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A New “Social Enterprise” Wholesaler
A new generic wholesaler has formed up as a philanthropic venture designed to apply its total net profit evenly between two organisations – the Breast Cancer Network Australia and Breast Cancer Institute of Australia. This ‘social enterprise’ company is called For Benefit Medicines (FBM) and it will negotiate generic drugs under a generic label with an FBM suffix.…
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You really can buy happiness
We’ve all heard the old adage that you can’t buy happiness. Well, it turns out that’s not exactly true. You actually can buy happiness – when you spend your money or your time on others. Does that come as a surprise to anyone? It’s true for individuals and companies alike. Corporations and organizations often…
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Phoctors and Docpharms
In these days of constant change or business disruption we often find ourselves in a constant state of anxiety. This is not good for mental health and is probably the underlying reason why mental health issues have shown such a massive increase across the spectrum of entire populations, over the past five years As a…
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Health Fund Managed Care – Will it be a short-term positive or a long-term negative for Pharmacy
There seems little doubt that the Australian government is setting out to introduce a US style of healthcare management using health funds to “front” for some of their objectives. Despite the fact that the US has the worst health system in the world (as well as the most expensive), government seems to think that by…
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Health Disruption to Health Care – by Health Funds and Major Investors
Health funds are beginning to look at disruptive or innovative acquisitions that will help in their objective of converting as many health systems as possible to become part of a managed care consortium. While the process promises lower health costs, low health insurance premiums and a five star system for patients to rate their health…
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I’ve Been Thinking – She should have been home for Christmas too
I’ve been thinking about drugs, wars, Christmases, and your hospital (the one you work in and/or the one you go to as a patient). On my daily walks, I’ve been listening to Laura Hillenbrand’sUnbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I’m at Christmas of 1943—the year Bing Crosby’s newly recorded “I’ll Be…
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A Constant Stream of Expensive Drugs
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, November 16, 2015 It would be novel indeed to see a news media report entitled “Life- Saving Vitamins.” That’s a headline about vitamins that would be true for once. Instead, I see folks on TV speaking about those drugs they so desperately “need” while they plead with drug companies to just…
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The PBS $1 Discount – Strategies for Coping
The next 12 months will be a real time of testing as the discount PBS co-payment of $1 begins to bite. You must prepare to combat this process immediately to ensure that your pharmacy will survive. This cynical process adopted by government, has the potential to generate many bankruptcies after the first year of introduction. And…
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Customize your customer service
If you’ve ever had anything custom-made, you can relate to how satisfying the experience can be. Whether it’s a new house, a tailor-made shirt, or even a special sandwich, getting exactly what you ordered is gratifying. That’s why I think we should rename customer service to “custom service.” Every customer contact should involve custom care…
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Creativity in the Workplace – It has to be made possible
Think about a place where creativity would be encouraged and nurtured. Did you envision an art studio, a theatre, or maybe a child’s playroom? All those places come to mind pretty easily, but I’m willing to bet there’s one place that didn’t, and that’s the pharmacy workplace. The traditional working life that many of us…