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More Father’s Day advice – from readers
Several weeks ago I used this column to share lessons I learned from my parents in recognition of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. My intention was to honor mothers and fathers everywhere for the wisdom they impart to their children. The column apparently struck a chord, because I had a record response from readers about…
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Are Your Consumers Customers or Patients?
It seems that as pharmacies become more corporate in nature and larger in total business transacted, the concepts of pharmacy are tested, with the view of providing more financial benefit to the owners, either in the format of paying lowest possible wages to employed pharmacists, illegal removal or manipulation of award requirements (such as meal…
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Provider Numbers are the key to clinical services rollout
A few years ago I read a biography on the life of Joseph Stalin. The story of how Stalin rose to power and then ruled Russia with an unrelenting grasp for thirty years was quite an interesting read. Despite all his paranoia, ordered executions and sending millions to the gulags it is an interesting fact…
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The APLF – a very quiet organisation
The Australian Pharmacy Liaison Forum (APLF) is a pharmacy umbrella organisation that was born in 2008 amidst political tension between major pharmacy organisations. The fact that it was not needed until that point is testament to the goodwill and collegiality that existed between pharmacists and the various organisations that represented them. Something happened to alter…
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I’ve been thinking about minding the gap, looking right, and a potential blind spot in the medication-use process.
There is little pedestrian about being a pedestrian in the UK. It pays to heed the painted warnings underfoot between the platforms and trains throughout the color-coded labyrinth of the famed Underground—“MIND THE GAP.” It is paramount, however, to heed the painted curbs at nearly every intersection—“LOOK RIGHT.” Perhaps you’ve had your close call…
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Life is what you give back
A son and his father are walking in the mountains. Suddenly, the boy falls, scrapes his knee and screams, “AAAhhhhhhhhh!!!” To the son’s surprise, he hears his voice repeating, somewhere in the mountains, “AAAhhhhhhhhh!!!” Curious, he yells, “Who are you?” He receives the same answer, “Who are you?” Angered at the response, he screams, “Coward!” He receives…
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Supermarket Comparisons – are they individually different?
i2P began reporting on Aldi well before they opened their first store in Australia and it has always been favourable. They are renowned for their constant attention to detail in designing their internal systems and their continual auditing of costs. They also tend to put cost savings back into their retail prices. And by putting…
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Step out of your comfort zone
A few weeks ago daredevil Nik Wallenda walked – untethered – atop Orlando’s 400-foot high Ferris wheel – as it was spinning. This is the same guy who traversed a tightrope stretched across the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and between two Chicago skyscrapers. In an interview he said he wants to be an inspiration for…
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Walmart Is Rolling out a Primary Health Care “whole of store” Concept
It’s not just pharmacy expansion that US retail giant Walmart is changing the face of, but the entire scope of primary health care. This brings them into direct conflict with medical centres and given the massive resources and scale of operations, they are in a position to alter the primary health care market significantly and…
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Pharmacy Needs Education & Training – Who will fill this need?
I recently read an article on leadership in the Harvard Business Review where a distinction was made between training and education and a view that educational establishments collectively over-invest in education and under-invest in training. Typically, higher education prizes knowledge over skills. This produces knowledgeable leaders and managers while training and skills go to those…