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Scottish pharmacy – a public/private partnership that encourages pharmacist clinical development.
Scotland has long displayed a talent for identifying the care role for pharmacists and expanding that role by supporting clinical aspirations for pharmacists, and made central to their total National Health Service delivery. The HealthierScotlandStrategy document published in August 2017 and titled ‘Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care’ aims to “strengthen the role of pharmacy in both hospital and…
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The Race to the Bottom
The McDonald’s Big Mac is an icon of take-away eating – let’s face it………..can you remember when you first enjoyed one so many years ago? It’s a guilty pleasure to say the least, but as far as hamburgers go, it is far from the best. In reality, if we were to taste an assortment of…
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Arrogance and business don’t mix
In a village long ago lived a young boy who loved nothing as much as competing in athletic contests. Because he was fit and strong, he usually triumphed and grew to love the adulation he received from the villagers around him. One day he challenged two other youths to a race from one end of…
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What turf war??
Why do we keep apologising so much? I wrote on my Facebook page recently how concerned I was at the perceived turf war between GPs and pharmacists. One of the first comments was that I was “doctor bashing”. It seems normal these days that rational, sensible discussions are a thing of the past. Now, you…
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MARKETING FOCUS – 1. Love your customer more than your products 2. Everybody’s talking brands 3. Promotions Fatigue 4. Unpredictable, Unprecedented 5. The hidden costs of Discounting
1. LOVE YOUR CUSTOMER – MORE THAN YOUR PRODUCTS You’ll have to lift your game (… and lower your prices, too). This clarion-clear message from customers and clients is only now starting to resonate. Responses up to this time have been slow, spasmodic, inconsistent and conspicuously reluctant. Just three years ago the taxi industry was put on…
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Stop procrastinating before it stops you
A third grader had to do a book report, and he chose a Socrates biography. His report consisted of three succinct sentences: Socrates was a philosopher. He talked a lot. They killed him. Not much more to say about brevity. Maybe that’s why U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” Another U.S. President,…
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Pharmacists are primary in healthcare and its economics
One of the most successful marketing slogans ever developed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) was: “Ask your family chemist – he knows!” The public response to it was massive and just seemed to hit the right nerve. Its popularity eventually irritated the medical profession who couldn’t understand how a pharmacist might know more…
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Clinical Services – What Patients Will Pay For
Pharmacists have always been well regarded by their patients for their ability to deliver health literacy programs, over the counter in semi-private spaces in roughly three to five minute segments. Generally, this service has been delivered free of charge and it has formed a nearly invisible component of “core” business. Only invisible because it was free,…
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Sales techniques that work as hard as you do
Whether you run your own business or work for a company in a sales-related role, you’re always looking for sales techniques that work. I’ve developed and learned many over the years from readers providing great advice. One person advised me to ask yes and yes questions. He worked for Hyatt and asked himself, “What else…
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Medical Culture (and others) in Decline – the real reason for attacks on pharmacy and other health modalities.
We have been witnessing some extraordinary behaviour by the leaders of the medical profession (AMA, RACGP) that might make you wonder what hallucinogen they may have been taking, given the extreme claims of pharmacy creating a turf war, and their ridiculous claims of highly-trained pharmacists lacking skills to perform at different levels. They act panic-stricken…