Are any you guys thinking about owning your own small pharmacy? I know that it's getting ridiculously difficult to do so, but i was curious if anyone's still dedicated to do it. I love the idea of that. One of the pharmacists i work with is this hella cool older woman who owned her own pharmacy for thirty years, then was basically bought out by walgreens (paid her, bought her inventory, and her pt list) She's the model pharmacist. she loves taking care of people even when they're sh*&ty ungrateful. I'm kinda thinking people like that are having a rougher time in retail, bc there is so much pressure to get the scripts out. It would be something to be able to give as much time to counsel as you could. There's gott be a way to make that a successful business model.
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Owning a pharmacy
- Thread starter Triangulation
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It's a worse time crunch if you're the owner because every script that you process is money earned. As of right now, retail pharmacists are not being paid additional money to counsel patients. Additionally, the large chain stores have the advantage of being able to buy in bulk (drugs, supplies, computers, help) and transfer things to other stores. Owning your own pharmacy is like working retail at wallgreens x2. I would guess that it's still possible, and I know someone who owns 8 stores and does very well. I think that for the most part, a specialty is what you need to have in order to succeed, such as compounding, or diabetes management.
Jd
Jd
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I see independents closing left and right here in Henderson...the independent across the street from my apartment complex will be closing soon after decades in operation. The only thing that keeps some of these Vegas independents in operation are the video poker machines out in front of the store!
The successful ones I know of have a "niche". One successful independent that one of my classmates will do her summer rotation at in California is a large, two story pharmacy. The top floor sells medical equipment, the bottom floor has the pharmacy, an herbal section (complete with herbalist), and (I think) a compounding lab.
It sounds like a tough thing to do, but if you can find unique services to bring in customers to your pharmacy, you'll have a successful business model.
The successful ones I know of have a "niche". One successful independent that one of my classmates will do her summer rotation at in California is a large, two story pharmacy. The top floor sells medical equipment, the bottom floor has the pharmacy, an herbal section (complete with herbalist), and (I think) a compounding lab.
It sounds like a tough thing to do, but if you can find unique services to bring in customers to your pharmacy, you'll have a successful business model.
What i'm saying is: provision of excellent pt care and consultation with the goal being upping your return patients and word of mouth increase in client load as your business model. I'd be at least willing to invest in a pharmacy that attempted to do that. Your thoughts....
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There's a small, compounding pharmacy that opened up here a few months ago. The pharmacist cares about his patients, and that's spreading around by word of mouth. His business is really starting to pick up, even though there are 6 pharmacies within a 10 mile radius of his store.
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Tri...I was looking at some of my older issues of "Pharmacy Today", the monthly APhA publication. There is a section that profiles different independent practices in every issue, pharmacies that have successfully incorporated "pharmaceutical care" into their community practices...patient education programs for diabetes education, asthma, hyperlipidemia, smoking cessation, etc...how they develop relationships with local physicians (collaborative practice)...and how they get reimbursed for their services. Very interesting reading...if you can get your hands on a copy, it'll give you some idea into the challenges in setting up a successful community practice. They even have the contact info for the pharmacies they profile, in case you'd like to find out for yourself.
hey tri...
i've got copies of that pharmacy today if you wanna take a look at em...lemme know.😉
i've got copies of that pharmacy today if you wanna take a look at em...lemme know.😉
Much of what has been said here is what I have observed in my experience. Unless a pharmacy has its special niche, then it may have a very tough time staying open.
I could study for my final tomorrow and write my term paper, but in the words of the U-Dub's Electrical Engineering Dept T-shirts. "JUST DO IT...............TOMORROW"
I honestly am completely spit-balling here bc i don't want to work in pharmacy practice, but i'm curious if we could come up with a model of a successful independent pharmacy with the modus operandi being excellent pt counseling and care. Just for starts you'd need a good tech or clerk to take the scripts. A good pharmacist to verify. One pharmacist whose sole job for all intents and purposes is consultations I honestly don't think that's ever been tried before. One tech to fill. One clerk whose sole job for all intents and purposes is to take care of third party. I would say another pharmacist for physician calls and general difficulties, but that may jack up the expenditures.
