Ideas to drive flu shots !? Help?

[Rain Lee]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm a new pharmacist working at a CVS. I get these weekly targets for flu shots and am struggling to meet target. I don't want to let my supervisor down.
What I'm doing: offer & try to convince patients at every encounter and make announcements over the loud speaker every hour. I might ask about setting up flu clinics -- not sure how that works really.

What are your stores doing to drive flu shots?

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

 

[pharmalt82]

I'm a new pharmacist working at a CVS. I get these weekly targets for flu shots and am struggling to meet target. I don't want to let my supervisor down.
What I'm doing: offer & try to convince patients at every encounter and make announcements over the loud speaker every hour. I might ask about setting up flu clinics -- not sure how that works really.

What are your stores doing to drive flu shots?

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

When a ptn is picking up an Rx, quickly check what insurance they have and tell them how much it would be.

 

[owlegrad]

If they are 65 or over let them know Part B provides the shot at no cost.

 

[Old Timer]

Every customer transaction in your pharmacy ends with:

"Do you want to get your flu shot today?"

EVERY person on your staff must ask EVERY customer at EVERY transaction.

We also have a flier that we made that is the size of the label that has free flu shot and lists the insurance companies that cover it 100% and attach them to each receipt for patients that have a corresponding insurance.

 

[Sparda29]

Every customer transaction in your pharmacy ends with:

"Do you want to get your flu shot today?"

EVERY person on your staff must ask EVERY customer at EVERY transaction.

We also have a flier that we made that is the size of the label that has free flu shot and lists the insurance companies that cover it 100% and attach them to each receipt for patients that have a corresponding insurance.

And if they don't ask?

 

[Farmercyst]

And if they don't ask?

Wrong question. The OP asked how to drive flu shots. Not what to do if your team isn't trying. Old Timer is right for CVS's purposes. Just reiterated it to my team this morning.

 

[Sparda29]

Wrong question. The OP asked how to drive flu shots. Not what to do if your team isn't trying. Old Timer is right for CVS's purposes. Just reiterated it to my team this morning.

I damn well wouldn't ask and I wouldn't expect my team to "sell" flu shots at each transaction. Unless each of those flu shots is pure bonus money for me, I'm not doing it.

That's what I do at the independent where I work, I get $10 per flu shot.

 

[Jibby321]

Offer to stick them in the drive thru while they wait. I'm actually surprised cvs hasn't started doing this yet since all they care about are their metrics.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Another thing our district does...get a list of providers in your area that provide no cost flu shots. Then whenever we are sitting there verifying, we slap a neon colored sticker on the bag (and the sticker is hard to miss) that pushes how quick and easy their FREE flu shot is.

My store already did 20 shots when I left Monday morning for the week.

 

[Momus]

Don't need to do anything, just wait until the media covers it as epidemic.

 

[owlegrad]

Don't need to do anything, just wait until the media covers it as epidemic.

So true. I remember our district manager coming in for a visit and he ended up doing over 20 shots himself while he was in the store. This was of course during the great flu scare of 2012.

I don't know why it has t be an emergency for people to decide they need it.

 

[PriorAuth]

Offer Flumist to people who say they are afraid to needles (assuming they are ok to receive Flumist, of course).
You don't get that many opportunities to shoot something inside other people's nostrils so be proud while you are at it.

 

[farmadiazepine]

How about you just stop caring and not give a f**k. You gain absolutely nothing by meeting target. At CVS, WHEN YOU MEET TARGET, THEN NEXT YEAR'S TARGET IS SET HIGHER. The stores which don't meet target, then next year the target is dropped.

I like what this Sparda kid does. His job gives him an incentive to sell flu shots. At CVS, in addition to all my filling, verifying, and all other responsibilities, now I am expected to drop everything I am doing and put on gloves, get alcohol swabs, draw up a syringe, go to some random room or get behind a screen, give a shot, etc etc etc. At the end of the day or the end of the year I don't get rewarded financially for doing this. So I don't give a f**k.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

How about you just stop caring and not give a f**k. You gain absolutely nothing by meeting target. At CVS, WHEN YOU MEET TARGET, THEN NEXT YEAR'S TARGET IS SET HIGHER. The stores which don't meet target, then next year the target is dropped.

