The pharmacy industry is constantly evolving. Independent pharmacies are expected to be more than just a place where patients pick up prescriptions. Likewise, your pharmacy software system should have features that further modernize your small business.
As the industry evolves, so do ways for patients to receive their prescriptions. Sometimes the most efficient way to pick up prescriptions doesn’t involve the pharmacy.
Enter the home delivery pharmacy program.
You’ve almost definitely heard of home delivery pharmacy or mail order, and for good reason. It remains a prominent and profitable model for your independent pharmacy. It can also expand your patient outreach in new and exciting ways.
Here are a few reasons why you should offer a home delivery pharmacy program.
It Enhances Patient Convenience
Convenience is the name of the game when it comes to patient care. Patient convenience comes in many different ways, and patient delivery is a superb example.
Depending on your patient’s demographics, you may have an entire subset of potential patients. They are “potential” patients because you haven’t yet provided home delivery pharmacy services.
Patients will take their business to places that offer the most convenience. Once you offer home delivery pharmacy services, you open the door to an even stronger customer base.
Many patient types, such as the elderly and disabled, rely on home delivery pharmacy services to get their medications. It eliminates physical barriers and enhances convenience.
The more convenient you make it for your patients, the more likely they will return.
Even for able-bodied patients, home delivery pharmacy services can decide whether or not they’ll fill at your pharmacy.
Your patients lead busy lives. For some, it’s simply too time-consuming to physically go to a pharmacy and wait for their prescriptions. Home delivery pharmacy services give your patients assurance that their prescriptions will be delivered at a set time.
All in all, home delivery pharmacy services can save your patients from a headache — literally and figuratively.
The Home Delivery Sector is Rapidly Growing
A key part of an independent pharmacy’s success is following current industry trends. Today, that can range from clinical services, increased automation, or offering a wide array of vaccines.
It also applies to home delivery pharmacy services. Home delivery has been on the rise for quite some time, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Skyquest report found that the global e-pharmacy market was valued at $60.99 billion in 2021. By 2028, it’s projected to grow to $219.8 billion, a nearly 400% increase in only seven years.
As an independent pharmacist, you are likely already feeling the changing tides. Other community pharmacies are adopting a home delivery pharmacy system, while big chains are doing the same.
Having a home delivery pharmacy system is a way to stay current with industry trends, ensuring that your small business doesn’t miss valuable sources of income.
Don’t get left in the dust while other independent pharmacies or bigger chains offer home delivery pharmacy services. Mail order just might be what your independent pharmacy needs to get to the next level.
Your Pharmacy Software System Should Be Capable
Implementing a home delivery pharmacy system will require you to make several adjustments. Your workflow, finances, and even your scope of care will change once you start offering home delivery pharmacy services.
You’ll need to put your best foot forward, and the best way to do this is to have a more-than-capable pharmacy software system.
There’s no definitive answer for what the “best” pharmacy software system is. Your answer will differ from other independent pharmacists because you all have different objectives.
If you’re wanting to offer home delivery pharmacy services, make sure your pharmacy software system is up to the task.
Though home delivery adds a new element to the POS process, everything else should be the same. Your pharmacy software system should make the home delivery process as seamless and simple as possible.
It should be as easy to navigate as your normal filling process.
There’s a good chance that your pharmacy software system already has a home delivery pharmacy feature. Explore your software’s capabilities and you just might hit a financial — and pharmaceutical — goldmine.
Your Patients Can Save More Money
Several factors play into a pharmacy’s financial success. In a way, your independent pharmacy is beholden to what insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) give you.
Though a home delivery pharmacy service may not let you sneak by PBM practices, it can help your patients save money in the long run.
Some insurance programs offer lower prescription copays if their patients opt-in for mail orders. As to why that is, you’ll have to ask your insurance provider.
Nevertheless, insurance plans usually require mail-order fills to be a 90-day supply, offering a lower copay than three 30-day supply fills.
Your patient gets their medication in bulk, resulting in fewer pharmacy trips and more savings.
Fewer trips to the pharmacy mean you have more time to fill other prescriptions, leaving the door open for new patients. It’s a kind of convenience that works for both you and your patients.
Conclusion
Offering home delivery pharmacy services is a huge undertaking. Just like expanding your clinical services or vaccine inventory, this will require careful decision-making and strong leadership.
Pharmacy work is all about making adjustments and adapting to the current playing field. Roadblocks or potholes are simply part of the process. Achieving long-term success is a twisty, narrow path. It’s up to you to stay the course.
