S: We offer service that you just can’t get from the chains.  Our customers and employees are on a first name basis with each other.  When you walk in, customers are greeted with a lively atmosphere and a fun place to “get healthy.”  Our pricing is comparable and in most cases lower than most chain stores, and we make sure our customers know it!  Your overall experience in our pharmacy and with our staff is far superior to any of our competitors.  We offer conveniences like text messaging for refill reminders and prescriptions ready for pick up, we do free Med Sync for all patients, and even offer special ordering and delivery for any item we may not have in stock.  Our same-day delivery is free and even faster than Amazon!

D: What are some of the unique services you offer to your patients?

S: Our pharmacy, while providing retail services to the public, also focuses heavily on servicing the needs of Long Term Care and group home facilities.  We offer daily deliveries, bubble packed medications, med review though on-site pharmacy consulting, and much more!  Thanks to some of the program features that Datascan offers like Med Sync, and our nursing home portal, we are able to offer the homes we work with and our patient’s great convenience through technology.   Many of the automated utilities in our pharmacy software also frees up a lot of time, allowing us to spend extra time with our patients to develop better programs and care plans.  We also offer adherence packaging to help patients’ better tackle their medications as easily as possible.  We offer full immunization services and even hold flu clinics during flu season.

D: How do you combat the PBMs and ever decreasing profits?

S: There are a few different ways we’re doing this.  First, we are one of the founding pharmacies of CPESN NYC, which is an organization dedicated to generating revenue streams for pharmacists outside of traditional medication reimbursement.  CPESN helps to enhance patient care by bridging the gap between providers such as doctors and pharmacists.  Through contracting with hospitals and medical centers, our pharmacy can provide services such as medication reconciliation, adherence packaging, and medication therapy management.  This is all done outside of the control of the PBMs.  We are also beginning to look into becoming a site that participates in research trials for new medications.  Retail-wise, we also offer convenience services such as the vision test for DMV license renewal, UPS package drop-off, password photos, and notary services.   We are also in the midst of revamping our front end OTC department to offer more “non-traditional” products that you won’t find in most pharmacies.

D: What advice would you give someone looking to open an independent/community pharmacy?

S: I’d say that, by far, the #1 thing to know is—be different.  Find your niche.  Find as many niches as you can that separate you from not only the chains, but from other local businesses and maybe most importantly online conglomerate giants like Amazon.  What services can you offer that nobody else is offering in an environment that nobody else is offering them in?

In Conclusion

Pharmacy is still among the most trusted professions in the US.  While the traditional dispense and fill model may not be what it once was, that doesn’t mean independent pharmacy is doomed.  At Datascan we continue to diversify and reinvent our products with the demands of the industry.  We work hard to make sure our clients are never left behind, and we encourage you to do the same for your patients.  Like Sedgwick Pharmacy, you should be taking a look at your business and searching out non-traditional sources of revenue and ways to drive traffic to your business.  Look into the products and services you’re using every day and see what more they can do for you.  Your pharmacy software system is the center of your business—it offers incredibly useful tools, most of the time free, to help you better manage your business.  Reach out to your vendors and sign up for training, and talk about ways you can build more technology and automation into your workflow.  The future of pharmacy depends on the success of each and every individual community pharmacy.  While we still, as a group, outweigh the number of CVS’s and Walgreen’s combined, we must work hard to keep standing out and proving our place in pharmacy.   

D: What are some of the ways you’re setting your pharmacy apart from the chains?

S: We offer service that you just can’t get from the chains.  Our customers and employees are on a first name basis with each other.  When you walk in, customers are greeted with a lively atmosphere and a fun place to “get healthy.”  Our pricing is comparable and in most cases lower than most chain stores, and we make sure our customers know it!  Your overall experience in our pharmacy and with our staff is far superior to any of our competitors.  We offer conveniences like text messaging for refill reminders and prescriptions ready for pick up, we do free Med Sync for all patients, and even offer special ordering and delivery for any item we may not have in stock.  Our same-day delivery is free and even faster than Amazon!

