Rise of Independent Pharmacies

[Chrish]

It seems like independent pharmacies are popping up everywhere once again. I know of more than few people who own multiple independents.

Reason I have been given by someone who just started the Indy job is due to pandemic and growing responsibility of covid shots/ testing, chain pharmacies are drowning. People are getting frustrated and transferring out of chains. I saw the thread in reddit about whether it’s a good time to start your own pharmacy; multiple indy folks said they are doing really well.

Has pendulum swung back again in favor of entrepreneurs? Chains might have gone too far with their staff cuts..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Something I would consider if I ever lost my job, TBH. Find a pharmacy desert somewhere and rake it in.

 

[Chrish]

Another thing to consider is you get a nice payday if you decide to sell it. Chains would pay handsome amount to buy your files.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

This pharmacy desert map is awesome.

State Pharmacy Desert Map

Towns located 10+ miles from their nearest pharmacy in every U.S. state.

maps.telepharm.com

There's this spot in the WV/PA borderlands where there is a solid population of ~1500 people with no local pharmacy.

 

[Sparda29]

It seems like independent pharmacies are popping up everywhere once again. I know of more than few people who own multiple independents.

Reason I have been given by someone who just started the Indy job is due to pandemic and growing responsibility of covid shots/ testing, chain pharmacies are drowning. People are getting frustrated and transferring out of chains. I saw the thread in reddit about whether it’s a good time to start your own pharmacy; multiple indy folks said they are doing really well.

Has pendulum swung back again in favor of entrepreneurs? Chains might have gone too far with their staff cuts..

Part of it is states are starting to bring back FFS Medicaid and cutting out PBMs from the Medicaid action.

 

[mentos]

Where? I couldn't tell you where the nearest independent to me is.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Where? I couldn't tell you where the nearest independent to me is.

There are like 5 within a 10 minute drive of my house.

 

[BenJammin]

There's no money in pharmacy deserts. Those areas are primarily Medicare and Medicaid base and you'll lose your shirt within 6 months.

 

[mentos]

There's no money in pharmacy deserts. Those areas are primarily Medicare and Medicaid base and you'll lose your shirt within 6 months.

Makes sense. If there were profit to be made then the chains would have expanded there by now.

 

[Chrish]

Lots of independent folks made good money with covid vaccine and testing. I know it was $40 flat reimbursement per one Covid shot and some pharmacies did thousands of these shots and made enough for lifetime..

 

[letsquitpharm]

Lots of independent folks made good money with covid vaccine and testing. I know it was $40 flat reimbursement per one Covid shot and some pharmacies did thousands of these shots and made enough for lifetime..

The numbers just don't add up. Even if a pharmacy vaccinated 5k people, which is very unlikely, only 200k revenue generated, and that's barely enough to cover no more than 2 pharmacists salary.

 

[Chrish]

The numbers just don't add up. Even if a pharmacy vaccinated 5k people, which is very unlikely, only 200k revenue generated, and that's barely enough to cover no more than 2 pharmacists salary.

I know of one pharmacy that did around 6000 in one month alone. And that was when we started doing the vaccine. Imagine how many they have done so far.

 

[letsquitpharm]

I know of one pharmacy that did around 6000 in one month alone. And that was when we started doing the vaccine. Imagine how many they have done so far.

But how many months can this last? 12 months equates to 72k people vaccinated...assuming 100% vaccination rate, a city with 200k+ population has only three pharmacy? Even then, this gig will be totally over under just 1 year. Let alone the chains in competition, which have more stores and more staff, and also more presence.

 

[Chrish]

But how many months can this last? 12 months equates to 72k people vaccinated...assuming 100% vaccination rate, a city with 200k+ population has only three pharmacy? Even then, this gig will be totally over under just 1 year. Let alone the chains in competition, which have more stores and more staff, and also more presence.

I am not saying it will last forever. But lots of folks made good money in last two years from giving shots and subsequent boosters. People were traveling 5 hours to different locations to get their vaccines when they started.

And I am not even familiar with the reimbursement from Covid testing. Heard of some people shutting down their business to focus exclusively on testing and did hundreds/ thousand per day.

 

[BenJammin]

The HRSA vaccine data is public record. I don't have the link handy but there's an excel spreadsheet showing how many uninsured patients were given a paid vaccine and how much was paid to each facility.

 

[mentos]

I am not saying it will last forever. But lots of folks made good money in last two years from giving shots and subsequent boosters. People were traveling 5 hours to different locations to get their vaccines when they started.

And I am not even familiar with the reimbursement from Covid testing. Heard of some people shutting down their business to focus exclusively on testing and did hundreds/ thousand per day.

Are they making money from meds? Why not just open a temporary vaccine clinic then?

 

[Chrish]

Are they making money from meds? Why not just open a temporary vaccine clinic then?

Of course. Covid was temporary and once in a life time opportunity for some. Prescriptions are forever.

 

[Sparda29]

Lots of independent folks made good money with covid vaccine and testing. I know it was $40 flat reimbursement per one Covid shot and some pharmacies did thousands of these shots and made enough for lifetime..

Covid PCR testing was more lucrative. Have technician stand outside to swab people. Take their info and run inside to make a copy, give them back their ID/insurance card, send them home. End of the day, lab picks up samples. Results in 24-48 hours.

Lab was paying us $20 per test. I know some independents who were doing thousands of tests daily.

 

[PaulLind]

Hmm, I don't even know how to relate to such pharmacies. On the one hand, this is very convenient, but on the other hand, such pharmacies raise many questions