5 Tips on How To Increase Pharmacy Profit Without Relying on PBMs

Independent Pharmacy Tips and Tricks to Boost Profit

It’s no surprise that Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are continuously concocting methods to dig deeper into your pharmacy’s profits. As soon as independent pharmacy owners think they can defend themselves from the clawbacks, the PBMs innovate a new set of unattainable targets. These targets are designed to take back additional money. If you’re always losing on the backend and wondering how to increase your pharmacy’s profits, what can you do to keep your business afloat?

Let’s focus on some of the best ways you can build profits back into your independent pharmacy and new ways to make money in pharmacy without relying on PBM reimbursement.

1. Create a Frontend Boutique that Drives Over the Counter Sales

Building profits within a pharmacy is in more than just the prescriptions, it’s about everything sold at your location. A strategically designed frontend can dramatically increase overall profits, as well as how much you can make as an independent pharmacy owner. Doing market research and understanding your customer demographic can help you build a frontend tailored specifically to your location. This will help make sure you stock popular products that people are likely to buy. 

There are many other tips and tricks independent pharmacies use to customize their frontend. For example, stores in lower-income neighborhoods are likely to sell much more generic, lower-priced OTC products over more expensive brand name options. Having these items on the shelves of your pharmacy can help increase profits.

If your pharmacy is in an area with young families, then carrying products for infants and children is likely going to be much more profitable compared to carrying products for senior patients.

To make owning a pharmacy more profitable in high-income areas, many independent pharmacies have built elegant boutique-style frontends. When these customers are awaiting a prescription, they’re likely to browse and purchase a few luxury items. 

Customers will often stumble upon the pharmacy section by chance while shopping in the store, which helps owners gain patients in the pharmacy. Take a look at your pharmacy’s floor plan and consider your product placement. Placing items properly can be an excellent new way to make money in pharmacy sales.

When paired with an expertly designed frontend, there are other tips and tricks for independent pharmacies that will also help boost profits. These include training your pharmacy staff on how to “upsell” a prescription. When a customer arrives with prescriptions for antibiotics, they are likely going to require analgesics or cough/cold medicines too. Perhaps recommending a thermometer or humidifier will turn a prescription sale into a sale with a higher profit item. Implementing this training help make owning a pharmacy more profitable.

When maximizing frontend sales, it’s pivotal that owners take advantage of the reporting and inventory management features on their pharmacy’s point-of-sale software. This has a significant impact on how much independent pharmacy owners actually make. Using Datascan’s Point of Sale system is one way to increase pharmacy profit and boost sales. This system has a tremendous number of reporting capabilities and custom reports that owners can create. It allows them to analyze frontend sales and monitor slow-moving products.

Datascan’s Point of Sale software also makes it easy for owners and pharmacy managers to schedule sales and promotions, create custom coupons, build customer loyalty programs, and even send promotional notifications to customers. Utilizing these features are some of the tips and tricks that independent pharmacies use for a more efficient workflow. 

2. Offer Local Delivery and Curbside Pickup

Providing the option for deliveries and pickups can help increase pharmacy profit as well. If your independent pharmacy is not offering delivery and curbside pickup options for patients, then you’re missing out on an efficient way to make money in pharmacy by offering your patients the ultimate conveniences.

The advantages of an independent pharmacy are the conveniences it provides to patients, coupled with the quality of the overall experience. Implementing strategies that support these advantages can be a big part of owning a profitable pharmacy. With the emergence of Amazon Pill Pack and its rapid delivery options for patients, your community pharmacy needs to stay competitive by offering similar convenience options to patients. Remaining competitive and advanced is a great way to increase pharmacy profit. Amidst the recent COVID-19 pandemic, countless pharmacies across the US began providing free deliveries and curbside pickup. Both these services helped to minimize foot traffic within the pharmacy.

There are many factors that can affect how much independent pharmacy owners make and solutions that can improve profitability. In order for local independent pharmacies to offer these options to patients, they need to collaborate with their pharmacy software vendors. These vendors should set up delivery systems for collecting signatures and payments outside of their pharmacies.

