Pharmacy Learnings: What We’re Taking Away from 2024 - BestRx

Pharmacy Learnings: What We’re Taking Away from 2024

Posted on Nov 25, 2024

Every year the pharmacy industry continues to evolve – in response to consumer demand, new legislative requirements, and other unforeseen obstacles. In fact, the past 12 months may have been some of the most challenging for independent pharmacies yet. While this year brought a lot of unknowns, frustrations, and at times, even fear, we learned some pretty important lessons along the way.

Here are some of the major events that shaped the pharmacy industry in 2024, and what we’re taking away from them:

DIR Fee & Reimbursement Changes

One of the biggest concerns pharmacies had heading into 2025 was the financial impact of DIR fee changes in the first quarter. Despite the overwhelmingly gloomy predictions, independent pharmacies have not all closed their doors. In fact, new independent pharmacies continue to open, and many existing stores have found ways to not only survive but thrive this year.

What has this taught us? That planning ahead has a tremendous impact on a store’s ability to adapt, even when significant industry changes threaten their bottom line. From evaluating and adjusting inventory levels and cash flow, to expanding other high-revenue areas of their business, like OTC items, vaccines and point-of-care testing, we were blown away by the resiliency of our customers. BestRx also helped pharmacies navigate the change with transparency-increasing functionality built right into our software. For example, this year we added new fields on the claim response screen that prominently displays critical information, such as when a brand or generic prescription is being reimbursed below cost. 

Change Healthcare’s Cybersecurity Attack

The cybersecurity attack on Change Healthcare was one of the most significant breaches the pharmacy industry has faced. Not only due to the massive number of claims processed by the switch provider, but because of the significant amount of time it took to get systems up and running again. As a result, the incident shined a light on vulnerabilities in many pharmacies’ existing workflows.

Although the ordeal impacted claim submissions and reimbursements for months, something good did come out of it.  Rather than sitting idly by and watching our customers struggle to find a path forward, we sprang into action, developing a new integration with RedSail Technologies’ PowerLine switch. Moving forward, BestRx pharmacies have more options when it comes to their switch provider, and even if they don’t use PowerLine as their primary, they still have a secure, reliable backup option should something like this ever happen again.

Catastrophic Natural Disasters

Each year brings a variety of natural disasters, from tornadoes and hurricanes to mudslides and forest fires. This year, parts of the country faced historic storms and catastrophic damage.  While there may be little you can do to prevent these situations from occurring, the rise and severity of several natural disasters in recent years continues to highlight how important it is to have a plan in place.

We strongly encourage pharmacy owners to explore remote capabilities and develop an emergency communication plan for patients as well. For example, with BestRx pharmacies can:

    • Utilize cloud backups, which will automatically sync their data to a secure, off-site location.
    • Opt for a cloud-hosted version of BestRx, which enables them to access their entire system remotely using WiFi and a compatible device.
    • Keep patients informed about changes in store hours and their prescriptions with a variety of email and text alerts, as well as the Your Local Pharmacy app.

Overall, this year has reinforced the idea that the one thing you can always count on is change. No one can predict what the future holds in the year ahead, but what we continue to see is that with the right tools and technology, your business can quickly adapt to just about any challenge that may come your way. Request a free demo and learn more about how BestRx can help your pharmacy remain nimble and efficient in 2025.