Pharmacy School did not prepare us to be Pharmacy Owners
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by Dr. Alex Toth<br/>
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Dr. Alex Toth is the Owner of Plumsted Pharmacy based in New Jersey and the Co-Founder of InStockRx.<br/>
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If you are a Community Pharmacy Owner or Pharmacist in Charge looking for new strategies to improve your margins and cash flow, this article is for you.<br/>
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I have been a Pharmacy Owner for over 12 years and still reflect on my experiences from pharmacy school: Bio-Chem, Medicinal Chemistry, and the never-ending onslaught of therapeutics courses. While the curriculum prepared students to pass the NAPLEX exam and interact with patients and prescribers, there was a significant oversight on one of the most basic and fundamental aspects of being a pharmacist… how to RUN a pharmacy.<br/>
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Running and operating a pharmacy may seem “old fashioned” and perhaps not as trendy as completing a residency or pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry. However, 82% of all registered pharmacists in the USA work in community pharmacy. I believe that our cohort of pharmacists that are out there working at both independent and chain pharmacists are the best representation of a jack of all trades that the healthcare industry has.<br/>
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On any given day, a pharmacist may start by:<br/>
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Administering a vaccine to a patient (Pharmacist duty) <br/>
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Explaining Medicare deductible to an elderly patient (Insurance broker)<br/>
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Verifying prescriptions (Pharmacist duty) <br/>
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Resolving a dispute between two employees (Human Resources) <br/>
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Signing checks to pay vendors (Accounts Payable) <br/>
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Fixing a squeaky printer (IT Support). <br/>
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You will notice this leaves little time to address one of the pharmacy’s biggest expenses: Inventory.<br/>
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Inventory is responsible for 68% of the total operating costs for a pharmacy each year and yet more than 60% of pharmacy owners do not even keep an accurate record of what is on their pharmacy shelves. This is not for lack of wanting to control this part of their business; it is for lack of proper inventory management tools and experience. Most pharmacy owners leverage “on the job training” for many of their business operations, including inventory management.<br/>
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Margins in the industry have gotten razor thin, and more than ever before, it is important to run an efficient pharmacy that does not sacrifice patient care. This is what compelled me to help fellow pharmacy owners and operators better understand their inventory and have the proper tools to work with their deadstock, overstock, and expiring stock. <br/>
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Over the next several weeks, I am going to share inventory management strategies and tools along with the help of a platform that our team and I created called InStockRx. InStockRx helps pharmacy owners, like you and me, turn problem inventory into cashflow.<br/>
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Follow along with me as I help to provide you with pharmacy inventory management tools and strategies that will improve your margins and free up time so you can get back to focusing on your patients and customers.<br/>
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Interested in learning more about InStockRx? Click here to request a demo. <br/>
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by Dr. Alex Toth<br/>
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Dr. Alex Toth is the Owner of Plumsted Pharmacy based in New Jersey and the Co-Founder of InStockRx.