Datascan is excited to offer an electronic delivery system to all of its pharmacies, and we even provide it for free to help your pharmacy. This software system is full of tips and tricks for independent pharmacies. It allows stores to create delivery manifests and collect signatures and payments electronically. Datascan even created options for contactless pickup.

3. Charge for Clinical Services and Immunizations

Charging for clinical services and immunizations may seem like an unusual way to make money in your pharmacy. We’ll explain below how to increase pharmacy profits with this strategy.

In various U.S. states, pharmacists are considered medical providers. This means pharmacists are acknowledged as key medical personnel in managing patient health and care (this can also help make owning a pharmacy profitable). Pharmacists are regularly viewed as the first line of defense and trusted healthcare professionals by many patients.

When it comes to increasing pharmacy profits, many states permit pharmacists to administer exams. These exams can be for acute conditions (for example, rapid strep tests), or they can screen for chronic conditions like blood pressure, cholesterol, and even type 2 diabetes. One thing that shocks independent pharmacy owners is that it’s acceptable to charge administration fees for services.

Additionally, many pharmacies administer immunizations such as flu shots, shingles vaccines, or pneumonia, to name a few. If you’re not billing for the administration fees with the shot, you could be losing potential pharmacy profits.

Datascan’s Pharmacy Management Software can handle tracking and billing administration fees and is one of the tips and tricks independent pharmacies frequently use to help build profitability. This software can not only track and bill for these types of services, but it integrates with third-party platforms for seamless reporting to states that require it.

4. Keep Durable Medical Equipment in Stock

DME is another way to make money in your pharmacy. Locating durable medical equipment products locally can pose a huge challenge for patients. Likewise, for most people, ordering is not an option as they need these items quickly.

Building durable medical equipment and supplies into your pharmacy’s frontend can be a great way to make owning your pharmacy more profitable. It will also have a positive effect on how much you (as an independent pharmacy owner) can make.

In addition, getting in touch with local rehab centers, doctor’s offices, and even local hospitals to inform them of the types of supplies you sell is a great way to have patients referred to your independent pharmacy. This can also result in gaining a new customer in the pharmacy department, which is a great way to increase pharmacy profits overall.

Another tip and trick independent pharmacies use is deciding to contract with Medicare Part B. This decision is up to the pharmacy, and Datascan’s Pharmacy Software allows you to bill Medicare B for DME claims. Pharmacies can also choose to offer cash-only DME or even build out DME rentals within our point-of-sale software.

5. Offer Compounded Medications

Offering compounded medications is a great new way to make money in pharmacy. This method is a good way to increase pharmacy profits, because it’s often difficult for patients to find a pharmacy that fills compounded medications. Chain pharmacies do not offer compounded medications, and very often they will refer a patient to a local independent pharmacy.

While many insurance plans do not cover compounds, patients are willing to pay out of pocket for these medications. Setting your pharmacy up to compound is a great way to generate a new revenue stream, help build profits back into your business, and help make owning a pharmacy more profitable.

Without having to rely on PBM reimbursements, pharmacy owners can set their own costs and cash copays for compounds, which is another way to increase pharmacy profits. Filling a compound medication for a patient also provides pharmacies the opportunity to win them over for all of their other prescriptions as well. This will have an excellent impact on how much independent pharmacy owners make.

Datascan’s pharmacy management System includes a robust compounding module included in the software. Over the years, Datascan has continued to build out its compounding module within the pharmacy system, and taking advantage of this technology can increase pharmacy profits. The integrated support features in Datascan include scale integration, the ability to quickly build, modify, or copy compound RXs, robust reporting and search capabilities, and third-party insurance billing for compounded prescriptions.

Schedule a Demo of Datascan Pharmacy Software

There is no denying that PBM clawbacks hurt your profitability, but there are still many new ways to make money in pharmacy and improve the bottom line. Seeking out new revenue sources that do not rely on PBM reimbursement ensures that your profits stay yours and the PBMs keep their hands out of your pockets. Implementing the suggestions listed above and working with a proactive pharmacy software vendor such as Datascan is exactly how to increase pharmacy profits. These strategies will also help expand customer reach, brand awareness, and customer loyalty. Learn more today!