The hope of healthcare – the creation of value

Over the last two columns we have looked at two concepts:

1. Pharmacists solve problems
2. Everyone on planet Earth is paid to solve problems

Before we go further, I would like to take just a moment to share a concept my mentor taught me. This concept is quite obvious, however, at least in my case, it can be easily overlooked and taken for granted.

When one person solves a problem for another person, value is created. When value is created, we tend to reward this creation of value with certificates of achievement.  These certificates typically have some famous person’s picture on them and have a special name. We call these certificates money!

If a large value is created, a large number of certificates are created. If a small value is created, a small number of certificates are created.

The value can be impacted by many things. For example, I believe I have shared before a story or two about going to Walt Disney World. I am fascinated by most things at Walt Disney World. One of the things I notice is the price of an ice-cold bottle of water. In the summer, many likely claim Disney World is as hot as the surface of the sun. The thing is, there are water fountains located throughout the park. You can drink from these fountains for free. But you can also buy an ice-cold bottle of water. The price of a bottle as I write this article is $3.75. At home, I can buy that same bottle of water for half that price (at most).

Why is there a difference in price? VALUE. It is more valuable in the hot Florida sun.

Don’t miss this: value is created when one person solves a problem for another person.  The person doing the solving may use technology and equipment to help solve the problem, but the solution starts with a person. Machines don’t just solve problems for machines. Value creation is something unique to people.

Consider this. You can take your family out to dinner tonight. You likely have a few different options to choose from. Fast-food, fine dining or something in between. You may even have very similar choices of cuisine: beef, chicken, seafood or a vegetarian option at many of the restaurants available to you. But what would be different? The price may be radically different, and as such, you expect the value to be different as well. You have a completely different expectation for the fine dining restaurant over the fast-food restaurant.

I share all of this with you to prepare us for the conversation about what value looks like in the pharmacy. 

If you have ever provided care for a patient visiting from out of town, the provision of “value” has an almost tangible feel. 

I can recall a Saturday I was working in Warren, Pennsylvania (which is as forsaken a place as it sounds), and I had a patient call me. She explained she was in town for the weekend but left her thyroid and blood pressure medications at home. Here is the kicker – she wasn’t sure of the medications or the doses. Her call launched an adventure over the next couple of hours to not only track down the prescriber (on a golf course) but also to figure out the drug, dose, and directions (as the prescriber did not know what the patient was taking off the top).

When all was said and done, the patient paid cash for her prescriptions because value was created. I acknowledge this is a simplistic explanation of value, but I believe it illustrates the point. Value is what we must set out to deliver. Every day. To every patient we serve. Pharmacists are the Hope of Healthcare (at least partly) because we can deliver that value and have that impact. We are accessible to so many people.

Yet here also lies the challenge: are we delivering value? How do you know you are delivering value?

We will continue our exploration of value in the next article.

Until next time

Jesse McCullough, PharmD

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