Innovation is a buzzword in health care right now, and you might be feeling pressure to innovate at your independent community pharmacy. But it can be hard to know where to start.
Innovation doesn’t have to mean fancy technology or huge overhauls—it just means doing something new to make your business better. And you don’t have to look far for ideas. You just have to get out of your comfort zone.
“Many of the challenges that healthcare leaders will soon face—collapsing prices; disruptive technologies; fierce competition; and entirely new business models—have already been seen in other industries, and have given rise to adaptive new strategies,” said Mike Wagner in “Bringing Outside Innovations into Health Care,” an article in the Harvard Business Review.
“Healthcare leaders would be unwise to repeat the mistakes of others; they would be foolish to overlook strategies and solutions that have already been developed and proven elsewhere,” he said.
Instead of only looking at other pharmacies, don’t be afraid to look to other industries for examples of great business practices—ones that you can adapt and incorporate into your pharmacy. Here’s how you can use different companies to inspire innovations in your pharmacy.
1. Evaluate other businesses as a customer
Pay attention to companies that do well, and to companies that you like. Take note of their successes, and their failures. You can learn from both. The more you can take away from others, the better positioned you are for future success.
You can find ways to improve your business by simply looking all around you. Think about what makes you want to return to a business as a customer. Maybe it was the exemplary customer service at your community’s doggy day care center, or the speedy delivery times of your local pizza place.
More importantly, notice what drives you away from a business. Was the local sandwich shop dingy and poorly lit, or the restrooms unclean? Use this same critical eye to evaluate your pharmacy. From the entrance, to the storefront, to the counter, identify things that could turn a customer off, while drawing attention to your pharmacy’s strengths.
2. Determine what could work for you
Just because a strategy or technique works well for one company, doesn’t mean it will work well for your pharmacy. Different companies have different resources, and different industries have different audiences. So it’s important to be able to determine what could actually help you, and to judge if something can be scaled back for your pharmacy. Don’t be intimidated by ambitious strategies, but try to be cautious of biting off more than you can chew.
3. Identify what you do better
You can also look at companies in other industries to identify your own strengths. What could they learn from you? Pinpointing areas where you could teach others how to do something better can show you what makes your pharmacy unique. Going forward, emphasize the areas you do well as you work to drive change in other places.
Keep an open mind, and you’ll find inspiration in no time. Learn from other industries, and see how easy it is to innovate in your pharmacy.
