Whether you’ve been working in the world of pharmacy for two years or two decades, you may decide that it’s finally time to spread your wings and start your own practice.
Opening your own pharmacy is an exciting opportunity filled with many possibilities. In your own practice, you can make your own rules, set your own services, and perform patient care the way you want. What could be better?
Making the decision to start is only the first step, though.
Between planning, purchasing, and setting up your new store, opening a pharmacy can take several months or even years. In that time, you will have to make many more decisions beyond your initial one. Among these, one of the most important decisions you can make is which pharmacy software system you will use to power your practice.
Your software system is an essential part of your pharmacy’s operations. It manages everything from patients to prescriptions to finances, so it’s important that you pick the right one. With so many options and opinions out there, though, you need insight that you can trust.
Luckily, Direct Opinions can give it to you.
An Opinion You Can Count On
Pharmacy Software Reviews gets all of our data straight from Direct Opinions 一 the leading independent market research firm in the country 一 and then compiles it for you in an easily accessible way.
Direct Opinions works differently from other review sites. It conducts double-blind phone interviews with independent pharmacists and gets their input on their pharmacy software systems 一 so you know you’re getting real, unbiased reviews from people just like you.
Based on pharmacists’ responses, Direct Opinions determines the results and ranks software vendors according to 4 different categories:
- Market Share + Customer Satisfaction
- Conversion Rates
- New Store Installations
- Competitive Gain
Each of these categories provides valuable insight, but one in particular is essential for new pharmacy owners: New Store Installations.
When you find out which software other pharmacies choose to get their practice started, you will have a better idea of which one you should choose for yours 一 and increase the likelihood that you’ll be happy with your decision for years to come.
In the last few weeks, Direct Opinions released its new 2021 survey. Here’s what it had to say about the leading software systems, according to the number of new store installations from the last two years.
Which Software Comes Out on Top?
New installations not only give insight into which software vendors are growing, but also into which ones are being recommended 一 and therefore which ones are liked more.
That’s why, in the graph below, new installations are shown alongside customer satisfaction.
The best vendors support many new stores while still maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction at existing stores. Rather than compromising old customers’ experiences for new ones’, the best vendors maintain satisfaction for everyone. The results of the 2021 Direct Opinions survey can be seen here:
According to the graph, PioneerRx has had the most new store installations in the last year. Of all of the pharmacies that opened, 32% of them chose PioneerRx to get started.
Second to PioneerRx, Micro Merchant Systems held 17% of new pharmacy locations, followed by Liberty with 8% and BestRx with 7%. ComputerRx and QS/1 closed out the rankings at 6% and 5%, respectively.
In terms of customer satisfaction, only PioneerRx and BestRx received “excellent” marks, keeping both new and current users happy. In the middle spot, both Micro Merchant Systems and Liberty received “average” customer satisfaction scores. And, finally, Rx30, ComputerRx, and QS/1 received “poor” levels of customer satisfaction.
Changes in the Rankings: 2020 to 2021
With these results in mind, it is important to consider not only how vendors are performing right now but how they have performed in the last year.
By looking at changes from 2020 to 2021, you can get insight into whether a vendor has improved their operations, stayed stagnant, or lost traction. At the same time, you can better predict how they will move forward in the future.
With that being said, the 2020 Direct Opinions results can be seen here:
In 2020, PioneerRx had the highest number of new store installations, a lead that it continues to maintain in 2021.
Micro Merchant Systems and Rx30 took second and third place in 2020 as well as in 2021, also maintaining their spot among the rankings.
Liberty, on the other hand, has increased its lead 一 sitting in the #7 spot in 2020 but moving up to #4 in 2021.
Next, BestRx has maintained its #4 position in 2020 and 2021, staying consistent. ComputerRx, however, has moved down from a #4 spot to a #6 spot, and QS/1 has moved from a #6 spot to a #7 spot to close out the rankings.
Customer satisfaction was not measured concurrently with new store installations in 2020, but a full report can be found here.
For a more in-depth look at 2020 New Store Installations, visit our blog, Which Software Do Pharmacies Choose Most?
Conclusion
Opening up your own pharmacy is an exciting opportunity, but it can also be a stressful one.
With the help of Direct Opinions and reviews from pharmacists like you, though, it doesn’t have to be. As you start your search, keep each of these insights in mind 一 particularly New Store Installations 一 so that you can quickly and easily decide on a software system that fits your needs.
With the right information, you can pick the right software for your store and get more patients in your door.
