Pharmacists, it’s time to think like the scientists we are

“When you start forming an opinion, resist the temptation to preach, prosecute or politic. Treat your emerging view as a hunch or a hypothesis and test it with data. Entrepreneurs who approach their business strategies as experiments maintain the agility to pivot.”

-Adam Grant, author of Think Again

Five years ago, we opened a pharmacy with zero patients on day one. Then, gradually we grew week over week and organically gathered a few compliance package requests along the way. Today, I am proud of the efficient systems in place to safely prepare, check, pack up and bill for hundreds of regular clients. We have miles to go to get better, but have come along way from day one. The way the program looks today is definitely not what it looked like years ago. Why? Because we are scientists.

In the beginning, we had a spreadsheet on each patient with varying start dates and packs that were billed manually, drug-by-drug with piles of paperwork and hours of time spent getting them right. The fundamental problem was that when the program was small, we had time. This time did not have to be used wisely because we had a tiny patient roster and we could experiment.

Week by week, we tried new workflow, built new systems and automated different steps, all with a mindset of imagining what this program would look like when it becomes one hundredfold larger in volume.

By their scientific method, scientists’ actions demonstrate that they do not know the true answer but have ideas as to what it could be. Scientists resist the urge to form irreversible public opinions. Instead, they let the process show them the way, then steer in that direction in full willingness to pivot as necessary.

Pharmacists, you are scientists, so test away in your practice. Step by step, make something better. Test a hypothesis and implement the true answer.

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