So for stuff so far:
2 Clerks (cheaper than a pharm tech)
2 Pharmacists
2 Pharm techs
Basically, you're trying to sacrifice to make salary room for the pharmacist who will just do consults.
i'm kinda thinking this operation would be tough in a low-income area, bc you'll get blitzed with medi-cal/medicaid, so you'd probably have to limit it to private insurance, which really sucks to me, but at this point it makes sense.
I haven't thought about this at all, so don't flame me for any obvious gaps. I want other people's ideas. I'm curious if we could come up with a good model.
Oh yeah, to take from Watson and Crick's original paper "It has not escaped my attention....that there is no one manning the out-window. I'm not certain in a small pharmacy you'd have to have a person set aside for that. that would be where they kinda teamed up.
I honestly am completely spit-balling here bc i don't want to work in pharmacy practice, but i'm curious if we could come up with a model of a successful independent pharmacy with the modus operandi being excellent pt counseling and care. Just for starts you'd need a good tech or clerk to take the scripts. A good pharmacist to verify. One pharmacist whose sole job for all intents and purposes is consultations I honestly don't think that's ever been tried before. One tech to fill. One clerk whose sole job for all intents and purposes is to take care of third party. I would say another pharmacist for physician calls and general difficulties, but that may jack up the expenditures.
So for stuff so far:
2 Clerks (cheaper than a pharm tech)
2 Pharmacists
2 Pharm techs
Basically, you're trying to sacrifice to make salary room for the pharmacist who will just do consults.
i'm kinda thinking this operation would be tough in a low-income area, bc you'll get blitzed with medi-cal/medicaid, so you'd probably have to limit it to private insurance, which really sucks to me, but at this point it makes sense.
I haven't thought about this at all, so don't flame me for any obvious gaps. I want other people's ideas. I'm curious if we could come up with a good model.
Oh yeah, to take from Watson and Crick's original paper "It has not escaped my attention....that there is no one manning the out-window. I'm not certain in a small pharmacy you'd have to have a person set aside for that. that would be where they kinda teamed up.
I currently work in a little neighborhood pharmacy in west Los Angeles. This pharmacy has been open since 1929 and the current owner has been there since 1972. Business seems to be good right now but he's trying to sell it because his customers are getting older and I think he expects a big drop in business soon. The more I'm exposed to my workplace, the more I like the idea of being such a key component to the community.
You guys aren't really playing along here.
JDPharmd, LV, BMB, Brill, JasonUCSD, how would you make this work? I'm not really interested in whether you're planning on going into retail or not b/c i'm not either, but it presents an interesting thought puzzle. How to turn a profit (we're not talking monstrous profits by any stretch but profit) and make pt counseling the m.o. for success.
JDPharmd, LV, BMB, Brill, JasonUCSD, how would you make this work? I'm not really interested in whether you're planning on going into retail or not b/c i'm not either, but it presents an interesting thought puzzle. How to turn a profit (we're not talking monstrous profits by any stretch but profit) and make pt counseling the m.o. for success.
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But Tri...you're trying to build a business model around the 1 out of every 5 patients I see with a new Rx that even WANTS to speak with the pharmacist about his/her new Rx. I mean, seriously, the majority of patients I see simply want to know the basics, if any info at all, get their pills, and leave. I'm not ragging on couseling, OBRA '90 requires us to do it... Besides, it's not the "workflow setup" that would make a "traditional dispensory practice" (that is what your business model is based on, not a pharmaceutical care practice, or compounding practice, or "niche" practice) in any way successful. It's the Pharmacist. That trusted professional behind the counter everyone in the neighborhood calls "Doc", and feels free to talk to "Doc" about everything from their osteoarthritis to their hemorrhoidal itch! You can optimize "workflow" all you want, but I just don't think that will do it if you want to operate a successful "dispense-only" pharmacy. It has to be like Redrum's pharmacy! That's the only way to run a "one trick pony" pharmacy. People won't necesarilly come into a pharmacy simply because you will offer a 5 minute or more consult on new Rx's as opposed to the 2 minute (or less) "quick consult" you get at the Rite-Aid. They probably won't. They just might come in if you can develop a trusting relationship with them.
It's pharmacists like the one Redrum works for that have made patient counseling successful, long before "counseling" became such a "fashionable" topic in the profession. Now if we can only get compensated for it...
