Today’s pharmacy industry faces a unique challenge. Balancing patient satisfaction while meeting ever-changing safety standards in the face of shrinking margins makes it more difficult than ever before for pharmacies to deliver the correct medications, when promised, while having time to conduct proper safety protocols and counsel patients. These three factors are intertwined in such a way that they must be addressed in a delicate yet harmonious balance, in order to maintain positive patient relationships, ensure repeat business and allow brick-and-mortar pharmacies to compete and actually thrive in the face of increased competition from online and digital pharmacies. An aging population and increasing demand for medications are not sufficient to ensure ongoing viability, as rising costs, tightening profit margins, and ongoing pharmacy staffing challenges continue to plague the industry.
Patient satisfaction, cost reduction and safety protocols
Why are these three factors equally critical to ongoing pharmacy success? Patient satisfaction is a critical differentiator for today’s discerning patients who have a wide variety of options for filling prescriptions and personalized patient care is an important component. According to Christopher Lis of J.D. Power, “The critical link that may allow brick-and-mortar pharmacies to keep pace with the rise of mail order and digital pharmacies is the familiarity that customers have with their pharmacist.” This reinforces the importance of pharmacists have the time to provide their patients with that face time, helping to improve patient satisfaction.
Even so, today’s brick-and-mortar pharmacies are being outpaced by their mail order counterparts. According to U.S. Pharmacist, “Even the top most-performing brick-and-mortar pharmacies witnessed reduction in overall satisfaction scores with reports of more than 10 points this year, while mail order pharmacies reported an increase of 6 points, on average, for satisfaction scores. A combination of long wait times and difficulty ordering prescriptions for brick-and-mortar pharmacies were cited as reasons for reductions in satisfaction scores.”
In addition to demanding ease of ordering and on-time fulfillment, customers are increasingly price sensitive, while pharmacy profit margins are being squeezed, and staffing challenges abound. Constantly evolving safety regulations demand additional time from staff wishing to remain compliant and avoid drug errors that could have potentially severe consequences for patients. Staff must have time to keep up with a constantly changing regulatory landscape, investing resources in training on the latest safety protocols. Implementing new technologies to address safety while maintaining operational efficiency is complex and may significantly alter existing workflows.
To achieve high patient satisfaction, a pharmacy must learn to balance:
- Meeting safety standards (correct dosage, correct medication, no errors)
- Allowing time for patient counseling
- Delivering prescriptions when promised
- Keeping up with safety protocols and training staff
At iA, we work with clients on strategies to achieve balance. Interested in learning more? Download our complete white paper The Current Dilemma in Pharmacy: Balancing Patient Satisfaction, Cost Reduction and Safety Protocols.