise the approved supplier list from time to time in its sole discretion.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
For our fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, we had no revenue from the sales or leases of required goods and services to our franchisees, which is 0% of our total revenues of approximately $608,595.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
In addition, third-party suppliers may pay us rebates, based on purchases by our franchisees.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
90Item 8
On an ongoing basis, these purchases will represent approximately 90% of your total annual purchases.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
the Company reserves the right to require Franchisee to obtain the written approval of the Company prior to the use of any supplier of any item used or sold in the Business
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Review and/or inspect the operations of the Business periodically during each year
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee understands and agrees that the System may be modified and improved in the future, and that such modifications may require changes from time to time in the manner in which the Business is operated.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
We must approve your site before you acquire it or begin any development of the location (Franchise Agreement – Section I.A).
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Q. Web Sites and Social Media - Franchisee shall not establish any website, or other presence, site or location on the Internet or successor technology, including without limitation any social networking and/or social media website, profile or account, or content thereon, 09/25 FA- 5 relating to or making reference…
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesFranchise agreement
In addition, at the option of the Company, Franchisee must participate in any local or regional advertising cooperative established by the Company, on terms that may be set from time to time by the Company.
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall utilize insignia, equipment, decals, personnel uniforms, vehicle signs and colors, indoor signs and posters, and such other materials as are required by the Company to maintain uniformity of appearance, identity recognition, point of purchase impact, and full penetration of promotional opportunities.
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
If you use one of our recommended pharmacy management systems, we will have independent access to information in that system.
The filing answers no to 10 questions
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 11
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?Item 11
- Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?Franchise agreement
- Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?Item 5
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?Item 15
- Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?Franchise agreement
The vendor opportunity at Medicap Pharmacies
Medicap Pharmacies is a 59-unit health services franchise headquartered in Ohio, entirely franchised with no company-owned units. The 2025 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19, and unit count fell 6.35% year over year — context worth weighing against the tightly controlled procurement structure below.
Who controls software purchasing
Item 2 names Brad Cochran as President of MSI and Medicap and Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical and Specialty Distribution at Cardinal Health — a dual role that makes him the natural point of contact. Michelle Britt (Senior Vice President of Retail Independent, Inside Sales, ParMed and First Vet Services), John Anthony (Tony) Steiner (Vice President, MSI and Medicap; National Vice President, Programs and Solutions, Cardinal Health), Cornelius T. Lane III (Director, Franchise Development), and Julie V. Wilson (Director, Marketing Management) round out the leadership named in the filing.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required
Cardinal Health is mandated: the FDD obliges every Medicap franchisee to use it, which tracks with the fact that Cardinal Health is also the brand's corporate parent under a strategic multi-brand structure that includes sibling brand The Medicine Shoppe. EQuIPP appears in the filing as a named system without any usage requirement attached.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 sets specifications only for most items — any supplier meeting the franchisor's specifications is eligible — while pharmaceutical inventory carries the option to buy from franchisor affiliates at reduced fees. The Franchise Agreement automatically renews for a 5-year term unless either side gives notice of non-renewal at least 6 months before expiration, with a 3% royalty on sales in the meantime.
How to read the Medicap Pharmacies FDD
The Medicap Pharmacies FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2025. The embedded PDF viewer below carries the full filing — Item 11 for the Cardinal Health mandate and Item 8 for the specifications-only procurement model are the sections most relevant to a vendor.
Talk to FranCloud for a ranked list of franchise systems like Medicap Pharmacies, sized and scored against your own product.
Questions vendors ask
Medicap Pharmacies, answered from the filing
Brad Cochran, President of MSI and Medicap and Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Specialty Distribution at Cardinal Health, sits at the intersection of both roles and is the clearest buying-center contact.
Cardinal Health is mandated — the FDD obliges every franchisee to use it, unsurprising given it is also the corporate parent. EQuIPP is named in the filing without a usage requirement.
59 total units, all franchised, in the health services segment, though unit count fell 6.35% year over year.
Item 8 sets specifications only: for most items except pharmaceutical inventory, franchisees may purchase from any source meeting the franchisor's specifications, with reduced fees available for inventory bought from franchisor affiliates.
The Franchise Agreement automatically renews for a 5-year term unless either party gives notice of non-renewal at least 6 months before the term ends — a recurring, predictable point to revisit vendor relationships.
The Medicap Pharmacies FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2025. Use the embedded PDF viewer below to read Item 11 and Item 8 directly.
Source
Read the filing itself
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Medicap Pharmacies files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
45 operators run 64 mapped locations. 4 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit41
2–9 units3
10–24 units1
Top states by locations
| IA | 28 |
|---|---|
| ID | 5 |
| PA | 4 |
| IN | 3 |
| VA | 3 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Medicap Pharmacies
strategic_multibrand of Cardinal Health.
Sibling brands
Related Health services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.