D: What are some of the unique services you offer to your patients?

S: Our pharmacy, while providing retail services to the public, also focuses heavily on servicing the needs of Long Term Care and group home facilities.  We offer daily deliveries, bubble packed medications, med review though on-site pharmacy consulting, and much more!  Thanks to some of the program features that Datascan offers like Med Sync, and our nursing home portal, we are able to offer the homes we work with and our patient’s great convenience through technology.   Many of the automated utilities in our pharmacy software also frees up a lot of time, allowing us to spend extra time with our patients to develop better programs and care plans.  We also offer adherence packaging to help patients’ better tackle their medications as easily as possible.  We offer full immunization services and even hold flu clinics during flu season.

D: How do you combat the PBMs and ever decreasing profits?

S: There are a few different ways we’re doing this.  First, we are one of the founding pharmacies of CPESN NYC, which is an organization dedicated to generating revenue streams for pharmacists outside of traditional medication reimbursement.  CPESN helps to enhance patient care by bridging the gap between providers such as doctors and pharmacists.  Through contracting with hospitals and medical centers, our pharmacy can provide services such as medication reconciliation, adherence packaging, and medication therapy management.  This is all done outside of the control of the PBMs.  We are also beginning to look into becoming a site that participates in research trials for new medications.  Retail-wise, we also offer convenience services such as the vision test for DMV license renewal, UPS package drop-off, password photos, and notary services.   We are also in the midst of revamping our front end OTC department to offer more “non-traditional” products that you won’t find in most pharmacies.

D: What advice would you give someone looking to open an independent/community pharmacy?

S: I’d say that, by far, the #1 thing to know is—be different.  Find your niche.  Find as many niches as you can that separate you from not only the chains, but from other local businesses and maybe most importantly online conglomerate giants like Amazon.  What services can you offer that nobody else is offering in an environment that nobody else is offering them in?

In Conclusion

Pharmacy is still among the most trusted professions in the US.  While the traditional dispense and fill model may not be what it once was, that doesn’t mean independent pharmacy is doomed.  At Datascan we continue to diversify and reinvent our products with the demands of the industry.  We work hard to make sure our clients are never left behind, and we encourage you to do the same for your patients.  Like Sedgwick Pharmacy, you should be taking a look at your business and searching out non-traditional sources of revenue and ways to drive traffic to your business.  Look into the products and services you’re using every day and see what more they can do for you.  Your pharmacy software system is the center of your business—it offers incredibly useful tools, most of the time free, to help you better manage your business.  Reach out to your vendors and sign up for training, and talk about ways you can build more technology and automation into your workflow.  The future of pharmacy depends on the success of each and every individual community pharmacy.  While we still, as a group, outweigh the number of CVS’s and Walgreen’s combined, we must work hard to keep standing out and proving our place in pharmacy.   

Clients can choose from a wealth of wellness products, lifestyle and luxury beauty brands.  In addition, each store provides in-house consult with beauty experts to pinpoint the perfect products.  Pharmacy patients welcome a variety of conveniences such as online refills, wellness checks, free delivery, and special order medications.  Pharmacists are at your service to answer any concerns to give you meaningful advice to fit your lifestyle.

We sat down with the masterminds behind City Chemist and White’s to find out some of their trade secrets and how they’re able to capitalize on the technology in their Datascan pharmacy and point of sale software to build such a successful business.

What sets City Chemist and White’s apart from other pharmacies?

• We are elevated in our brand selection, allowing our clients to find a niche that fits their specific concerns.  We are able to join the two worlds of cosmetics and wellness related products.  This allows us to create a more global experience and comprehensive approach to each one of a client or patient needs. 

What tools are you using in your Datascan system to attribute to your success?

