Is your pharmacy taking full advantage of immunization services?
Justin Wilson, Pharm.D., co-owner of Valu-Med Pharmacy in Midwest City, Okla., said pharmacies can still make a healthy profit margin on immunizations compared to prescription medications.
As physicians shift away from offering immunizations, independent community pharmacists can seize a big opportunity. “More physicians in our community are getting out of the vaccine business,” Wilson said. “They’re not seeing the same profit margins they used to. And some of the storage requirements and inventory issues make it a challenge for them.”
Wilson makes the most of his pharmacy’s immunization services by offering vaccine co-administration, where patients receive two or more needed vaccines in one sitting. Co-administration offers convenience for patients and more profits for the pharmacy.
Improve patient health
Wilson’s main reason for co-administering vaccines is to improve patients’ health. He said the pharmacy wants to patients up-to-date on the recommended vaccine schedules.
“We always try to make our business decisions based on what’s best for our patients,” he said. “I saw it as a community need because patients were coming into our stores needing these vaccines and they didn’t know where to get them.”
Valu-Med Pharmacy especially takes advantage of vaccine co-administration during flu season. When patients come in for flu shots, they fill out an intake form and pharmacists ask about the last time they received other recommended vaccines. “It allows us to at least start the conversation with the patient,” he said. Asking those questions tripled the number of pneumonia shots the pharmacy gave during the last two flu seasons.
Vaccines you can co-administer with a flu shot:
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Meningococcal
- Pneumococcal
- Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis)
- Zostavax® (Shingles)
The pharmacy takes the time to determine each patient’s needs. Because of that Wilson said getting patients to receive more than one vaccine at once is an easy sell. “As we interview them and find out their needs, we’ll make those recommendations. And if their insurance covers the cost of the vaccine, it’s a no-brainer,” he said.
Wilson said most patients get a flu shot every year, so they’re coming to the pharmacy anyway. “The way we market it to patients is you might as well get it all over with in one visit rather than having to come back multiple times,” he said.
Increase profits with vaccine co-administration
Vaccine co-administration is a large profit center for Valu-Med Pharmacy. “You get reimbursed on the backside for administration fees, so it allows us to keep the doors open a little bit better than if we didn’t have the vaccine service for our pharmacy,” Wilson said.
Reduced margins and dwindling reimbursements from insurance companies and third party payers have been a big issue on the prescription side of the business. “If we weren’t providing these vaccines, I think our numbers would look a lot worse,” Wilson said.
Co-administering vaccines can even attract new patients. “We’ve had patients come to us from as far as three hours away because they couldn’t find the vaccine in their community, so it brings extra business,” he said.
Pharmacists can administer most vaccines, so long as there’s not a compatibility issue or interaction, Wilson said. For example, Valu-Med Pharmacy is a travel immunization center, so the pharmacy often co-administers different travel vaccines patients need.
Travel immunizations you can co-administer:
- Cholera
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Meningitis
- MMR
- Polio
- Shingles
- Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria,
- Pertussis)
- Typhoid
- Yellow Fever, Pertussis)
- Zostavax® (Shingles)
Wilson advises other independent community pharmacies considering co-administering vaccines to jump in head first. “Especially if they’re already giving flu shots,” he said. “It’s pretty easy to start offering these other vaccines. You may have a little bit of an inventory back stock to get started with some of the shots but as far as policies and procedures, you’ve already got those in place.”
How to Make Immunizations a Pharmacy Profit Center
How to Make Immunizations a Pharmacy Profit CenterDiscover how to make immunizations a major source of profit for your business. Learn proven strategies and insights from pharmacy owners who’ve turned their pharmacies into immunization destinations, including 20 practical tips to reap routine profits from your program. Read the story
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