Health Destination Pharmacy Trial – Case studies Health Destination Pharmacy Trial – Case studies | Page 8

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CASE STUDY 2

CHARACTERISTICS: Independent pharmacy
occupying 350m2 in a shopping strip of a
large rural town. A staff of 16, including 4 FTE
pharmacists, dispensing 1,885 prescriptions/week.
OBJECTIVES: To reverse a recent decline in gross
profit and overcome threats to the pharmacy’s
future viability that had recently emerged in the
form of customer loss to discounting pharmacies
and low health-related sales/customer.
CHANGES: Working with the PSA coach, this
pharmacy made significant changes to their
systems and processes, better defining roles
and responsibilities to improve workflow and
efficiency. Through the local area analysis, they
identified areas of focus for health promotion
activities. Professional programs such as Clinical
Interventions were implemented and given
extra focus, with the team setting goals and
KPIs, and working together as a team to increase
engagement with consumers.
RESULTS: At the end of the Trial, this
pharmacy had improved its process efficiency
for dispensing, freeing up the pharmacist for
increased consumer engagement and delivery
of professional services. Although this was not
reflected in overall profitability, health-related
sales and prescription numbers were trending in
a positive direction. Overall, the pharmacy team
felt they were working much more efficiently
and effectively.

ROBOTIC DISPENSING IS NO
MAGIC BULLET WITHOUT GOOD
PROCESSES
On paper, this pharmacy appeared to have little reason
for participating in the Trial. Recent changes included a
“forward pharmacy” design and investment in robotic
dispensing. The pharmacy also had a high number of
pharmacists on staff relative to the prescription volume.
This pharmacy, a long standing and well-regarded
business, serves a population of 10,331 in an area of
disadvantage (SEIFA 3rd decile, and 22%), with an
above average number of people aged over 50. On top of
its solid platform for workflow, the pharmacy had good
existing relationships with allied health professionals and
GPs. The owner is accredited to conduct HMRs and the
pharmacy has a contract to pack DAAs for approximately
200 aged care beds.
Despite all of these factors, the pharmacy was
experiencing a decrease in gross profit. The owner and
manager had identified a number of increasing threats to
the business such as consumers seeking advice and then
purchasing products elsewhere, low health-related sales,
and the impact of discounting competitors.
The owner was keen to turn this around, and working with
the PSA coach, agreed the following broad objectives to
pursue during the Trial:

»» improve consumer interactions with the pharmacist
and increase health-related sales

»» re-evaluate the product range; improve the targeting of
health promotion activities

»» improve team functionality and motivation
»» increase “buy-in” from staff about 5CPA professional
programs and the health destination concept.

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Health Destination Pharmacy Trial – Case studies I © Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Ltd.