The independent pharmacy used to be the rule, not the exception. But as the large chains scoop up market share, the independent pharmacy industry is slowly getting eroded.
“It’s not an easy business. You have to constantly be on top of things and it can kind of wear you down because you keep hearing day after day, CVS bought this, CVS bought that,” says Laura Atkinson, president and CEO of Total Wellness Pharmacy and Wellness Center LLC.
Within the pharmacy industry, there have been a lot of regulatory changes and some of the big players now have their own insurance. Atkinson says that means they are actually able to audit their competitors who carry that insurance. Also, with health care reform, more insurance goes through mail-in companies like Express Scripts, and patients don’t have the freedom of choice.
She has found that in order to compete with national chains that simply fill prescriptions through economies of scale, it’s all about being unique.
“As long as we provide a service that is different and needed, we’ll always be valuable,” Atkinson says.
Focusing in and out
To find your niche in a competitive environment, Atkinson recommends keeping abreast of trends and news.
“I think a lot of it is just being really in tune with what’s going on in your field and your industry on a deeper level aside from the day-to-day in your business,” she says.
For example, under the Affordable Care Act there’s a focus on prevention, so Total Wellness is now able to bill for diabetes management services. Keeping up with the law and regulation changes lets Total Wellness be proactive with its offerings.
Atkinson, and her business partner, Cathy Lopienski, R.Ph., split up the duties so that Atkinson can focus on the broader picture, network, create relationships and get involved with government and industry entities.
She knows that the population as a whole is aging, and noticed all of the independent and assisted living facilities being built as she drove around town. With growth in the market, but her marketing dollars not making a significant dent, Atkinson looked for a better way.
At the same time, you need to identify your organization’s strengths and weaknesses so you can focus on those strengths, she says.
Total Wellness started as a corporate health and wellness consulting firm in 1991, only adding pharmacy services in 2003. So it’s always been natural to emphasize patient care and personalized service.
“We can’t compete with them on advertising dollars and brand awareness, but we can compete with them in those markets that need that personalized care,” Atkinson says.
For example, the company’s pharmacists visit people’s homes in order to review their medications and organize them in dispensers so the patients won’t get confused.
That service is free, but the business bills for an added service where medication is monitored for people who have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, or even just so many prescriptions that they have trouble keeping them straight. Patients can be reminded to take their medication, and a call center alerts a caretaker if they miss a dose.
All about the service
Atkinson says they’ve accelerated the amount of services they provide, while creating collaborative partnerships with home health care agencies, physician’s offices and assisted living facilities.
Smaller and midsized organizations in this space aren’t targeted by the large chains, so Total Wellness, with its lower overhead, can step into this unfilled niche.
Any organization in a competitive marketplace has to continually look for unique opportunities, partnerships and relationships that can be mutually beneficial, Atkinson says, and then cultivate and grow them.
“Customer service is most important for us,” she says. “So keeping both our patients and our partners happy and going the extra mile, doing things that we already do — things that the chains don’t do — but going that extra mile to make things easier for them.”
You might think providing more service would affect the company’s bottom line, but Atkinson says it actually enhances it.
“We’ve had patients for, oh, seven years or more who we still fill their prescriptions because we go that extra mile,” she says. “So it’s about developing a long-term, ongoing relationship.”
And then those patients spread that to their friends and family.
“So it’s actually good business. You know, we’re developing and cultivating relationships, long-lasting relationships, but also because we do that, we get those extra referrals,” she says.
