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The Patient Proposition
I am wondering if there are any pharmacists out there who have ever created a written proposal to recruit patients to your practice. The reason I ask is that so many pharmacists in their communications with each other or with other health professionals, talk in terms of having “customers”, with the word “patient” appearing spasmodically…
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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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Design for a Medication Safety Plan
The problem of creating a quality professional pharmacy practice for community pharmacy is often in conflict with the metrics required to provide a solid business infrastructure. Without a sound infrastructure there is no support to underpin a professional practice, so Codes of Conduct and minimum levels for Standards of Practice have to be developed. Increased…
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Design Thinking- What it is
Design thinking is not new but it has been evolving more rapidly since 1960 as a valid management process described as: * A unified framework for innovation * An essential tool for simplifying and humanising It has evolved by appropriating many of the best tools and techniques from creative fields, social and computer sciences. Design…
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The Desensitised Culture
It’s time for a new prescription The community pharmacy is fighting to survive amid aggressive price disclosures, high expenses and pressures from wholesalers. Yet, the treatment of slashing costs and pushing discounts only focuses on the symptom of financial turmoil, rather than treating the root cause of the problem. The financial turmoil facing the pharmacy…
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Patient Navigation – An old-new Opportunity for Pharmacists
i2P has commented before that community pharmacy has (and still is) the epicentre for primary health care. In many ways it was the original patient-centred home and it had a market share approaching 70 percent in the mid to late 1970’s when it was first surveyed. The entry point to primary health care within community…
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The Power of Broke
A lot of people believe you only have one shot at success. Let’s agree that’s just not true. But what is true is that many people don’t even take that one shot – out of fear of failure, inexperience, lack of motivation or just not knowing where to begin. Daymond John, one of the stars…
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United in Compassion – Medical Marijuana and Dan’s Story
Editor’s Note: As most i2P subscribers would know, we carry a range of information on diverse topics, one of which is medical marijuana. i2P has been encouraging pharmacists to become engaged with medical marijuana as Cannabis Directory Australia does because of the promise of major health benefits, also a product that could impact on the…
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Consumerism, health care costs and patient-centred “homes”
Health objectives in Australia are shifting from fee for service models to capitation models in a bid to simultaneously improve quality and reduce costs. The idea of a patient-centred “home” led by a doctor is touted as the principal model of care. i2P has always pointed to the fact that any business model led by…
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Three Bioethicists Critical of Pharmacy Retailing
Three bioethicists have combined to criticise the concept of community pharmacy conducting retail front of shop activities, while simultaneously working in the best interests of the patient. Their comments are published in Croakey here. The bioethicists, Wendy Lipworth, Christopher Mayes and Ian Kerridge (all medical academics attached to the University of Sydney) discuss what is…