A-z list of alternative services to mitigate the pharmacy cuts – Industry review & tips

The consultants at pharmacistweb decided to carry out an industry review to see the available options to mitigate the revenue reduction affecting pharmacies due to the 6% cuts. Our review highlights a key shift in trend – pharmacies can no longer rely solely on prescriptions. Most have begun to shift towards services, thus we can describe this era as a a service driven economy.

Here are a few services we have seen companies provide

1. Aesthetics – Some pharmacies now offer aesthetics services which include botox and derma fillers.
2. Allergy testing – Some pharmacies offer allergy testing
3. Chicken pox -Superdrug has decided to offer Chickenpox vaccinations “Superdrug has announced that it will offer the vaccine at 58 of its specialist pharmacist stores at a cost of £130 for a two-dose course.”
4. HIV testing – According to the Pharmaceutical Journal, “An estimated 101,200 people were living with HIV in the UK in 2015. Of these, more than 13,500 — or one in eight — are living with an undiagnosed infection.”
5. Mole screening – skin cancer is among the most common cancer and early detection is key to increasing survival rate. Tescos have recently launched mole screening through a technology called TELEDerm.
6. MURs – yes, you heard it! This service has been long established, but there is recent investigation into creating MUR service for Parkinson’s disease. This is currently been investigated by Parkinson’s UK.
7. Online doctors – pharmacies are pairing up with online doctor service provider as a way to increase revenue. Boots call theirs an online clinic – they offer various treatments including hair loss, period delay, malaria prevention and much more.
8. PGDs – Patient Group Directions(PGDs) are written directions allowing non-doctors including Pharmacists to assess patients and supply medicines without prescriptions, subject to exclusions. An example of a current PGD is Dymista supply for allergic rhynitis
9. Sore throat service – around 200 pharmacies in the UK are reported to be providing this service. But what is the service? It is essentially an on-the-spot sore throat test and treat. The service is currently facilitated by connect2pharma who provide the training and marketing support.
10. Travel clinics: This service can generate a significant revenue if efficiently managed. A pharmacist can provide various services

Please do not simply decide to include a service in your pharmacy, a thorough review is needed. If you would like our support for a fee we can offer you a thorough market analysis through our MBA consultants who specialise in the pharmacy sector.

We will be updating this list as we become aware of more services- so, keep an eye on this post.

References

1. “NICE Recommends HIV Testing In Community Pharmacy To Cut Number Of Undiagnosed Cases”. Pharmaceutical Journal. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Available at: http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/nice-recommends-hiv-testing-in-community-pharmacy-to-cut-number-of-undiagnosed-cases/20202040.article
2. “Allergy Testing – Does Pharmacy Have A Role? | Chemist+Druggist”. co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Available at: http://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/feature/allergy-testing-%E2%80%93-does-pharmacy-have-role
3. “About Patient group directives”. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Available at: https://www.pharmacypgd.co.uk/about-pgds
4. “More Pharmacists Needed To Test Out Parkinson’S MUR | Chemist+Druggist”. co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Available at: http://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/news/27-pharmacists-wanted-parkinson%E2%80%99s-mur-pilot
5. “Welcome To Church Pharmacy”. co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. Available at: https://www.churchpharmacy.co.uk/
6. “Tesco Launches Mole Screening Clinics”. Cdn.ampproject.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. Available at: https://cdn.ampproject.org/c/www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/business/tesco-launches-mole-screening-clinics-1-7827328/amp
7. Ward, V. (2017). Superdrug to offer chickenpox vaccine despite warnings. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/13/superdrug-offer-chickenpox-vaccine-despite-warnings/ [Accessed 13 Jul. 2017].