I like what this Sparda kid does. His job gives him an incentive to sell flu shots. At CVS, in addition to all my filling, verifying, and all other responsibilities, now I am expected to drop everything I am doing and put on gloves, get alcohol swabs, draw up a syringe, go to some random room or get behind a screen, give a shot, etc etc etc. At the end of the day or the end of the year I don't get rewarded financially for doing this. So I don't give a f**k.

Yes you do... it is called your salary.

As if that is not enough, there is also your annual review and bonus. Flu shots matter... The trick is to do enough just to meet target. I filled enough flu shots last year and donated the rest to my friends.

Rest assure, if somebody does not hit their target, they get will get it up the ass. The AVP gets it, followed by the regional manager, the DM, the PIC, and then up to the staff. For some reason, Flu is more important than everything else...

 

[Rain Lee]

What is the net profit for flu shots anyway? The flu shot itself is just $32 so if pharmacist gets $10 per flu shot, then company ain't really profiting.

 

[Rain Lee]

And thanks for all your feedback everyone. I still think this flu shot target business is ridiculous.

 

[owlegrad]

What is the net profit for flu shots anyway? The flu shot itself is just $32 so if pharmacist gets $10 per flu shot, then company ain't really profiting.

I am curious about that too. For as much focus it gets, I wonder how much the company really makes.

 

[Old Timer]

I am curious about that too. For as much focus it gets, I wonder how much the company really makes.

7400 stores X 300 shots/store X 20.00/shot=44 million dollars per year

 

[crossurfingers]

I remember a few years ago they would call flu shot season our company's version of Christmas. They send out daily/weekly emails with goals and who's not meeting them, etc. If you don't meet it you need an "action plan". They always signed off the emails with "Happy immunizing!" Doesn't that give you such a warm, fuzzy feeling inside?

 

[crossurfingers]

How about you just stop caring and not give a f**k. You gain absolutely nothing by meeting target. At CVS, WHEN YOU MEET TARGET, THEN NEXT YEAR'S TARGET IS SET HIGHER. The stores which don't meet target, then next year the target is dropped.

I like what this Sparda kid does. His job gives him an incentive to sell flu shots. At CVS, in addition to all my filling, verifying, and all other responsibilities, now I am expected to drop everything I am doing and put on gloves, get alcohol swabs, draw up a syringe, go to some random room or get behind a screen, give a shot, etc etc etc. At the end of the day or the end of the year I don't get rewarded financially for doing this. So I don't give a f**k.

Someone asked this question to our MTM trainer a few months ago (regarding motivation/incentive to do MTM's when we personally don't see any of the financial benefits) and her answer was basically, "Your incentive is that you get to keep your job."

 

[lorain]

What is the net profit for flu shots anyway? The flu shot itself is just $32 so if pharmacist gets $10 per flu shot, then company ain't really profiting.

when i was in retail, 10 bucks per shot was profit

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

What is the net profit for flu shots anyway? The flu shot itself is just $32 so if pharmacist gets $10 per flu shot, then company ain't really profiting.

The flu shot costs 10 dollars. You have to factor in 7 dollars for wages, processing, rent, etc. The shot itself is 32 dollars.

CVS's profit is 15 dollars.

I don't know how Sparda's figure out the math. Maybe he is a bad businessman?

In NYS, it has to be a collaborative practice in order for a pharmacist to give out shots. For an independent pharmacy, that means they have to pay a doctor or NP to sign off on it. This can amount to at least a few hundred if not thousands.

So doing the math,

30 dollars price reimbursed. 10 dollars for the flu shot. 10 dollars to Sparda. 7 dollars to process the prescription (rent, technician salary, expires, label, etc) leaves 3 to 5 dollars.

