Changes in health care are happening so fast they’re hard to track. Last week, we explained five trends that will soon affect your pharmacy. And this week, we’re adding five more. Without further ado here they are, for a grand total of 10 trends to help you, your staff, and your pharmacy thrive.
And here’s some straight talk: with the pace of change, you can step up or step aside.
More Wellness
The American healthcare system is complex and will likely continue to be. Streamlining access and improving customer experience will be key. So, pharmacies will look to expanding holistic and personalized care for their patients. Pharmacies might play an important role in delivering mental healthcare services, including screenings, education and preventive care. In many ways, pharmacies will become wellness destinations, offering health care, wellness packages, preventive treatment, and community outreach.
More Knowledge
Pharmacists and their staff are some of the most highly qualified healthcare professionals. Dealing with paperwork and dispensing meds can be easily automated, creating more time for pharmacy workers to work one-on-one with patients, learn new practices, and plan and strategize for the future.
The roles of pharmacists and technicians will be elevated, moving higher up the value chain to deliver customized care and patient consultation.
More Channels but One Experience
Patients are moving toward mail-order or online pharmacies for generic maintenance meds. Specialty pharmacies for complex treatments are multiplying. Home services are also emerging, while digital therapeutics and remote monitoring make administering meds faster and easier. Customers will access their services through the most convenient method for them.
What does this mean for you? You can modernize by adding advanced technologies such as analytics, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Your overarching mantra will be to ease and enhance the experience of your patients.
More Innovation
Remember this: community pharmacies are closest to their patients, as well as healthcare providers. You’re a critical link in the healthcare chain of services. So as innovation continues to advance technologically, you have the opportunity to collaborate with patients and providers to identify and develop different clinical programs, value initiatives, and performance incentives.
More Precision
Precision medicine and treatment using individual genomic data and DNA means more accurate diagnoses, reducing the risk of adverse pharmaceutical events. This will decrease healthcare costs in the long term. Biosimilars will also increase significantly, which will potentially save billions of dollars.
Overall, pharmacies will be the place patients go to when they need fixing—the intersection of clinicians capable of providing primary care and offerings of the most precise medications and treatments.
The future of pharmacy is ever-changing, but bright with fresh possibilities.
A Member-Owned Company Serving Independent Pharmacies
PBA Health is dedicated to helping independent pharmacies reach their full potential on the buy-side of their business. Founded and owned by pharmacists, PBA Health serves independent pharmacies with group purchasing services, wholesaler contract negotiations, proprietary purchasing tools, and more.
An HDA member, PBA Health operates its own NABP-accredited secondary wholesaler with more than 6,000 SKUs, including brands, generics, narcotics CII-CV, cold-storage products, and over-the-counter (OTC) products — offering the lowest prices in the secondary market.
