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Analysis of new and Existing Global Retail Market Entrants and Their Effect on all retailers and Australian Pharmacy, and the Privatisation of Health
Indications are that at least two global retailers are in the process of setting up shop in Australia – Amazon, and the German-based Kaufland group (both having selected distribution sites in Melbourne), and a third, Costco, recently arrived in Australia, has major expansion plans. Aldi, established in Australia since the year 2000, has significantly altered…
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I’VE BEEN THINKING about my first lecture on pharmacy automation, the life work of Dr. Kenneth N. Barker, and the autographed baseball I keep on my desk.
On August 23, 2017, I received word that hospital-pharmacy icon and dear friend, Kenneth N. Barker, passed away earlier that morning. Below is a blog I wrote upon his retirement in 2009. I have made a few edits to bring it up to date. I’ve been thinking about my first lecture on pharmacy-automation, the life work…
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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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The King Review – WHAT LIES BENEATH!
The King Review panel has currently reached an interim report stage that discloses a range of options which form up into four major groupings – cosmetic positive, cosmetic negative, industry alternatives and future government policy direction (documented and undocumented). Overlaps occur between these groupings and perspectives will obviously vary depending on their interest segment. My…
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Developing a Single Patient View
From the last business cycle to the current version, pharmacists and community pharmacies have undergone some profound experiences and rapid change. The transition to now is leaving in its wake a sense of indecision and while many opportunities have arisen to improve pharmacist skills and community pharmacy development, only a small number of talented individuals…
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Micro-practice – Future Direction for Pharmacy
I2P has long proposed that pharmacy attracts two types of consumers – customers and patients. A little reflection will resolve this issue because clearly, customers will be attracted to the more commercialised aspects of pharmacy that compete with retailing in general, and the reason why pharmacists see their major competitors as supermarkets and variety stores.…
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Do we do enough for our statin patients?
Even though statins are the “go-to” therapy for lowering “bad” cholesterol, other treatments can effectively reduce the risk of future heart problems according to a new evidence review. The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that a heart-healthy diet can confer the same level of heart health protection as statins. When we dispense a…
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A Patient’s Real Cost – Their time Involvement and a future cause for health system collapse
For some time we have seen media references portraying GP’s as overworked, becoming more stressed and now being underpaid due to the freezing of Medicare rebates. It seems GP’s have now been put on the same treadmill as pharmacists. Welcome to the real world that we pharmacists already inhabit! But what is not identified within…
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Your Dispensary – Core Business Could Evaporate
This year will be “crunch time” for most community pharmacies who have not yet decided on adopting disruptive technologies as a means of improving the “bottom line” of their pharmacy. I am thinking specifically the decision to purchase a robotic dispensing machine. It is almost a “no-brainer”. Robotic dispensing equipment has been available to pharmacy…