That is not a lot left. If they have to pay the MD 500 dollars to enter into the collaborative practice, they have to do at least 100 flu shots just to break even. That is why most independents in NYS do not do flu shots!

Either way, I hope Sparda's boss knows what he is doing. If he doesn't have a collaborative practice, then he is exposing himself to a lot of liabilities and risk for little reward.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Someone asked this question to our MTM trainer a few months ago (regarding motivation/incentive to do MTM's when we personally don't see any of the financial benefits) and her answer was basically, "Your incentive is that you get to keep your job."

I really don't get this at all. I'm there for 12 hours. If they want me to jab people with needles...whatever. Either way, I'm out of there at 9AM.

 

[Ackj]

In NYS, it has to be a collaborative practice in order for a pharmacist to give out shots. For an independent pharmacy, that means they have to pay a doctor or NP to sign off on it. This can amount to at least a few hundred if not thousands.

I have never heard of paying the MD for the collaboration. Usually one of the pharmacists just asks their own pcp to sign it, from my experiences. If you're in a chain, one doctor's protocol covers the entire county, so only one guy has to do it.

 

[doublehh03]

Yes you do... it is called your salary.

As if that is not enough, there is also your annual review and bonus. Flu shots matter... The trick is to do enough just to meet target. I filled enough flu shots last year and donated the rest to my friends.

Rest assure, if somebody does not hit their target, they get will get it up the ass. The AVP gets it, followed by the regional manager, the DM, the PIC, and then up to the staff. For some reason, Flu is more important than everything else...

What are you talking about? Your bonus is primarily based on your SOS scores (which takes into account the entire pharmacy business). Flu shot helps with your scripts, and if you meet your scripts, it helps.

Quite a few stores don't meet target. My store, we exceeded target last year by 38%. Bonus? Our target last year was around 650. We did like 900. You know what our target is this year? 1022. Ridiculous. But the stores that didn't meet target, sure they need to write action plans on how to meet it, but it's like if you get sub-3 on SOS. Same crap.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

What are you talking about? Your bonus is primarily based on your SOS scores (which takes into account the entire pharmacy business). Flu shot helps with your scripts, and if you meet your scripts, it helps.

Quite a few stores don't meet target. My store, we exceeded target last year by 38%. Bonus? Our target last year was around 650. We did like 900. You know what our target is this year? 1022. Ridiculous. But the stores that didn't meet target, sure they need to write action plans on how to meet it, but it's like if you get sub-3 on SOS. Same crap.

My target is in the thousand range too.


It is ridiculous but the number is based on the percentage that you beat budget. This is to account for new store openings.. For example, if you fill 1500 scripts when your budget is 1200 (doing 20 percent more), they will make your budget next year 1500 plus 20 percent which is 1800.

If my target was 650, I would give my DM 650. Not one shot more. I beat my budget last year and instead of processing the prescriptions, I gave the shots to my friends.

About the bonus, I was referring to the script part because I have seen stores miss budget by 3-400 flu shots which can account for 1 to 2 days worth of prescriptions. For my review though, my supervisor do use targets (flu) to give me my rating.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I have never heard of paying the MD for the collaboration. Usually one of the pharmacists just asks their own pcp to sign it, from my experiences. If you're in a chain, one doctor's protocol covers the entire county, so only one guy has to do it.

I am not sure on it. You might be right. I can see a MD or NP friend sign off on it which I mention. I am not sure why a PCP would sign off on it as I have not tried. I assume most MD or NP would want compensation for this kind of stuff because they have to be available in NYS to answer questions.

I know for CVS, a person signs it for each region. Usually a person who works in the minute clinics.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I really don't get this at all. I'm there for 12 hours. If they want me to jab people with needles...whatever. Either way, I'm out of there at 9AM.

👍

I have the same feeling as you. CVS pays me 70 dollars an hour. Once I factor in 401k, stock options, bonuses, etc... I will do what ever they ask me to do within reason. I will do my SOS plan, flu shots, etc... However when it is time for me to leave, I am out.

