If you’re just traditional, you’re essentially dead, said Jake Galdo, Pharm.D., BCPS, CGP, assistant professor and director of the community pharmacy residency program at the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
Staying at the forefront and advancing care means independent community pharmacies need to create new ways of doing things.
But Galdo said it’s not just about offering new products or services, it’s also about eliminating waste. “There’s the clinical services that you see, but oftentimes the innovation within a business could be how they eliminate their waste more effectively,” he said. “Creativity is ultimately how you do quality improvement.”
Galdo challenges independent community pharmacies to figure out how to approach a reduction in errors in their pharmacy. “That’s not something that most people will see, but I think it could be very creative,” he said.
Sparking creativity
Galdo said in order to start getting creative, pharmacies have to get outside of their realm.
But some independent community pharmacy owners and pharmacists may not know how to step out of their comfort zone and tap into their creative sides.
Galdo’s advice? “Don’t listen to your peers. Or, listen to new peers,” he said. “Find people in a different business model that may do something similar.”
If you want to improve your pharmacy practice, then you need to go outside of your bubble and figure out how to do something different, he said.
Embracing failure
You have to be willing to fail in order to succeed in creativity and innovation. “Try something, let it fail and then grow,” Galdo said.
But, Galdo recognizes that many small businesses don’t have a lot of money to throw down the drain on trial and error.
For independent community pharmacies that are afraid to take the monetary risk, Galdo said to budget for it. “Go ahead and put $100 to the side every month as your ‘creativity money,’” he said. “Money that is earmarked simply to be wasted, so that way you don’t feel bad about it.”
The bottom line
Creativity is necessary for independent community pharmacies to maintain a competitive advantage. And, Galdo said it’s time for pharmacies to step up and recognize that they can do a better job.
He suggests looking at your workflow and what yours goals are in order to determine how you can approach things differently.
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