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Opioids & Non-opioids
I’m a turmeric, magnesium powder, lipoic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin D, arnica and omega-3 krill oil type of person when it comes to pain. I see great results when anybody in pain is empowered to make some decisions based on their expectations, rather than be told what they need, without adequate explanations of the range…
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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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Why Amazon’s Entry to the Australian Pharmacy Market May Drive Cultural Change, New Innovation and Promote Young Pharmacists
Amazon is about to enter the Australian retail market and is known to be interested in adding pharmacy to its retail mix of products and services. Amazon has developed “entry point technology” to a consumer’s home. It is called the Echo system and it is powered by voice activation technology called “Alexa” which is of…
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Please give me eye contact!
It what seems obvious findings, patients prefer their doctors to be engaging in conversation, and to ignore any online screens. As electronic medical records become more common, it’s not unusual for doctors to enter data into a computer as they talk with their patients. Doctors seeing patients for the first time, when trying to build…
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Your business depends on your personal touch
Mamie Adams always enjoyed going to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before the holidays one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in…
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“Pushy” customers or are they merely “informed”?
I was rather puzzled when reading an article on the challenges of a “pushy” customer and the pressures placed on student pharmacists. I’m puzzled because we, in pharmacy, have lost the skills of listening. We have become so “medicalised” that we now seem to “tell” rather than “partner in a satisfactory outcome”. Whether the educators…
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Stop procrastinating before it stops you
A third grader had to do a book report, and he chose a Socrates biography. His report consisted of three succinct sentences: Socrates was a philosopher. He talked a lot. They killed him. Not much more to say about brevity. Maybe that’s why U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” Another U.S. President,…
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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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Sales techniques that work as hard as you do
Whether you run your own business or work for a company in a sales-related role, you’re always looking for sales techniques that work. I’ve developed and learned many over the years from readers providing great advice. One person advised me to ask yes and yes questions. He worked for Hyatt and asked himself, “What else…