 

[doublehh03]

My target is in the thousand range too.


It is ridiculous but the number is based on the percentage that you beat budget. This is to account for new store openings.. For example, if you fill 1500 scripts when your budget is 1200 (doing 20 percent more), they will make your budget next year 1500 plus 20 percent which is 1800.

If my target was 650, I would give my DM 650. Not one shot more. I beat my budget last year and instead of processing the prescriptions, I gave the shots to my friends.

About the bonus, I was referring to the script part because I have seen stores miss budget by 3-400 flu shots which can account for 1 to 2 days worth of prescriptions. For my review though, my supervisor do use targets (flu) to give me my rating.

Oh I know how they calculate the budget. YTD I'm beating my script budget last year by around 4%, but I'm 0.6% under their target. Ridiculous man.

This year, I don't even bother trying advertising it. Target through this week is 65 and we're at 55 right now with 2 days to go. People want shots, they're gonna come.

That's nice of your sup. My sup simply went by SOS lol. I've elevated my store SOS even more this year so I really wanna see how much they will give.

 

[doublehh03]

👍

I have the same feeling as you. CVS pays me 70 dollars an hour. Once I factor in 401k, stock options, bonuses, etc... I will do what ever they ask me to do within reason. I will do my SOS plan, flu shots, etc... However when it is time for me to leave, I am out.

Me? I don't do observations and just BS my SOS action plans (childish stuff). Produce results, and they don't talk so much.

 

[zelman]

My target is in the thousand range too.


It is ridiculous but the number is based on the percentage that you beat budget. This is to account for new store openings.. For example, if you fill 1500 scripts when your budget is 1200 (doing 20 percent more), they will make your budget next year 1500 plus 20 percent which is 1800.

If my target was 650, I would give my DM 650. Not one shot more. I beat my budget last year and instead of processing the prescriptions, I gave the shots to my friends.

About the bonus, I was referring to the script part because I have seen stores miss budget by 3-400 flu shots which can account for 1 to 2 days worth of prescriptions. For my review though, my supervisor do use targets (flu) to give me my rating.

My old store did zero shots in 2009. Then 20 shots in 2010. Then I became PIC in 2011. We did 550 shots. Missed budget by ~50 shots. Clearly past results were not used to design the budget.

 

[cj98]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but my store is not reaching our quota for immunizations. Our company is overstaffed as well, so my district manager is giving me hours in hopes that I can get as much immunizations done as possible. My district manager gave me a very high goal to reach and I am worried my hours will be cut if I don't reach our quota. I was thinking of reaching out to nursing homes in the area to promote flu and prevnar vaccines since these are zero copay under medicare pt B and I could probably reach our goal this way.

Does anyone here have experience with going to nursing homes and can give me advice to get started? Thank you!

 

[FlavyFlav]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but my store is not reaching our quota for immunizations. Our company is overstaffed as well, so my district manager is giving me hours in hopes that I can get as much immunizations done as possible. My district manager gave me a very high goal to reach and I am worried my hours will be cut if I don't reach our quota. I was thinking of reaching out to nursing homes in the area to promote flu and prevnar vaccines since these are zero copay under medicare pt B and I could probably reach our goal this way.

Does anyone here have experience with going to nursing homes and can give me advice to get started? Thank you!

I'll speak from my experiences. My old store did an ALF last year that netted over 70 shots in that one clinic and they wanted us to come back for the rest of their patients. If you can sell yourself to a nursing home or ALF, you will get shots. Another place to consider are 55+ communities in your area. This year, my two communities near me have netted about 100 shots counting Prevnar. These places are typically Medicare patients (which means $0 copays usually), they have a community center where you can do the shots, and most are more than willing to get a shot that way since it is really convenient for them.

