Pharmacy U news

The mouth is literally a viral factory, and it is the gateway to the rest of the body. Indeed, gum disease, otherwise known as periodontitis, has now been shown to be a better predictor of COVID-19 severity than a patient's age. This is HUGE.

From the first day I became a pharmacy manager 15 years ago now, I wondered what the difference was in flipping my nametag from Pharmacist yesterday to Pharmacy Manager today.

Ever get tired of hearing people say they don’t want the flu shot because it made them sick? Or people who say they’re really healthy so they don’t need it, or it doesn’t work anyway so why bother? These are just a few of the things pharmacists will hear from their patients over the coming months.

The customer’s experience is the greatest determinant of success in any business. Customer experience and loyalty are harmonious, and nothing differentiates one pharmacy retailer from another more than the ability to engage customers and build relationships with patients.

In 2005, I received a phone call with an idea. The idea was to get pharmacists trained to provide immunization services. At the time this was an outrageous idea to me. But I did not reject it. About a dozen pharmacists trained with me that first year. Fast forward six years and I found myself serving on a team that had trained over 12,000 pharmacists!

For over a decade, we have all told our patients to please stop using Google to self-diagnose and/or research their health conditions. Google is old news though: There is a new platform that is rapidly gaining viewership that you need to be aware of.

In the real world, building a bridge takes engineers and raw materials and time. In the leadership world, it takes the ability to communicate effectively, to establish and build a relationship, and time.

Your boss might not make these metrics mandatory but that doesn’t mean they don’t provide insightful data into your store-level operation. Just like individual practitioners, pharmacies themselves have identities. What's yours?