MTM with Walgreens

[Gunter]

Hey all,

I just thought of an idea, but since I don't have much experience with business side of pharmacy, I'd like some inputs, thoughts/concerns, etc....

yesterday, for the first time I saw a pharmacist at Walgreens actually go into a private room with a patient and she went over all of the patient's meds with that patient (I have never seen this done in any retail store before). Then it occurs to me that when there's a crossover with pharmacists' shift, why don't retail stores try to promote free counseling through ads/advertisment? Pharmacist consultation on medications would really help people to see that pharmacist are more than just dispensers and can work to better improve patient's adherence to medications and builds patient's trust/loyalty and keep them for better business. Any other thoughts/ideas out there to improve MTM for retailers?

Process to get this going:

1. All patient must fill out a form providing accurate medical history and all medications that they are currently taking
2. Patients must set up an appointment with a pharmacist, and it will be up to the pharmacist when they can go over the meds with the patient, but the patient will not be denied!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[owlegrad]

I think you might be overestimating most people's desire for this service. Most expect to just come up to the counter and ask a question if they want to, not make an appointment fill out paperwork etc.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using SDN mobile

 

[ldiot]

Most people only care about two things:

1) Fill the script as fast as possible
2) Make it as cheap as possible

I've seen indi's do this exact thing and they get reimbursed like $50 or something

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

Hey all,

I just thought of an idea, but since I don't have much experience with business side of pharmacy, I'd like some inputs, thoughts/concerns, etc....

yesterday, for the first time I saw a pharmacist at Walgreens actually go into a private room with a patient and she went over all of the patient's meds with that patient (I have never seen this done in any retail store before). Then it occurs to me that when there's a crossover with pharmacists' shift, why don't retail stores try to promote free counseling through ads/advertisment? Pharmacist consultation on medications would really help people to see that pharmacist are more than just dispensers and can work to better improve patient's adherence to medications and builds patient's trust/loyalty and keep them for better business. Any other thoughts/ideas out there to improve MTM for retailers?

Process to get this going:

1. All patient must fill out a form providing accurate medical history and all medications that they are currently taking
2. Patients must set up an appointment with a pharmacist, and it will be up to the pharmacist when they can go over the meds with the patient, but the patient will not be denied!

You should immediately apply for a job as a senior director at corporate HQ. They eat this **** up. Bonus points if you have never set foot in a pharmacy.

 

[gwarm01]

Bonus points if you have never set foot in a pharmacy.

This will take you far with management in any pharmacy practice setting.

 

[Gunter]

The more I thought about this, the more it occurs to me that there's gonna be alot of liability issues for the company and they will have to work around it in order for this to happen. Gonna take a lot of work for sure, it may be a very slow start at first, but once we build patient's trust and further our credibility, I can expect more patients will ask for this service then we can start asking for reimbursement from insurance company once they start seeing how much of a difference pharmacist can make. Think of how many patients who are admitted to hospital due to non-compliance, don't know how to take their meds and etc.... Retail pharmacists are the easiest and most accessible source to help them with those problems. ANy retail pharmacist out there who can see possible profit to retail company by doing this as well as open more pharmacist position down the road?

 

[zelman]

The more I thought about this, the more it occurs to me that there's gonna be alot of liability issues for the company and they will have to work around it in order for this to happen. Gonna take a lot of work for sure, it may be a very slow start at first, but once we build patient's trust and further our credibility, I can expect more patients will ask for this service then we can start asking for reimbursement from insurance company once they start seeing how much of a difference pharmacist can make. Think of how many patients who are admitted to hospital due to non-compliance, don't know how to take their meds and etc.... Retail pharmacists are the easiest and most accessible source to help them with those problems. ANy retail pharmacist out there who can see possible profit to retail company by doing this as well as open more pharmacist position down the road?

This will open as many pharmacist jobs as immunizations did: zero. It will be another task to get done with no additional resources.

 

[BMBiology]

It is hard to justify spending $100 an hour on a pharmacist (includes benefits) when the service you are providing does not cover the cost.

There is a lot of problems with MTM. Low reimbursement is one of them.

There is no such thing as "customer loyalty" in retail. People spend an hour with a Best Buy rep and then they buy the TV on Amazon.

People rarely appreciate free things. If it is so good then why is it free?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[ldiot]

It's all about convenience. nobody values your profession skill time or ability.

 

[Gunter]

@zelman, I definitely agree that there's no way they can hire more pharmacist with low reimbursement, time to shoot this idea out the door.
@BMBiology, my pharmacist told me that she has patients who's been going to her pharmacy for years knowing they can get better deals on some of their other Rxs at other pharmacies, but decided not to because they said her store has great customer service. Maybe there isn't customer loyalty in the front end of the store, there's loyalty in the pharmacy for sure.

 

[BMBiology]

^ you have to look at this from a corporate point of view. Are customers loyal to other stores as well? People will move. People will die. Staff will change.

Another problem is perception. The Board of Pharmacy requires the pharmacist to counsel on every new prescription. Therefore, we can't charge someone for counseling. People see this as a free service so when you tell them they have to make an appointment just to talk to a pharmacist, they are going to think that is an inconvenience when they can easily walk up the counter and get free counseling.