It's pharmacists like the one Redrum works for that have made patient counseling successful, long before "counseling" became such a "fashionable" topic in the profession. Now if we can only get compensated for it...
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Oh, and another thing....those older independents that have been successful in the past, are dying. They used to be somewhat successful, way back when...when pharmacy was a cash business, before third party madness started (thanks PAID 😡 ). So, even with those "trusted neighborhood pharmacists" that took the time to build relationships with their patients, these independents are closing left and right...it's just too difficult to keep your doors open when you've got a Wags, Slave-On, and Wrong-Aid down the street from you...
This leads me to the conclusion that the ONLY way to run a successful independent these days is to find a niche that will compel customer to come into your store rather than the chain store down the street...and as a customer, extended counseling sessions on my scripts probably wouldn't do it for me 😉
This leads me to the conclusion that the ONLY way to run a successful independent these days is to find a niche that will compel customer to come into your store rather than the chain store down the street...and as a customer, extended counseling sessions on my scripts probably wouldn't do it for me 😉
I wholly disagree. What I'm talking about hasn't been tried yet. Where the pharmacy business model is clearly defined with that being your primary selling point. Throughout, retail customer service is becoming thee key component of success. I'm a sales associate at Gap when I'm not at walgreens, and I have experienced through my own endeavors how indescribably customer care can get you in generating revenue. It' s both immeasurable and measurable: You generate a loyal client base that's very difficult to put a figure one, but I can measure the fact that I've set records in getting customers to sign-up for Gap credit card. Getting the scripts out isn't what I'm talking about (that's what Walgreens, rite-aid, and other chains including Albertson's which is making a major push in coming years to be a complete grocery/pharmacy they're trying to really go toe-to-toe with Walmart.) Making a superb mechanism of filling 600 scripts/day is that exact opposite of what I'm describing. It's wholly contingent on superb pharmacy counseling.
Indeed you are correct in the goal of retaining an amazing pharmacist to do consults. That's where the human resource/talent search part of it comes in. You need the right people to pull this off. I honestly think this would need significant pecuniary backing to get started, but once it got rolling it would have potential.
This is the farthest thing from a small neighborhood operation where you put your name on a shingle. To pull it off, you'd need excellent planning and organization, but the benefits to the patient and owner would be outstanding. You've got increased patient observation integrated into your success. Win-Win.
Yes you'd have to eat s#!t for a little while, but what you're working towards is a cultivated client base. There' s not loyalty to the big chains. Their business model is contigent upon wide acceptance of third party plans and the machinery to get out scripts fast. From my experience there are patients that seek something more than this, but they're seldom offered it particularly since so many 3rds cover next to nothing these days. I know when you're at out-window you hear the same complaints i'm hearing from people paying their co-pays when their plan covers $10 of a $100 script.
Indeed you are correct in the goal of retaining an amazing pharmacist to do consults. That's where the human resource/talent search part of it comes in. You need the right people to pull this off. I honestly think this would need significant pecuniary backing to get started, but once it got rolling it would have potential.
This is the farthest thing from a small neighborhood operation where you put your name on a shingle. To pull it off, you'd need excellent planning and organization, but the benefits to the patient and owner would be outstanding. You've got increased patient observation integrated into your success. Win-Win.
Yes you'd have to eat s#!t for a little while, but what you're working towards is a cultivated client base. There' s not loyalty to the big chains. Their business model is contigent upon wide acceptance of third party plans and the machinery to get out scripts fast. From my experience there are patients that seek something more than this, but they're seldom offered it particularly since so many 3rds cover next to nothing these days. I know when you're at out-window you hear the same complaints i'm hearing from people paying their co-pays when their plan covers $10 of a $100 script.
Ok, I just came home from a night at the "other counter" (the bar) so go easy on me, but I'd say that there are a few ways to make it work.
