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STEM Education and Thoughts for an Advisory Board
Editor’s Note: Since pharmacists have been able to incorporate their practices. not a great deal of effort has been invested at the top end of a practice, particularly a community pharmacy practice, in the area of forward-thinking and thought leadership. This is probably because pharmacy incorporation was restricted to registered pharmacists and that meant taking…
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Do You Promote Free Advice?
Frequently there is a lament recycled by pharmacy commentators that the business model for community pharmacy has relied on providing services through the margins received for recommended products. That model is still a valid part of community pharmacy culture, except that it has not been appropriately adjusted to counter market changes that have occurred over…
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Fast Food Leading the way – Annihilate Dispensing or Enhance it?
The fast food industry is rapidly moving to replace employees with robots to eliminate payroll, health benefits and human unreliability. It will prove to be a template for pharmacy evolution and it’s under way right now. Also, it’s very likely that, within your professional lifetime, you’re going to see a huge revolution in robotics. It…
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Selling is not all about the product
Over my decades in business, I’ve noticed a baffling trend: “sales” has become a dirty word. I’m on a life-long campaign to change that. In fact, many companies no longer call sales people sales people. They have account executives or account specialists, business developers, client advisers, relationship consultants, territory managers and numerous other monikers. I…
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Digital Nomads – Providing Clinical Services That Appeal
There’s a growing opportunity that is emerging among professionals who are adapting to a nomadic lifestyle. You don’t have to be “grey” to qualify for the lifestyle – and it can accommodate any age. It does however, require a full confidence in your knowledge base and have some tech-savvy skills in addition. Welcome to the…
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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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A Happy Workplace is also a Profitable Business Environment
A happy workplace is one that is characterised by good leadership generating good policies, forward planning and capital recruitment, with all of that activity interpreted by good managers. Note that I use the word “interpret” for managers whose primary function is simply to make good decisions. Words can sometimes be misleading and if they ambiguously…
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Biometric Systems – Coming to a Place Near You
Devices for measuring personal biometrics have been evolving for some time now, with the promise of continuous monitoring of a patient or a well person undertaking a strenuous fitness program. On balance, the fitness industry is driving this type of monitoring to ensure safety and guidance for fitness trainers, but there is obviously room for…
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Creativity and Innovation – In Pharmacy, both may need an injection
Creativity and innovation are terms constantly used in the world of business, but what do they really mean in that context? The dictionary defines creativity as: “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination” For an actual example of creativity I turned to Seth Godin, and he did not fail me. “One of my favorite triumphs of all time happened…