The Race to the Bottom
If a product or service is commoditised its value is always measured as being the lowest retail price. Pharmacy care services therefore should never be designed as being commoditised or being able to transition to that state. Commoditised components can form up as part of an innovative pharmacy care service. It is the element of design that will decide a uniqueness, type and size of a premium that a patient consumer is willing to pay. For longevity, part of a service design includes planning to prevent a major payer organisation (government or health insurer) from hijacking a majority control, because that will inevitably lead to a lower quality commoditised service.
Gerald Quigley - An advocate for Integrative Medicine
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 20 hamburgers, the Big Mac would probably rate near the bottom.
The beauty is that nobody cares – they sell these things by the millions each day.
Why?
Because they’re cheap!
Value is a two-sided coin.
We tolerate poor quality because the cost is low, and we will pay higher prices for something we consider to be a premium. The problem arises when there’s a mismatch.
Do we have a quality problem in Australian health care, or is it really a cost problem?
Health care costs are astronomical, but do we get better results for those costs?
How do pharmacists get caught up in discussions on quality of care?
Quality metric analyses clearly show that it’s not about quality but it’s about cost.
The Government has created a game whereby pharmacists have to play ball, with the final result being a dramatic reduction in the perceived value we can offer.
In the meantime, Government implies we’re not contributing to the quality of Australian Healthcare.
Pharmacists play a small role in the absurd cost of our healthcare system.
Pharmaceutical companies, the health insurance industry, the specialist system and snouts in the trough are causing the system to head out of control.
Focusing on pharmacists is missing the forest for the trees.
Pharmacists have introduced efficiencies into the healthcare system for the last fifty years.
We are doing our bit, so why are the quality “metrics” constantly directed at us?
According to Government, the faster I can dispense, the cheaper I can deliver services, the higher the quality of care I’m providing.
That isn’t happening.
Additionally, the creep of paperwork and the regulatory burdens associated with these metrics is changing the pharmacy profession into a pseudo-accounting profession.
Is this development leading to disillusioned younger pharmacists?
Are the educational institutions making any difference to the expectations of these young pharmacists?
Where will our profession be in twenty years?
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