First we need legislation that makes insurance companies pay for counseling. It could be billed almost like a standard rx, i.e. the MD (or DO) could write an RX for, lets say coumadin, and a seperate RX for a 15 minute (or 30) consult. The patient could be taken to a sit-down office-type consult area with plenty of reference books and journals, and possibly a computer with some info and internet access. Patient teaching aids could be available to take home. The patient could be counseled about their RX and disease state. The same could be applied to any number of drugs (particularly long term therapies). Things that come to mind are anti-depressants, insulin and blood-glucose monitoring, anti-coagulants, and ulcer medication. I'm sure there are many more (parkinsons meds, blood pressure, estrogen, etc). What we need is a way to bill for that time and those resources. Right now it just doesn't exist. There is no way that one pharmacist could run that store and pull a profit, but if we were paid for counsuling, additional pharmacists could be hired, more resources could be devoted, and more money could be made (potentially).
Another model is a specialty pharmacy. Many of my past pharmacists have kicked around the idea of starting a cash-only compounding (only) pharmacy. No third parties would be directly involved (fast) and since many stores won't even make some of the more complicated compounds, you're set with a client base. Many of the raw ingrediants are cheap. If you were located in a large city or near a large specialty (dermatology?) clinic, you'd be in good shape. Counseling would be somewhat important, but the compounding niche would be crucial.
Yet another model would be to start a pharmacy in cooperation with an MD or DO in their private-practice office. Who in their right mind is going to leave the dr's office without just filling the script right there? Add in a little high-tech wireless palm-based prescribing on the doctor's part and you could have the RX comepletely ready by the time the patient had finished up the dr. visit, leaving time for counseling if desired, and a happy patient.
The final idea that I have would be to start a pharmacy in an underserved area. Not only would you get the proposed government benefits (loan repayment), but you would also pay very little for real estate and have little or no competition. I know someone who owns 8 pharmacies, and they just happen to be in an area that the big chains have not yet penetrated (for lack of a better word). Last I knew, he was filling 400+ on busy days at each store. That's quite a business. If it ever did come time to sell out, he would make millions on the sale. That's not a bad way to end things either. And it supplies capitol for another business venture.
Some of these might break that law (I'm not sure), so I can't be sure that they would work, but they're just ideas that I've heard or kicked around. They are also highly dependant on the area demographics. Obviously nobody in their right mind is going to start a counseling pharmacy in the projects or at their local trailer park or truck stop, but an independant (or small chain of them) might flourish if they were fast and efficient in exactly the same place. Hmmm, my realtor once told me location, location, location.
Jd
First we need legislation that makes insurance companies pay for counseling. It could be billed almost like a standard rx, i.e. the MD (or DO) could write an RX for, lets say coumadin, and a seperate RX for a 15 minute (or 30) consult. The patient could be taken to a sit-down office-type consult area with plenty of reference books and journals, and possibly a computer with some info and internet access. Patient teaching aids could be available to take home. The patient could be counseled about their RX and disease state. The same could be applied to any number of drugs (particularly long term therapies). Things that come to mind are anti-depressants, insulin and blood-glucose monitoring, anti-coagulants, and ulcer medication. I'm sure there are many more (parkinsons meds, blood pressure, estrogen, etc). What we need is a way to bill for that time and those resources. Right now it just doesn't exist. There is no way that one pharmacist could run that store and pull a profit, but if we were paid for counsuling, additional pharmacists could be hired, more resources could be devoted, and more money could be made (potentially).
Another model is a specialty pharmacy. Many of my past pharmacists have kicked around the idea of starting a cash-only compounding (only) pharmacy. No third parties would be directly involved (fast) and since many stores won't even make some of the more complicated compounds, you're set with a client base. Many of the raw ingrediants are cheap. If you were located in a large city or near a large specialty (dermatology?) clinic, you'd be in good shape. Counseling would be somewhat important, but the compounding niche would be crucial.
Yet another model would be to start a pharmacy in cooperation with an MD or DO in their private-practice office. Who in their right mind is going to leave the dr's office without just filling the script right there? Add in a little high-tech wireless palm-based prescribing on the doctor's part and you could have the RX comepletely ready by the time the patient had finished up the dr. visit, leaving time for counseling if desired, and a happy patient.
The final idea that I have would be to start a pharmacy in an underserved area. Not only would you get the proposed government benefits (loan repayment), but you would also pay very little for real estate and have little or no competition. I know someone who owns 8 pharmacies, and they just happen to be in an area that the big chains have not yet penetrated (for lack of a better word). Last I knew, he was filling 400+ on busy days at each store. That's quite a business. If it ever did come time to sell out, he would make millions on the sale. That's not a bad way to end things either. And it supplies capitol for another business venture.
