From KnowledgeDriven.com, Christine Lane, Vice President, Good Neighbor Pharmacy®
Note: Excerpt below, full story and additional detail for each of the seven tips is available on AmerisourceBergen’s industry resource KnowledgeDriven.com.
Independent community pharmacists know how much value they add to the community and the quality of care they bring to their patients. The question is: How can community pharmacies best demonstrate their value and build on their strengths in a way that increases patient loyalty?
During my tenure at AmerisourceBergen, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with many of our community pharmacists. I know there’s no one-size-fits-all solution because each independent pharmacy is unique. In fact, it’s this uniqueness that gives community pharmacies a competitive advantage in the healthcare marketplace.
Once a community pharmacy knows its strengths, it can focus and build on those to capture patient loyalty and help patients lead healthier lives. These seven tips provide some guidance on how to keep patients coming back.
Seven Tips for Creating Lasting Patient Loyalty
- Draw a road map: Identify the pharmacy’s strengths, and then map out possible approaches to reach specific goals.
- Know the difference between ‘quirky’ and ‘outdated’: Don’t let your pharmacy’s appearance create any misperceptions about the level and quality of advanced care that you provide to your patients.
- Take risks — in a smart way: There is a core set of products, for example, cough and cold or analgesics, which every pharmacy needs to carry and set to a planogram driven by market research.
- Know the data: Every community pharmacist needs to make point-of-sale data analysis a routine activity.
- Leverage available technology: A strong digital presence can ensure a local pharmacy shows up at the top of local search listings.
- Service is key: Staff should be properly trained to serve, assist, and welcome the patients who walk through the door.
- Engage in dialogue: As the healthcare landscape becomes increasingly more complex, patients appreciate a trusted professional taking the time to address questions and concerns.
Greater Loyalty Leads to Better Adherence
There are studies showing an association between patient loyalty to a community pharmacy and medication persistence and compliance.1 Loyal patients are more likely to fill all their prescriptions at a single community pharmacy-positioning pharmacists to offer the guidance and services patients need to lead healthier lives.
Learn more about AmerisourceBergen’s Good Neighbor Pharmacy® program and get the solutions your community pharmacy needs to thrive.
- Dossa, A., Gregoire, J., Lauzier, S., Guenette, L., Sirois, C., Moisan, J. (2015, July 13). Association Between Loyalty to Community Pharmacy and Medication and Compliance, and the Use of Guidelines-Recommended Drugs in Type 2 Diabetes. Retrieved December 12, 2016, from Medicine (Baltimore), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504647/
