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From the Editor’s Desk This Week
Pharmacy is not the only industry group affected by political and economic changes. Retailing is undergoing a paradigm shift where a business is “segmented” and single segments are repackaged for delivery within other business models, offline and online. A large part of pharmacy’s business is done by retail, so it would be remiss of community…
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The 10-Year Market Plan: A new Pharmacopiea+ New Clinical Services
A 10-year market plan has been called for pharmacy. Who will have the lead in this initiative and how will it be made inclusive so that any pharmacist may contribute? Indeed, does the traditional leadership group for pharmacies, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, have sufficient moral capital to be even considered for this important job?…
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A Great Pharmacy Opportunity – Omnichannel Retailing
Retailing is all about being fast on your feet and unfortunately pharmacy has lost its retail skill set, except maybe in the field of discounting, which is not an attractive model for this point in retail pharmacy development. General retailers are looking (and acting) on a concept called omnichannel retailing which is a trend for…
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Where are all the oldies going?
OK! I’ve had enough. I can’t sit back any longer and watch geriatric medicine become a cash cow for disinterested GPs and uncaring pharmacists. Let me give you a list: Proton pump inhibitors prescribed and dispensed for years at a time, in high doses, given at the wrong times of the day. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories prescribed…
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Dispensing Errors and the Mental Workload of Pharmacists – What is on Your Mind?
Last month I wrote about the damaging impact of dispensing errors. Since then I have read about some interesting research which is being undertaken at Bath University in the United Kingdom. The research aims to look at the link between the mental workload of pharmacists and dispensing errors. The research is based on the premise…
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Understanding Substitutes
Editor’s Note: We have republished an excerpt from marketing guru Seth Godin’s blog, because we thought it relevant to pharmacy practice, particularly when pricing clinical services. A link to Seth’s site appears at the foot of this article Seth Godin: This is a pretty long post, and I know that you could easily substitute another…
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Trends in Healthcare – From Quantitative to Qualitative
The near ubiquitous acceptance of smartphones and mobile internet access have ushered in a new wave of connected devices and smart objects that help us compile and track an unprecedented amount of previously unavailable data. This quantification of self, which used to be the sole domain of fitness fanatics and professional athletes, is now being…
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MANAGE THE SYMPTOMS OF YOUR COLD OR FLU WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS:
With news this week that winter flu season is in full swing, NPS MedicineWise is reminding Australians that for most people, resting and treating the symptoms is the best course of action when you have a cold or flu — and that’s because flu is caused by viruses, not bacteria, so antibiotics won’t help. NPS…
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Don’t Stop Taking Anticoagulants Without Talking to Your Doctor: NPS MEDICINEWISE
With anticoagulant medicine dabigatran (brand name Pradaxa) in the news this week following reports that safety information about the medicine had been withheld by the manufacturer, NPS MedicineWise is reminding people not to stop taking it without talking to their doctor. Dabigatran (Pradaxa), apixaban (Eliquis) and rivaroxaban (Xarelto) are newer anticoagulant medicines that have been…
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Pharmacists Given Opportunity to Help Plan for the Future
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has launched a major survey seeking to gather information to help PSA position the profession for the delivery of more evidence-based professional services in the future. Chief Executive Officer of the PSA, Dr Lance Emerson, said the PSA was looking at the role of professional services in the Sixth Community…