Some of these might break that law (I'm not sure), so I can't be sure that they would work, but they're just ideas that I've heard or kicked around. They are also highly dependant on the area demographics. Obviously nobody in their right mind is going to start a counseling pharmacy in the projects or at their local trailer park or truck stop, but an independant (or small chain of them) might flourish if they were fast and efficient in exactly the same place. Hmmm, my realtor once told me location, location, location.
Jd
Yes, that would be a HUGE part of any independant venture. NOBODY is going to pay $90 for one month of their prozac at Jd's pharmacy just because I don't take their insurance. They will go to a big chain (or anywhere else) that offers them the $5 copay. HeIl, these days they will go mail-order and get 3 months for $5. And never mind prozac, what if they are taking accutane, copaxone or lovenox? ($$$)
Jd
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Tri: It seems to me that your model for pharmacy is really like a "pharmaceutical care" practice. In a "pharmaceutical care" practice, the selling point is the expertise of the pharmacist, not the drugs themselves or the dispensory service. In such a practice, there would be a pharmacist whose sole duty is dispensory, but there would be one or more pharmacists involved in seeing patients about their medication regimen, disease state management, etc. This is really counseling taken to another level, Tri...it's really no diffent from the model you've described, it's consultation in an office-like setting instead of being behind a counter. There would be better patient observation, and a better opportunity to develop professional relationships akin to the relationships patients have with their doctors, dentists, etc. The problem, of course, is that pharmacists aren't currently being compensated for their "cognitive services" by third party.
Another thing that I forgot to mention is that some of these independents do better in medical office buildings or in close proximity...your proposed practice would do better in those surroundings as well. Not only will you have a better chance of getting the clientelle of the doctors as customers, you have the chance to develop professional relationships with these physicians, and they'll send their patients to your pharmacy for your consults and patient education.
Another thing that I forgot to mention is that some of these independents do better in medical office buildings or in close proximity...your proposed practice would do better in those surroundings as well. Not only will you have a better chance of getting the clientelle of the doctors as customers, you have the chance to develop professional relationships with these physicians, and they'll send their patients to your pharmacy for your consults and patient education.
hmm intriguing. i appreciate your thoughts, but what i'm not trying to speculate on if the idea would work what i'm talking about is how would you engineer it you were going to make it work.
don't sweat on it if you're not into the idea, but the parameters are: neighborhood pharmacy, no changing of current laws (the ama would crush that like a beer can)
don't sweat on it if you're not into the idea, but the parameters are: neighborhood pharmacy, no changing of current laws (the ama would crush that like a beer can)
When I was in pharmacy school, we had to make a business plan for an independent pharmacy. Actually, we had to do two, and it became quickly apparent that it would be extremely difficult to make any money (ie stay open) without a strong gimmick, such as compounding. At eckerds, I worked with a guy, who owned an ind. pharmacy for something like 20-30 years when eckerds bought him out. He couldn't stress how happy he was that this happened. Even after 20 years this guy (who had an INCREDIBLY loyal base- everyone who used to visit his pharmacy would come to eckerds and only want to speak with him) said that he just couldn't make any money. The insurance companies often would want to reimburse him based on the absolute lowest wholesale cost, which he couldn't purchase at because he wasn't a chain. The end result was him making very little, and sometimes LOSING money on scripts. In his case, even the best customer care (going up to open the pharmacy on saturday night for sick customers) in the world wasn't nearly enough.
Unless you can convince insurance companies to pay for counseling, then you will have a major uphill battle without some gimmick above great customer attention. As has been said, many customers don't want to be counseled extensively; the ones that do likely will be repeat customers. Unfortunately, insurance reimbursements are hellaciously low, especially for independants.
If I have an office based practice (I want to split my time between anesthesiology and interventional pain management), then I would like to have an in house pharmacy, where the pharmacist can counsel the patients, due DURs, and fill everyone's scripts if they so choose. It could be as simple as having a "fast track" system, where, instead of giving a hard copy to the patient, it is simply electronically transfered to the pahrmacy and immediately filled, waiting for the patient whenever I am done with them.
