Page 32 - Retail Pharmacy Magazine October 2020

30 BUSINESS THROUGH INNOVATION DISPENSING FROM PAGE 29 Take a proactive approach One of the changes with e-prescribing is the loss of the scripts-on-file feature that guaranteed a pharmacy future business. Now, pharmacies need to be proactive, finding alternative ways to drive loyalty and repeat business. “One of the ways they’ll be able to do this is through the active script list,” Mr Richardson said. “Many people believe it’s the closest thing to scripts on file that the digital world is going to offer. “With the token method of e-prescribing, the token goes to a patient’s phone, and they can take it wherever they want. However, the active script list changes that narrative slightly, because it’s very much permissions based, and that’s an opportunity pharmacies must grasp. “While there’s no replacement for scripts on file, pharmacists and the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[Pharmacy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] Guild are encouraging pharmacies to push the active script list, as it’s the only model that will go some way to replacing that. In particular, pharmacists should take every opportunity to ask patients presenting scripts if they’ll grant the pharmacy access to their active script list. “Pharmacist adoption should be pretty strong, as they’ll have both an incentive and the ability to register people for an active script list while they’re talking to you. We made sure we built that into the Corum Dispense software. “If somebody turns up with a token, you have no control, but if they have an active script list, you have a little more control. The view is that pharmacists will have that conversation to try and get patients registered and move them onto an active script list. “That’s where we believe pharmacists can start to drive more adoption. “From a consumer perspective, the active scripts list is seamless and easy. Once you’ve given permission, all you do is turn up, identify yourself and then the pharmacy will have access to everything they need to be able to select your scripts.” Treasure your valuables Maximising the profitability of your existing dispensary revenue is a step that can have an immediate impact and taking steps to protect what you already have is key. Speaking at the 2019 Pharmacy Connect event, former Pharmacy Guild National President Kos Sclavos presented the topic, ‘Do you know how well your dispensary is performing?’ expressing in typically direct manner his alarm that many pharmacy owners and managers simply don’t understand the dispensary part of their business well enough. Among the strategies Mr Sclavos shared was to optimise dispensary revenue opportunities by “focusing on retaining great patients”. Using the Guild’s ScriptMAP report enables members to access detailed and easily understood financial data and charts, among them an analysis of top dispensary customers. “When looking at dispensary gross profits by top customers, most pharmacy owners and managers are surprised by the average figures compiled from the approximately 800 pharmacies that have completed a ScriptMAP report”, Mr Sclavos said, citing these figures: offers an opportunity to go beyond just your existing patients and explore aged care dispensing. The Pharmacy Guild’s CP2025 ‘Framework for Change’ publication confirms that current trends point to increased medicines opportunities for pharmacists, and today it remains accurate. On dispensing, it says: “The core medicines role of community pharmacists will evolve from the current focus on dispensing, to medicines experts entrusted to deliver individualised health outcomes for their patients through a combination of medicines supply, advice, support, management and safety, working in collaboration with other health professionals.” With so many publications and industry bodies confirming the same overall picture, it can be confusing to know where to start with automation, but with a clear objective of patient retention, DAAs is an effective entry point. Meditec Business Manager Andrew Finster, discussing the best way to approach automation, believes dispensing can be considered as a front- of-house or back-of-house function. “When we think about it, we see the front-of-house dispensing as the retail element, dealing with the people who come in off the street,” he said. The back- of-house dispensing is catering for the DAA packaging and aged care medicines. “With the front-of-house dispensing, the focus is typically on the way whole packs can be quickly, efficiently and simply received by the pharmacist to be able to share with the patient. “Under that scenario, there are robots that talk to your main dispensing system, such as Minfos, Corum or FRED, for example, and the dispense system tells the robot what it is you’re dispensing. From there, the robot picks it and takes it to a chute near where you’re tapping away on your computer doing the dispensing for the patient, then drops it down so you’re able to give it to the patient. “The front of house is quite different to the back, where the skill set and the requirements are all about individual doses of multiple medicines, as opposed to complete packs. “In a robotic sense, I guess you can say that in the back there’s a packing infrastructure and in the front there’s a picking infrastructure, while the software is the glue that helps it all to function. In the optimal dispensing process, the dispense TO PAGE 32 RETAIL PHARMACY • OCT 2020 • • • • Top 20 customers contribute 7.14 per cent of gross profit revenues. Top 50 customers contribute 13.8 per cent. Top 100 customers contribute 22.9 per cent. Mr Sclavos was very clear on the importance of this focusing strategy. “I’m saying focus on the top 100 customers, because those customers account for well over a fifth of the gross profit in your pharmacy,” he said. “As pharmacies, we need to know who these customers are.” He suggests flagging the customers on a database, understanding their value to your business and making an effort to acknowledge them occasionally. “Even if it’s only something small like sending a Christmas card, it’s well worth the effort to say thank you for coming along to our pharmacy,” he added. The provision of dose administration aids (DAAs) is known to be an effective retention tool. Mr Sclavos suggests offering DAAs to those top customers. “It’s an obvious choice.” he said. “Once you’re packing medicines for those patients, they’re yours, although keeping them happy is key. Whatever you do, don’t lose these patients.” Pack it in The provision of DAAs can be time consuming, particularly if you have a significant number of patients requiring them. However, automated packing is increasingly becoming a cost-effective solution that not only saves time but also