I’ve reviewed a number of articles and polls and spoken to many pharmacists about their thoughts on the current market conditions and I’ve observed a disturbing level of – somewhat unjustified- negativity and pessimism. To them, the air is slowly hissing out of the balloon.
It’s true that the Australian government like many other government’s aren’t handing out a lot of favours, and that is a universal concern. Consider the bitter remarks that came from the AMA in Australia about unchanged Medicare rebates.
Nothing is going to return the pharmacy sector to the previous halcyon days, as many now describe them in retrospect. That said, pharmacy overall now has some security and comes out of negotiations generally slightly ahead. In this article I’m about to discuss some very specific Australian regulations but they hold great significance because of there similarities to what all pharmacists are facing globally and the advice will speak to everyone.
In Australia the government reserves the right to review and possibly change some aspects of the Agreement. Many pharmacists are worried by this but we have vocal and influential allies in the Pharmacy Guild and the Pharmaceutical Society who will go in to bat (with a Big Bang) if the Agreement is called into question.
The Benefits Of The 6CPA and the resulting current situation
On the plus side:
• Services and standards of care for patients will be maintained, for now at least.
• Location rules are still protected until 2020.
• The new flat fees for handling and infrastructure leave many pharmacies slightly better off, especially if they have a high script/ FOS ratio and/or process a lot of scripts for low cost medicines.
• The funds allocated to professional services was doubled. Hallelujah! This is the future for many pharmacies and many have taken advantage of this opportunity.
Winners In The Pharmacy Profession
Despite some understandably anxious pharmacy owners, there are other pharmacists, who either don’t notice or mostly ignore these less than ideal circumstances. Dare I say it, I’ve even met pharmacists who are excited by the current market conditions and political climate and forging ahead with plans to grow, making a bigger difference to more communities, offering innovative and new customer service and services.
Some forward thinking pharmacies have been streamlining their systems and processes, motivating and training up their staff members to offer even greater value to their customers and focusing their own efforts on developing the professional services that patients need: MedsChecks, HMRs and also smoking cessation, heart health and diabetes clinics, blood pressure measurement, vaccinations. All of these, paid and unpaid provide opportunities to cement their role in the community and their contribution. The result? Loyal customers, happy, fulfilled staff and a healthy bottom line.
Some pharmacists have been massively successful, and it may long continue. There are proven strategies which are working for successful pharmacies right now, but you must be open minded. You must be willing to make a few small yet critical changes.
Most importantly, there are pharmacies in the sector who are leading lights, showing others the way to be hugely successful, maintaining their integrity and expanding their value to their communities.
These are, in many cases, what other industries refer to as “early adopters”.
Automating For Success
These are the pharmacies who are embracing new technologies, especially automation of their dispensaries, their webster packing and their human resources administration.
The popularity of technology is growing and must continue to do so for pharmacy to continue to grow and thrive.
Automation is an investment that not only pays for itself within a few years but is now a key strategy to help all the staff in the pharmacy to be where they add the value only possible through human contact- caring for customers. Better understanding their needs and helping you, the owner, know what products and services you need in order to best help your customers and keep you profitable, in the process.
And the instant time savings that can be achieved by allowing your HR administration – your rostering, time and attendance, interpretation of awards and payroll – to be taken care of with a software solution like easyEMPLOYER is its own reward. The more you can stick to the tasks that only you can do and not be side tracked with things that can be better handled by automation, with greater accuracy and expertise, the more you can afford the time to focus on your customers, understanding and meeting their needs, increasing their loyalty and future proofing your business at the same time.
Surprisingly, the businesses taking advantage of these technologies are not always the high profile pharmacies. There are plenty of pharmacies quietly making these changes and reaping the benefits of more time and resources and using those gains to expand their front of shop offering and their range of professional services.
It’s true that the support from the government is ever decreasing but many pharmacies are rising to the challenge.
They’re using these tools to cleverly free up the pharmacist for forward dispensing and the rest of the team to be with customers and really focus on building their relationships and understanding of them. They have the opportunity to identify the need for professional services that pharmacists provide- both paid and unpaid.
The Key To Your Future
Bottom line, either you’re waiting while you’re hearing the hiss of the air leaving the balloon or you can continue to grow, create better more flexible time saving systems in your pharmacy, and not only fend off the negative impact in our current market, but you can thrive.
There’s a real opportunity here to add unique value to your community and your customers with professional services they want and need as well as being a trusted adviser and proactively improving your customers’ health and well being. And not just you as the pharmacy owner but your pharmacists and front of shop staff.
Don’t die wondering where all the great customers are going, ensure they come to you.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to accept the reality that support from the government is static overall and will likely continue to decrease in the future. The market is one where the discounters entered with a big bang but you have the opportunity to patch any leaks and quietly inflate the balloon.
Your customers and patients need you and want your advice.
You still want a successful business that contributes to your community and continues to provide you with security and a great lifestyle, don’t you?
Every industry has had to cope with tough times, disadvantageous changes to rules, regulations or market conditions. Sometimes all of them, at once. Only the tough survive.
Are you one of them? How do you know?
The fact is whether or not you’re tough, for pharmacists, things are not going to get better without your enthusiastic input. Business is more competitive and challenging than ever before. It’s time to get with the program, if you haven’t already. The good news is, it’s not rocket science and you have a golden opportunity to create some of your own precedents and rules. You can still be ahead of the pack and ahead of those annoying discounters. The smart operators will survive and indeed will flourish as competitors shrivel and fall by the wayside.
Your Value Proposition
There will always be a place for pharmacies who offer real value to their community. And I don’t mean the cheapest prices. Customers still want your expertise and advice. They value it enough to pay a little more in the front of shop if it comes with genuine care and expert knowledge and advice.
The basics still apply. Care for your customers and patients. Look after your staff. Reward loyalty from wherever it comes. Keep an eye on all your numbers, not just your costs. Invest in products and services for your pharmacy that have measurable return on investment.
With all the challenges that pharmacies are faced with today, what we need to recognise is there are pharmacies out there who are more profitable than ever because they’ve adopted the newest and latest strategies. Not only are they seeing increased profitability but they’re spending less time having to be involved in the minutiae of the pharmacy.
In fact they are able to take days off and their pharmacy is operating efficiently and effectively because they’ve systematised their businesses and automated most processes.
So today, not only can your pharmacy yield more profits than before but you could actually spend less time achieving it and increase your quality of life by being less stressed.
It’s the evolutionary process. Only the fittest survive.
Now it’s the turn of pharmacy.
Are you ready?