Unless you can convince insurance companies to pay for counseling, then you will have a major uphill battle without some gimmick above great customer attention. As has been said, many customers don't want to be counseled extensively; the ones that do likely will be repeat customers. Unfortunately, insurance reimbursements are hellaciously low, especially for independants.
If I have an office based practice (I want to split my time between anesthesiology and interventional pain management), then I would like to have an in house pharmacy, where the pharmacist can counsel the patients, due DURs, and fill everyone's scripts if they so choose. It could be as simple as having a "fast track" system, where, instead of giving a hard copy to the patient, it is simply electronically transfered to the pahrmacy and immediately filled, waiting for the patient whenever I am done with them.
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The ideal pharmacy in this scenario would have a very small front end...just OTC and nutrition supplements, some durable medical equipment....no cosmetics, candy, food, greeting cards, etc. Much of the space will be taken up by the actual pharmacy, and office space off to the side. You would staff the dispensory with one full-time pharmacist (you're only operating an 8 hour day, half day on Saturday, off on Sunday) one to two techs (depends on volume), one clerk. You would have a pharmacist who would be a "clinical specialist" operate in the office space, seeing patients on a walk-in basis (referred by the dispensing pharmacist for "extended consultation"), or by appointment. You will also (hopefully) receive referrals from physicians you've been able to establish collaborative practice agreements with to monitor and adjust their medication usage, education, etc. You may also have office staffing for billing, reception, etc.
As long as you operate in a state that allows for "collaborative practice agreements" between pharmacists and physicians, this is all perfectly legal.
As long as you operate in a state that allows for "collaborative practice agreements" between pharmacists and physicians, this is all perfectly legal.
I actually had an extensive conversation with the pharmacist i worked w/at walgreens today. he gave his thoughts on how he would get it to work. he modeled a lot of it after the pharmacist who works w/us on wkdays, who owned her own store, but sold it to walgreens a few yrs ago.
he was confident it could be done. i'll elaborate after sports center.
he was confident it could be done. i'll elaborate after sports center.
Sadly, most of the pharmacists who I've spoken to about owning an independant said that a good portion of their profit came from having a good front end (candy, pop, and all the other crap.. hopefully not cigarettes). I cannot imagine having a PharmD and having to ring up slim jims every day as part of my job! It's bad enough when people bring their front end crap to the pharmacy at Rite Aid "because there was a line" up front. "Oh, and these are SUPPOSED to be 25% off!!" If there is a hell, that is it.
Jd
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Yeah, unfortunately the front-end sales have always been important in running a drug store. Think about how pharmacies used to have soda fountains...even the old Thrifty's with their ice cream sections (I think Rite-Aid kept that around for nostalgia when they acquired Thrifty...even here in hot Vegas that section doesn't do much business). It's sad that video poker machines subsidize the operations of independents here in town. I walked into the independent across the street from my apartment a few months ago to pay my utility bill, the pharmacy was dead. I saw few prescription bags in their out bins, and the pharmacist was just "kicking it"...no business at 4 PM on a weekday. You think he has time to counsel patients? All the time in the world...if they ever show up!
You guys are killing me. For this operation to succeed it takes more than a pharmacist who wants to own his own store and be a good counseling pharmacist to keep his business open. This is a start-up venture. You'd need funding and organization with several parties. I'm talking venture capital here. Let me reiterate: Triangulation graduates from pharmacy school (that's the real miracle in this scenario 😉 ) Opens his own store in some unnamed neighborhood with the idea of giving excellent consults and pt care-->FAILURE
Tri gets together with a bunch of associate pharmacists and vc types and plans how to orchestrate an operation where customer health care is placed at a premium with the goal being a loyal client base.-->SUCCCESS
I'm not into this line-item response people are so fond of on forums, so I'll quickly go through this: 1)In California Medi-Cal reimbursements are excellent. 2) A lot of third-party's pay next to nothing. At Walgreens on the print-out given to pts it reads the amt that the insurance covered of the actual price. A lot of times health net, blue cross cover like $2 of a $100 script. I know bc pts tell me how they're ready to jump ship bc they're not saving money with their 3rds anyway. They wouldn't mind paying the extra dollar (literally!!) for a pharmacist they trusted. 4) We have at least twenty pts a day who are brushed off bc the pharmacist has to cut-off the consult bc he has get to back to verifying what have you. If you demonstrate to those pts that you're knowledgeable and you care, you've got them for life (the essence of customer service oriented retail) 4) A good friend of mine works at a Wag's in one of the wealthier areas of SF, and he said that at least 3/4 of his pts paid cash. They only cared about getting their scripts and then they would bill 3rds themselves. That would work.