Beyond clinics, one way to generate increased shots at your store is to sell a shot climate. What I mean is people have an expectation when they get a shot that they will have to wait for some amount of time and waste that part of their day. At my pharmacy, my technicians and staff pharmacist know that flu shots take top priority. The longest part of most peoples' wait is them filling out their form. People love this as they come in, get their shot, and leave. What has happened is they tell their friends to come to my pharmacy since it's so fast. Also next year, all of these people will come back plus more from word of mouth. We have hit our yearly goals already 2 months into the fiscal year. Remember, people can get a shot for free practically anywhere. Why would they want to pick your store over any other?

Of course, you have to WANT to drive flu shots or none of this advice is worth crap. Patients know when you don't want to do something, and they won't come back if you aren't interested. It all depends on mindset. Oh, and holy thread resurrection!

 

[cj98]

I'll speak from my experiences. My old store did an ALF last year that netted over 70 shots in that one clinic and they wanted us to come back for the rest of their patients. If you can sell yourself to a nursing home or ALF, you will get shots. Another place to consider are 55+ communities in your area. This year, my two communities near me have netted about 100 shots counting Prevnar. These places are typically Medicare patients (which means $0 copays usually), they have a community center where you can do the shots, and most are more than willing to get a shot that way since it is really convenient for them.

Beyond clinics, one way to generate increased shots at your store is to sell a shot climate. What I mean is people have an expectation when they get a shot that they will have to wait for some amount of time and waste that part of their day. At my pharmacy, my technicians and staff pharmacist know that flu shots take top priority. The longest part of most peoples' wait is them filling out their form. People love this as they come in, get their shot, and leave. What has happened is they tell their friends to come to my pharmacy since it's so fast. Also next year, all of these people will come back plus more from word of mouth. We have hit our yearly goals already 2 months into the fiscal year. Remember, people can get a shot for free practically anywhere. Why would they want to pick your store over any other?

Of course, you have to WANT to drive flu shots or none of this advice is worth crap. Patients know when you don't want to do something, and they won't come back if you aren't interested. It all depends on mindset. Oh, and holy thread resurrection!

Thank you for the advice. How do you guys complete the billing process? Would you just ask someone a copy of the medicare information and go back to the pharmacy to submit the claim through the pharmacy system after the clinic is over?

 

[FlavyFlav]

Thank you for the advice. How do you guys complete the billing process? Would you just ask someone a copy of the medicare information and go back to the pharmacy to submit the claim through the pharmacy system after the clinic is over?

If it's Medicare it's covered with just a small number of exceptions that you familiarize yourself with. I've lost one flu shot by not billing ahead of time, but it's acceptable considering the time I save billing later. With Prevnar shots, you should always bill those ahead of time. My technician assistant would call in to the store to verify coverage (I can't eat too many $200 shots).

So yes, I bring my photocopier out with its store-use ink and just print out the card information. I can do about 25-30 shots an hour this way as long as everyone is lined up and I have a good assistant. You can save a big chunk of time if there is someone willing to distribute your forms to be filled out ahead of time.

 

[Unchained]

You can do more flu shots by telling your senior patients that the flu this year is targeting old people specifically. This is ethical and I'm certain your supervisor would support this.

 

[farmadiazepine]

Let's have "shot climate" to drive up flu shot sales. This is so f*cking lame some of the s*it I read on here.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

Another good way to create a shot culture is to give people chair massages and serve them daiquiris while they wait for their shots. I bring my "store use" blender and Bacardi.

 

[npage148]

Pester until people threaten to call corporate and then back off 1/4 of a step. This is basically what they want us to do anyway. Ask every customer 4 times per store visit

 

[FlavyFlav]

Let's have "shot climate" to drive up flu shot sales. This is so f*cking lame some of the s*it I read on here.

While I appreciate your opinion, I don't see you offering any other advice. If you were asked how you could increase your flu shot sales, how would you do it?

I'm not forcing anyone to do this, I am offering my experience in my store. If it helps someone reach their goals then so be it, but I have no illusion that what I do is the absolute only right way of doing things. If you could explain your acerbic response to give me an idea of where I offended you, maybe I can understand what I did wrong.