• With Datascan and the reports integrated in our systems, we are able to look at the breakdown of sales per hour.  This allows us to better predict our traffic patterns to give our team strategy for success.  Meaning we are able to give a benchmark for associates to push forward to hit higher average dollar transactions.  This also allows us to schedule smarter.  In addition we also benefit from the extensive reporting.  “Sales by category” is our most frequently used report.  This gives us clean digestible data with we are able to see what drives our business, examine margins, and have a stronger idea of profitability.  This also strengthens our team to hold each member accountable for their area of expertise.  With that we are able to build benchmark goals and develop strategy to attack the month.       

How has your partnership with Datascan helped White’s and City Chemist and why would you recommend working with Datascan?

• We’ve had some of our stores with other systems and for us it was not a good fit.  All of our locations use Datascan and we would never go anywhere else.  As our pharmacies are unique in nature, we often have some special requests that only Datascan has ever been willing to be able to accommodate.  The ability to centralize our reporting and analyze our business is something we value and even more of a reason we love working with our software vendor.

How does Datascan assist in streamlining your pharmacy department’s workflow?

• There are so many options we set up in Datascan that have helped us maximize our reimbursements on claims.  We use profit watchers to evaluate losses in real time, and even set up alerts in our fill screens to warn us for things that may be auditable.  We’ve also started using auto refill and MedSync to help our pharmacies better manage our patients with chronic conditions and multiple medications.  We offer free delivery to our patients so being able to sync them up and helped to reduce the number of deliveries we’re making every day.  Datascan is always introducing us to new features that continue to help our business.

What are some recommendations you’d make to other pharmacies looking to increase sales?

• Do better in gauging your client wants.  Do your research on the area you plan to open your pharmacy.  Different demographics expect different products.

You can visit City Chemist and White’s Apothecary in Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, Long Island City, Williamsburg, Southampton, and East Hampton, NY.  We guarantee you’ll never need to shop anywhere else! 

A true “hometown pharmacy,” Lorenzo Apothecary offers their customers such a unique experience and service that they couldn’t imagine going anywhere else.  As soon as you walk in you are greeted (by your first name) from one of their friendly employees—most of the time by David himself.  They offer services like free home delivery, curbside pickup, custom compression stocking fittings, and are proud to be the only compounding pharmacy in Northeast Colorado.  Lorenzo Apothecary epitomizes community pharmacy; they sponsor many local community groups, The Sterling Fund, and even sponsor a local little league team!

If you’re looking for a unique product Lorenzo Apothecary is the place to go!  They carry specialty candies like Jelly Belly Jelly beans and Chukar Cherries, unique skincare products from L’occitane, homemade goat soaps, and even Paddy Wax Candles.  The front end boutique focuses on health and wellness and offers something for everyone.

Not only is Lorenzo Apothecary running a successful front end, but they’ve also managed to fill an impressive volume of prescriptions almost immediately after opening.  The pharmacy utilizes several tools within their Datascan Pharmacy Management software to help organize and manage their daily workflow.  Through the Maintenance Medication utility in Datascan they are able to automatically request refills for patients before they run out of their medications.

It allows for pharmacy staff to order and prepare prescriptions ahead of time, and also helps build better adherence, maintain 5 star ratings, and lower DIR fees.  Lorenzo Apothecary staff also uses the Medication Synchronization, or MedSync, in their pharmacy.  By synching their patients prescriptions they’re able to organize all medications and allow them to get all rx’s on one trip into the pharmacy—ultimately helping build better adherence and lower those pesky DIR fees.

We asked the team at Lorenzo Apothecary what advice they would give to someone opening a new pharmacy and it was simple—Do your research!  With so many partnerships in pharmacy, it’s crucial to do your own research and partner with the best vendors to help promote growth and profitability in your business.

From PSAOs to wholesalers it’s so important to find the best fit for you.  We also wondered how they’re reaching out to their current customers and how they spread the word—By advertising through Facebook, local radio and newspapers, they’re able to reach out to Sterling residents and encourage them to join the Lorenzo Apothecary family.  They’ve also had much success in offering customer sack stuffers and promoting their services to local doctors in the area.