We even have pts at walgreens who come across town eventhough there's a store right next to their house bc they like the pharmacist we have. When it comes to health, trust goes an incredibly long way. People are willing to pay more for a pharmacist they believe in. I've seen these people. They utterly feel obligated to see you and to pay you because in their own eyes you are their only option for their health.
Tri gets together with a bunch of associate pharmacists and vc types and plans how to orchestrate an operation where customer health care is placed at a premium with the goal being a loyal client base.-->SUCCCESS
I'm not into this line-item response people are so fond of on forums, so I'll quickly go through this: 1)In California Medi-Cal reimbursements are excellent. 2) A lot of third-party's pay next to nothing. At Walgreens on the print-out given to pts it reads the amt that the insurance covered of the actual price. A lot of times health net, blue cross cover like $2 of a $100 script. I know bc pts tell me how they're ready to jump ship bc they're not saving money with their 3rds anyway. They wouldn't mind paying the extra dollar (literally!!) for a pharmacist they trusted. 4) We have at least twenty pts a day who are brushed off bc the pharmacist has to cut-off the consult bc he has get to back to verifying what have you. If you demonstrate to those pts that you're knowledgeable and you care, you've got them for life (the essence of customer service oriented retail) 4) A good friend of mine works at a Wag's in one of the wealthier areas of SF, and he said that at least 3/4 of his pts paid cash. They only cared about getting their scripts and then they would bill 3rds themselves. That would work.
We even have pts at walgreens who come across town eventhough there's a store right next to their house bc they like the pharmacist we have. When it comes to health, trust goes an incredibly long way. People are willing to pay more for a pharmacist they believe in. I've seen these people. They utterly feel obligated to see you and to pay you because in their own eyes you are their only option for their health.
As long as Tri plans on paying his associates well, and offering good benefits, I don't see a problem with this. Oh, but not in San Francisco! Try it in a cheaper area! Hell, if I do the 3-year PharmD, I might even have a California license by 2007 (ahem, MIGHT)!
Jd
I thought you switched already? I know, i know, 'check the threads',
Oh, I switched to a 3-year on Monday but I am afraid of the California boards! That, and I'm not entirely sure that I want to live in CA. It would be nice to live somewhere where I could afford more than a 1 bedroom apartment on a pharmacist's salary. (ie. Not San Francisco, etc) 😀
Jd
Jd
Nope, I think they're about the same. At least I hope so. Switching to the 3-year just puts me in Glendale, AZ instead of Downers Grove, IL. That makes it easier (geographically) to go take the Cali boards. That's really the only connection.
Jd
bump
BMBiology has told me that he's interested in independent pharmacies, but yet he never posts (Wuss😉
bump
Triangulation,
have you ever done a business plan for your pharmacy? Seriously, we had to do several, and they can be extremely useful for organizing your ideas, seeing where money can be saved, added, and just all around getting a much more tangible feel to the idea. If you haven't, you'd probably be surprised at what you will discover. We had to do one with simply word (ie with no template program), whereas another was done with a program specifically designed for doing business plans. (It may have even been designed specifically for pharmacies). Whenever you begin school, you could go talk with someone in the pharmacy business school office, and I'm sure they would be happy to provide some guidance.
I know that doing one was an eyeopener, as I figured it would be far, far easier to make money than the numbers showed. It also was excellent for finding niches that could potentially be extremely profitable. If you haven't I would look into this,as it really, really helps with idea development. Just a thought...
Jason
have you ever done a business plan for your pharmacy? Seriously, we had to do several, and they can be extremely useful for organizing your ideas, seeing where money can be saved, added, and just all around getting a much more tangible feel to the idea. If you haven't, you'd probably be surprised at what you will discover. We had to do one with simply word (ie with no template program), whereas another was done with a program specifically designed for doing business plans. (It may have even been designed specifically for pharmacies). Whenever you begin school, you could go talk with someone in the pharmacy business school office, and I'm sure they would be happy to provide some guidance.
