By Tariq Muhammad
It doesn’t feel that long ago that community pharmacy seemed stuck in the dark ages. The market was dominated by four legacy PMR providers, robots were seen as an unnecessary indulgence and no one could imagine one of their elderly patients ever being able to use a website, let alone an app!
But then all of a sudden, things began to change. Six years ago, Titan PMR entered the market as a disrupting force. Covid-19 changed patient habits and their adoption of technology.
The pharmacy sector experienced the opportunity of providing services and the financial benefits this could bring. The NHS carried on being the NHS, and continued to cut the remuneration on dispensing whilst offering bits of funding for services.
Meanwhile patients showed they were willing to pay for private services if that meant quicker and better care. The stage was set for a technology revolution.
Today, pharmacists have more PMR systems, more robots, more apps to choose from than ever before. The abundance of technology has been driven by the shift in market behaviour.
Pharmacists have realised that there is no money left in NHS dispensing so are pivoting the business model to one of services. Each technology device, machine or software is promising that it will save time, or allow you to do more services.
If you own a pharmacy business and are looking to move your business to becoming more services led, it’s important that you do your homework. Shifting your business model away from dispensing and into services should not be underestimated. It requires careful planning, a clear strategy and change management.
Your Destination
Before you embark on your journey, you need to ask yourself some important questions:
- What services are you providing? Are they private or NHS?
- How are you going to market to your patients? How will you connect with your patients and keep them coming back?
- What is your commercial model? How will you differentiate yourself from your competitors?
- How much money are you likely to make?
- What skills do you or your team need to develop? What changes do you need to make to your dispensing operation?
Only by answering these questions will you work out the value of moving into this new world or whether it’s all worth it. Once you have developed a comprehensive plan, once you know exactly what you are doing, only then can you work backwards and decide what you actually need to get there.
Your Dispensary
The first stage of change starts with your dispensary. Your PMR is the bedrock of your operations and getting this right will be crucial.
Titan PMR was the first to introduce the concept of workflow and engineering safety within the dispensing process which meant pharmacists only have to focus on clinical checks.
The addition of AI into the clinical check further reduced the pharmacist's workload. This approach has transformed the way dispensaries operate and been a key enabler in helping release valuable pharmacist time.
Robots can also be a valuable tool to further enhance dispensary efficiency but the costs need to be weighed up against what can be achieved with just reorganising the dispensary better.
Various apps and tools for making the pharmacy efficient, such as CD registers, delivery apps are also cost-effective ways for streamlining the dispensary.
Clinical Platforms
The next stage in the journey will involve selecting the right clinical platform. This is not just about recording consultations. The system needs to have the capability to manage the patient journey from bookings through to issuing prescriptions.
Integrations with websites and patient apps will also be necessary, as well as collecting payments if you are providing private services. As services become more regulated, the clinical system needs to support your regulatory compliance such as staff training records.
These were just some of the important considerations that went into creating Titanverse, which recently launched into the pharmacy market. The system is now helping businesses manage the end of end journey for clinical services and is introducing new innovations such as AVT and AI agents for supporting the consultation process.
Your Shopfront
Finally, you will need to build your online presence and a way of connecting with your patients. In the modern age, your website is your new shopfront. It needs to be easy for patients to find, easy to navigate and simple to use.
Specialist providers, such as PharmAppy, can help you build a customised website that promotes your services alongside a patient app that allows medication ordering and booking of services.
Once you have your website, patient app, clinical services platform and PMR system you need to ensure all the systems are fully integrated to optimise efficiency, seamless workflow and customer experience. This is something that PharmAppy, Titanverse and Titan PMR offer out of the box.
Moving towards a service-based model is an inevitable direction of travel for community pharmacy. However, unlike dispensing, the model and offering will vary from one pharmacy to another.
What you exactly want to offer needs careful consideration with the right questions being asked. Technology should not be implemented for its sake. Instead, the right technology from the right partner can be a powerful vehicle that will help you reach your business destination.
(Tariq Muhammad is the founder of Invatech Health)
