The pharmacy landscape is changing with the larger chains shutting up shop leaving the door wide open for multiples and independents to grow. To cement this opportunity for growth it's crucial these pharmacies consider workflows and pharmacy automation now so they are well-placed to meet the demand they will see by growing their footprint. Centred Solutions Managing Director, Paul O’Hanlon, takes a closer look.
Which ever way you look at it, the decision by Lloyds Pharmacy to close or sell off an unprecedented number of its branches presents a real opportunity for smaller pharmacy groups and independents.
That opportunity comes in two guises. The first arises from the Lloyds’ closures resulting in there being a large number of patients looking for a new pharmacy in local communities across the country.
The second way the opportunity presents itself is that it offers independent and multiple pharmacies an unprecedented opportunity to expand their operations by buying up one or more Lloyds branches. It allows smaller groups or even standalone pharmacies, to increase their market share changing the face of pharmacy. It also gives these buyers the chance to tap into a loyal and established customer base.
Whichever way the opportunity arises, one thing is for certain. Independent and multiple pharmacies are about to get even busier as a result of both the Lloyds closures as well as other potential CCA sales. Multiple and independent pharmacies are right to consider how they respond to these sales to further establish their own brand in the market place. I would encourage these pharmacies to think seriously about how they future-proof their business to meet these ever-increasing demands.
Pharmacy Real World Analytics (RWA) estimate that the closure of Lloyds and other CCA branches will displace 880,000 patients resulting in 16.6million items being up for grabs. While this means potential growth for multiple and independent pharmacies, it doesn’t necessarily mean this is where all the opportunity lies. It's no secret that the return on investment for dispensing has been significantly squeezed in recent years.
The real opportunity for pharmacies to either inherit new patients or buying new pharmacies lies in clinical services where the margins are far greater. Multiple and independent branches already outperform the larger chains when it comes to offering these services. Figures from the RWA show CCA pharmacies had rolling year NMS claims of 145 compared with 250 across the rest of the industry. Similarly rolling year average blood pressure checks were 35 for CCA branches and 43 for the rest of the industry. The sale of Lloyds and other CCA branches provides multiple and independent pharmacies the chance to build on the strong foundations they have already created.
However, to do this these pharmacies need to be able to work smarter and faster than ever before to meet this increased demand. These sales by Lloyds and others underline the financial pressures being felt in pharmacy with flat-rate funding for the past few years and an expectation to do more for less.
To succeed on the high street, pharmacies that are considering expansion or growth by any means need to look at how they optimise their workflows so they can maintain or increase dispensing levels whilst at the same time delivering more patient-facing services to generate additional income. For pharmacies to thrive rather than just survive in this new world, diversification is key. That means looking at existing workflows to allow staff more time at the counter supporting patients and spending less time tied to the dispensing desk doing logistical and administrative tasks that are crying out for automation. It’s time for pharmacy to get ahead of the game.
I would argue that whether you are purchasing Lloyds/CCA pharmacies or simply looking to pick up the customer base within an existing store, now is the critical time to look at a hub and spoke model for repeat prescriptions supported by automation. It is this step that will future-proof your pharmacy, allowing you to not only grow and expand now but for many more years to come. Planning to expand and not considering a hub and spoke model for dispensing could leave these pharmacy businesses further exposed in the future as they simply may not be able to meet the increased demand for services.
Keeping medication dispensing in pharmacy branches means that valuable clinical time is eaten up by lengthy, mundane tasks. For example, our figures show that every day it takes dispensing staff an average of 14 minutes to put away one tote of medication deliveries. That’s the equivalent of one blood pressure check for every tote delivered. With a hub and spoke model, the majority of inventory is managed at the hub meaning less deliveries to store so more time for patient services, more space within store and optimised inventory management which can result in stock savings. This is just one example of the many time-consuming tasks that could be streamlined by a hub and spoke model.
Centralising dispensing for your branches means prescription preparation and checking is done in one location and then medication is delivered to the store bagged, labelled and ready for patients to collect. When automation is added to the process then it means you can fulfil multiple prescriptions for multiple branches at speed without significant resource requirements. It also gives you the capacity to scale up quickly as dispensing volumes grow. For the branches, this means more time at the counter with patients delivering NHS and private services that will generate much-needed additional revenue for your business.
Buying up additional branches or taking on additional footfall without making changes to your dispensing process will only add further pressure to your pharmacies. A better funding deal for pharmacy is crucial but so is evolving existing dispensing workflows. It’s one of the most effective ways to future-proof your pharmacy in terms of growth.
At Centred Solutions, we offer a range of pharmacy automation software to support your pharmacy. Whether you are a standalone pharmacy that could benefit from your own mini hub or you need support managing patient medication from a wholesaler or warehouse, we have the solution for you.
Contact us today to arrange a demonstration of any of our products.