5 Ways to Manage Your Pharmacy Like a Pro - BestRx
Manage your pharmacy like a pro

5 Ways to Manage Your Pharmacy Like a Pro

Posted on May 28, 2024

Independent pharmacies today are facing a long list of challenges, from reduced reimbursement rates and new legislation to rising overhead costs and staffing shortages. While it may feel like so much is out of your control, adopting a more proactive approach to managing your pharmacy can help you better navigate these and any future obstacles that may arise. Here are five ways to manage your pharmacy like a pro:

Market Your Store

Marketing is so much more than occasionally promoting your OTC sales and services. It’s about what steps you’re taking to keep your current patients engaged, how you’re building awareness within your community, and attracting new customers as well. That’s why BestRx’s pharmacy software includes multiple tools to help you achieve all these things, including:

Know Your Numbers

Knowledge is power. While you may not be able to do much about drug prices and reimbursement rates, regularly monitoring this information enables you to identify which plans and medications are paying off, and which are costing your pharmacy. That way, you can take action to mitigate any potential losses, such as stocking lower cost alternatives or growing certain payor populations.

It’s also important to keep track of how things are moving on your shelves – both behind and over the counter. The goal is to find a balance between keeping your store stocked but not overfilled. This helps free up your cashflow and prevents product waste. To help you stay on top of your pharmacy’s financial performance, BestRx offers a wide range of customizable sales and inventory reporting, many of which can be set up to run automatically using our Scheduled Reports feature.

Grow the Cash-Pay Side of Your Business

Over the years, a pharmacist’s scope of work has continued to expand, bringing new opportunities to provide a variety of cash-based services. As prescription reimbursements continue to decline, pharmacies can offset lost revenue by focusing on cash-pay opportunities like increasing OTC sales, administering vaccinations, and performing point-of-care testing. To ensure your efforts are a success, don’t forget to spend time training your team on how to:

      • Cross-sell, recommending OTC items and supplements that support various medications, treatment plans and chronic conditions.
      • Promote the different services you offer, including reminding patients about sales and loyalty programs that may be available or vaccines that may be due, and enrolling patients in Auto Refill programs or electronic messaging.
      • Perform and document various patient consultations, including MTM appointments, medication counseling and eCare plans.
Be Nimble

Operating an independent pharmacy can be time-consuming and demanding, especially for multi-store owners or those facing staffing issues. That’s why it’s important to find ways to save time and quickly adapt as your needs change. One way to do this is to utilize cloud-hosted software, in lieu of your traditional, locally installed pharmacy management system. Cloud-hosted software provides significantly more flexibility, enabling you to perform all pharmacy functions and access vital operational reports, whenever and wherever you are. So, whether you’re down a pharmacist and need to process scripts offsite, are experiencing inclement weather preventing you from physically making it into your store, or you’re out of town at a conference, cloud-hosted software ensures things continue to run smoothly, no matter what.

Build Connections

In order to be proactive versus reactive, it’s important to be aware of what’s going on across the industry. Whether it’s by talking to your peers or joining an independent pharmacy network, like the National Community Pharmacists Association, connecting with others can help spark new ideas for business growth. It also ensures you’re staying up to date on local and national legislation and are utilizing the latest, most efficient operational practices as well. Plus, it reminds you that just because you’re an independent pharmacy owner doesn’t mean you’re in this alone.

These are just a few ways you can adjust your approach and operate more proactively. Request a free demo to learn more about how you can leverage BestRx to better manage your business, no matter what challenges may lie ahead.