I know that doing one was an eyeopener, as I figured it would be far, far easier to make money than the numbers showed. It also was excellent for finding niches that could potentially be extremely profitable. If you haven't I would look into this,as it really, really helps with idea development. Just a thought...
Jason
LSU,
Yeah, that's a good idea. I just wanted to get peeps' general ideas on how they would picture it. Basically, how they would address probs that face an independent.
Yeah, that's a good idea. I just wanted to get peeps' general ideas on how they would picture it. Basically, how they would address probs that face an independent.
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This was an interesting thread to read. In high school, about 6-7 years ago I worked as a clerk in an independent pharmacy that was actually doing very well. It was in a very wealth section of a suburban town. There were several doctors nearby. It was a small operation, usually 1-2 pharmacists, 1 tech and 1 high school clerk. Most of the clients were fairly affluent and paid in cash. They took no insurance... people billed the insurance on their own. The pharmacist's trick was selling high quality vitamins and supplements at high prices to his wealthy clients. At that time Whole Foods had yet to move in and the supplement craze had not yet started. So he really had a niche business. He had taken a bunch of classes in nutrition and supplements and gave people counseling on what they should be taking for their health. He enjoyed it and was very successful and people came in just to buy their vitamins. I have not been back there in a long time so I wonder how he is doing now that you can buy vitamins and supplements almost anywhere and since Whole Foods sells the same "high quality" products much cheaper since they can buy in bulk. I do know he's still in business because he called my parents to ask if I had younger siblings who might want to work there after school. I do wonder if this kind of business model could work anywhere that the clients were not so well off though.
Yeah AZ that's what i've heard as well: Independents can succeed in affluent areas where a lot of people bill third party themselves. I've heard that from pharmacists that work in retail chains in those areas as well. It's a lot less headache. That kinda pharmacy would be DOA though in a low-income area i suspect.
In terms of the other parts of his practice, the extensive knowledge of supplements and stuff, i think that's awesome. That's honestly an approach that retails cannot combat, bc they're interest is geared towards volume (get 'em in/get em out horsesh*t)
In terms of the other parts of his practice, the extensive knowledge of supplements and stuff, i think that's awesome. That's honestly an approach that retails cannot combat, bc they're interest is geared towards volume (get 'em in/get em out horsesh*t)
bump for owlmyste
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thats why you have a fallback option. If I decide to become a pharmacist, I would open up my own pharmacy independently. But I wouldn't sell just pharmecuticals. I would have an old fashioned drugstore that ppl could order ice cream sundaes at, etc. that way I have something to keep ppl coming...besides, an old timey pharmacy drugstore like that would reaqlly appeal to the baby boomers...and for the young ppl...a sundae is a sundae..no matter where its served!
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I had to dig this one up again.
We had an orientation yesterday for our compounding course that starts next week at PCCA. During part of the presentation they talked about owning your own compounding pharmacy. They went over just about everything: amount of capital required, necessary facilities and equipment, staffing needs, services and products that could be offered, potential markets, etc. It all seemed really cool.
I was just wondering how feasible it would be to make a compounding pharmacy profitable. For those of you in community pharmacy, how much demand really exists for compounding? From what they were telling us, if you can find the right location then you could really thrive. It seems like they might be a bit biased though.
We had an orientation yesterday for our compounding course that starts next week at PCCA. During part of the presentation they talked about owning your own compounding pharmacy. They went over just about everything: amount of capital required, necessary facilities and equipment, staffing needs, services and products that could be offered, potential markets, etc. It all seemed really cool.
I was just wondering how feasible it would be to make a compounding pharmacy profitable. For those of you in community pharmacy, how much demand really exists for compounding? From what they were telling us, if you can find the right location then you could really thrive. It seems like they might be a bit biased though.
Don't listen to me, ask someone who is actually doing it
This guy is in my local area
http://www.hobbsrx.com/rx.html
and this guy has found a niche compounding homeopathic products
http://www.hahnemannlabs.com/
It can be done. There is a place for you. You must be sharp and hit the ground running or you will lose your shirt.
