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of pharmacies, including some banner groups, are changing the way they operate. They’re using dispensary technicians to do the grunt work in the dispensary, which frees up the pharmacist to deliver professional services in the consulting room.” Streamline the process When it comes to professional services, there are a number of ways for pharmacies to deploy tools that help the pharmacist by making things quicker and easier, especially by capturing and interpreting customer data. “One of the most effective things is using a professional services platform to identify patients, as it makes it so much easier to know which patients are eligible for particular professional services,” Mr Biggs said. “Every pharmacy serious about delivering professional services should really have a professional services platform. There’s a selection on the market, but if you’re still delivering professional services and managing that on a bit of paper, scribbling down a blood pressure reading and giving it to a patient, you’re not going to make it work, and you certainly won’t be able to grow. “The other big thing I see is pharmacies delivering a plethora of professional services, but there’s no way of measuring them if it’s done using scraps of paper. So, I believe there’s a big opportunity for professional services around data governance, too.” For insights into what successful pharmacies in the professional services space do, look no further than some of the bigger brands and banner groups. Being part of a brand or a banner can be very helpful because of the support around delivering professional services, with many pharmacies gaining real benefits from focusing on these. A good example of this is the way in which certain banner groups look to document and create stock cards for the professional services they carry out. So, when someone has a heart health check, or a diabetes risk assessment, or a sleep apnoea screening, this is captured as a transaction at the point of sale. “That type of approach enables the services to be measured and monitored, and allows you to also start deriving really interesting insights as to what auxiliary sales might accompany the professional services element,” Mr Biggs said. “So, it goes back to that data governance, and also good operators that have the appropriate stock cards and know what to recommend to the customer.” There are opportunities to sell blood pressure monitors after heart health checks, glucometers after diabetes risk assessments, and sleep apnoea devices following consultations about this condition. Which services are right for me? When considering the best mix of professional services for your pharmacy, it’s important to take a detailed look at the needs of your local demographic. We asked Pharmacy Platform Manager Professional Services and Programs Krysti-Lee Rigby to share some insights into various professional services, including how to choose those best suited to your pharmacy. “One thing to be aware of is that, even with all the data that exists, if you don’t know what you’re trying to achieve with the data, there’s no point having it,” she said. “So, with professional services, if you’re wanting to get involved and play in that space, and you have a clinic room ready and the resources available, you first need to make sure that you look at your local demographics. “If you’ve got that data, you’ll be able to say, ‘OK, these are the type of people I have as patients and these are the disease states they have’. Then you can actually tweak the professional services you offer to match the demographic. “We’ve seen an example of a pharmacy offering a baby clinic service while the majority of the local demographic were 55 to 75 years. If you do that, it’s simply not going to work. “In terms of the various possibilities around professional services, I think the number one is vaccinations. Five years ago, when we first started doing vaccinations at pharmacies, it was a bit of a novel thing, and not many pharmacies were doing it. Today, pretty much all pharmacies are doing it, and it’s seen as a core service that the pharmacies offer. “We’ve also seen from the data that with the patients coming in for the flu vaccination, a lot of them are people that don’t normally shop in the pharmacy and who consider themselves to be fairly healthy people. “So, when they come in for the first time, BUSINESS THROUGH INNOVATION PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 29 you can have a conversation with them in the clinic room, and then they might see some of your marketing materials – on, for example, a lung clinic that you run, or they may ask about the wound care service you offer. We usually find those conversations lead to other things, too. “I also regularly visit our member pharmacies and, by just talking to pharmacists, I can see wound care services is becoming a really big opportunity. There’s quite a number of pharmacies that are now playing in that space, and they say it’s not about trying to be a chronic-wound clinic or anything like that, but it’s more about helping prevent patients reaching that stage. “It’s really interesting to find that patients are perfectly willing to pay for these services, and not having to rely on 7CPA income for some of the professional services means it’s a huge opportunity for pharmacies. “It’s the same with vaccinations, and there are some other pharmacies out there doing sleep apnoea, with patients happy to pay for that, too.” Ms Rigby stresses the importance of ensuring “you get the patient to have a really good experience”. “That way, they gain the most value out of what you do for them, and the relationship is established for the future,” she said. “The other thing to remember is finding out what your demographics are, and then not trying to do everything. It’s better if you do one or two services really well rather than doing all the seven CPA basics inadequately. If you do that, the patient isn’t going to get the value from it, whereas if you pick just one thing – for example, wound care – and you do that really well, you’ll get known in your local area as the place to go for the best treatment.” It’s a gift horse, so treat it right With Covid vaccinations bringing new patients to your pharmacy, don’t squander the opportunity to engage with them and discuss other services you offer. Encourage the use of a loyalty card and use the data it generates to intelligently build a professional services offering that meets your community’s needs. Hugely experienced companies are available to support you, and the journey is the start of becoming a genuine community health hub, with all the value it can add to your community. RETAIL PHARMACY • JUN 2021