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Increase Safety Checks as Pharmacists Prepare to Leave Dispensaries
With the introduction of automated dispensing systems new safety factors appear as the pharmacist has to interface and change work-flows between dispensing assistants and the patient. And that takes place after a complete refit of the dispensary to accommodate the new robotic equipment and its impact on work-flows. Because of the pressures on the pharmacist…
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Embracing the Empowered Patient
The year 2016 ushered in a range of problems that caught health care providers generally unprepared as events unfolded. We all tend to keep in our own silos and do not necessarily take on an awareness with what is happening in the world of doctors, nurses and allied health practitioners unless they impact us directly…
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Community Pharmacy or Commodity Pharmacy?
Are pharmacies becoming a glamorised outlet for widely advertised complementary and over-the-counter medicines that require no skill to “pack and wrap”? Sales based on an advertisement in weekend papers (all heavily discounted of course!) and sales of nutritionals into China are driving our professionalism underground. Pharmacists who have never entertained supporting a particular complementary medicine…
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The Lessons From History – From Someone Who Has Lived It
Two weeks ago we published an article called Make the Right Turn at the Next Crossroads . It was based on a story written by a senior US pharmacist named Truman Lastinger and published in the US magazine, Drug Topics. Because Truman Lastinger and I are of similar vintage I could strongly identify with the period…
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Marketing Your Leadership Potential – It’s a Great Persuader
Marketing is a powerful tool. Just ask any global drug company. It is their primary tool that underwrites the evidence base for their patented drugs. It’s a powerful tool to build cultural awareness, so that makes it a great tool for introducing the concepts that will take us down the pathway for a new paradigm pharmacy.…
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Health Care Dissatisfaction
GE Healthcare Camden Group and Prophet on Wednesday published the results of a study that found about 81% of the people they surveyed are dissatisfied with their health care experience. While this is a US study i2P believes that a similar situation exists here in Australia. The study also found a gap between what providers…
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You can’t get out what you don’t put in
My friend, motivational speaker Zig Ziglar liked to tell the story of his friend, Walter Hailey. Although he became a star salesman, Hailey’s early career in insurance sales was rough. He endured frustration, anxiety, slammed doors, low sales figures, and uncertainty about his future. One day he grew so discouraged that he went to his…
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The Move Towards PBS Privatisation – It is a Possibility and Could Provide a Wrecking Ball for Community Pharmacy
I am always suspicious of government motivation when they move the chess pieces around the board without an appropriate explanation. Dating back to the start of the Coalition taking power there was discussion that highlighted the poorly defined role private health insurance plays in the funding and delivery of Australian health care, and how government…
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Alliance Boots will Spearhead a Global Onslaught with our Goverment’s Assistance
The news broke last week that Alliance Boots was making plans to enter the Australian market. This appears to be another step in the global concentration of community pharmacy, which Australian pharmacy has been able to withstand. Until now. The original Boots pharmacy group, a UK-based company, was recently taken over by the largest retail…
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RFID Is a Basic Step Towards Specialist Goods & Services Success
Specialist Retailers like Rebecca Minkoff are benefiting more from service and supply chain agility. Australian specialist pharmacies lag well behind. Today, consumers are more informed, empowered and demanding. As the line between the physical and digital worlds blurs, retailers must differentiate themselves to drive customer loyalty. That means delighting customers and patients beyond expectation while getting…