If the cost is $100 an hour, how many more prescriptions must the pharmacist fill just to earn $100? Yeah there are loyal customers at some stores but these customers are not going anywhere regardless if the pharmacy provides MTM or not. The big question is how do you steal customers from your competitor? How are you going to measure something that is intangible?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[lane one]

I rotated through an Indi that did something similar. You could make an appointment with the "pharmacy doctor" and discuss whatever drug related issues that you liked in a 30min block. This place was mostly herbals/compounding in an affluent area so the client were all the cash payers that wanted to be catered to. People would literally pay this guy 100$ for 30min to discuss why their teenage son was smokin' the ganja and if his ADHD meds could be to blame. THEN the "doc" would suggest it was neurotransmitter in balance, and pitch a 30$ herbal for "neurotransmitter support". Making money hand over fist to this day. Pitch this one to corporate and their ears might perk up a bit. They're all about the shady stuff.

 

[Lnsean]

Hey all,

I just thought of an idea, but since I don't have much experience with business side of pharmacy, I'd like some inputs, thoughts/concerns, etc....

yesterday, for the first time I saw a pharmacist at Walgreens actually go into a private room with a patient and she went over all of the patient's meds with that patient (I have never seen this done in any retail store before). Then it occurs to me that when there's a crossover with pharmacists' shift, why don't retail stores try to promote free counseling through ads/advertisment? Pharmacist consultation on medications would really help people to see that pharmacist are more than just dispensers and can work to better improve patient's adherence to medications and builds patient's trust/loyalty and keep them for better business. Any other thoughts/ideas out there to improve MTM for retailers?

Process to get this going:

1. All patient must fill out a form providing accurate medical history and all medications that they are currently taking
2. Patients must set up an appointment with a pharmacist, and it will be up to the pharmacist when they can go over the meds with the patient, but the patient will not be denied!

lmao

no one cares for this service. it's a major inconvenience for everyone involved. source: i'm one of those walgreens pharmacists who has done this countless times.

 

[rx1983]

Hey all,

I just thought of an idea, but since I don't have much experience with business side of pharmacy, I'd like some inputs, thoughts/concerns, etc....

yesterday, for the first time I saw a pharmacist at Walgreens actually go into a private room with a patient and she went over all of the patient's meds with that patient (I have never seen this done in any retail store before). Then it occurs to me that when there's a crossover with pharmacists' shift, why don't retail stores try to promote free counseling through ads/advertisment? Pharmacist consultation on medications would really help people to see that pharmacist are more than just dispensers and can work to better improve patient's adherence to medications and builds patient's trust/loyalty and keep them for better business. Any other thoughts/ideas out there to improve MTM for retailers?

Process to get this going:

1. All patient must fill out a form providing accurate medical history and all medications that they are currently taking
2. Patients must set up an appointment with a pharmacist, and it will be up to the pharmacist when they can go over the meds with the patient, but the patient will not be denied!

Going to be tough to do with Walgreens getting rid of pharmacist overlap.

 

[farmadiazepine]

Why am I going to pay a pharmacist $60 an hour for a service that makes no money? So I can continue filling this person's lisinopril every month and make 10 cents? It seems like a complete waste of time for me and the customer. Like the poster above me said, NOBODY CARES FOR THIS SERVICE. It's an inconvenience for everyone. Have you ever tried calling somebody on a Saturday for an MTM service? These people get a random phone call from the pharmacy because the pharmacy sees an opportunity to make $12 per "alert" and patient gets their Saturday rudely and awkwardly interrupted with an unscheduled phone call.

Half the things you tell the patient during this "counseling" session they won't even remember.

What we need to do is stop confusing ordinary regular people with complicated medication names and stop telling them about every side effect. We need to come up with one pill that will solve all the patient's problems. Doctor tells pharmacy all the medications the patient is on, then pharmacy compounds one big gumball of all the medications. Patient simply chews one gumball a day. No side effects except sugar highs and cavities.

 

[lane one]

Why am I going to pay a pharmacist $60 an hour for a service that makes no money? So I can continue filling this person's lisinopril every month and make 10 cents? It seems like a complete waste of time for me and the customer. Like the poster above me said, NOBODY CARES FOR THIS SERVICE. It's an inconvenience for everyone. Have you ever tried calling somebody on a Saturday for an MTM service? These people get a random phone call from the pharmacy because the pharmacy sees an opportunity to make $12 per "alert" and patient gets their Saturday rudely and awkwardly interrupted with an unscheduled phone call.

Half the things you tell the patient during this "counseling" session they won't even remember.

What we need to do is stop confusing ordinary regular people with complicated medication names and stop telling them about every side effect. We need to come up with one pill that will solve all the patient's problems. Doctor tells pharmacy all the medications the patient is on, then pharmacy compounds one big gumball of all the medications. Patient simply chews one gumball a day. No side effects except sugar highs and cavities.

Throw some nicotine in to ensure "compliance" and I think you're on to something.