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Private services can be an opportunity to meet unmet local needs. And people will pay for convenience, as Amanda Bell, Numark’s service development manager, explains

It’s important when you are running a community pharmacy that you are in touch with developments in the NHS, changes in consumer habits, and what’s going on locally so that you can identify new service opportunities that are relevant and profitable for you. Payment structures have been changing and pharmacies can no longer rely on profit coming solely from their core dispensing services.

Delivering private services demonstrates your clinical expertise, enables patients to access those services at a convenient time and location, and can also bridge the gap in your business’ profits.

Will people pay?

Not only will people pay for a private service delivered by pharmacy, they will sometimes pay even when a free option is available. It is interesting to note that evaluations of private flu services have shown that a significant proportion of patients who paid for vaccination were actually eligible for free vaccination from their doctor.

In one survey1, 22 per cent of patients who paid for the service were eligible under the NHS. This is remarkable – many patients would prefer to pay for the vaccine rather than make an appointment with their doctor and get it for free. This highlights the convenience that patients associate with a pharmacy-based service, as well as their general satisfaction with pharmacy services.

Identifying new opportunities

It’s important to find the right service for your local area, so you know before you start that there is demand. Your local knowledge, and that of your team, will be crucial in deciding what opportunities exist. For instance, a town centre pharmacy could target people who work at some distance from where they live and therefore find it difficult to visit a surgery.

People are willing to pay for convenience. Look at your local demographics; are local people generally elderly or mainly families? Are they people who are likely to travel frequently? Are you in a rural area where there’s no access to a Weight Watchers’ group or similar? You may be able to exploit a gap in the market which could be more successful than competing with existing providers.

Do your research

Once you’ve got some ideas, check where else people could go for that service – not necessarily competitor pharmacies. Doing your research will save you investing money in a service that will never be successful, so talk to customers. But, more importantly, talk to the people who live and work locally who don’t necessarily visit your pharmacy at the moment.

Not only will people pay for a private service delivered by pharmacy, they will sometimes pay even when a free option is available

Offering a private service will attract new customers and increase footfall in your pharmacy. Building a relationship with these people will mean they consider you first for other services, prescriptions or maybe even OTC sales.

There is no better opportunity to promote your pharmacy than the one-to-one time you have with a patient, and building customer loyalty means they are highly likely to return to your pharmacy. You may be able to have an impact on local health and contribute to NHS campaigns, but above all, you can give patients something they want at a time and place convenient to them.

Pharmacists often feel under pressure to match or even better the price of similar services offered elsewhere. Remember that if you are offering convenience, and access to a healthcare professional in a clinical environment, some services will demand a premium.

Ultimately it is about market forces, but do not undersell yourself.

Do some research and look at any competitor activity and what they are charging. The average price can vary depending on your geographical area. It is possible to lower your prices, but it is quite hard to increase them once you have started.

Make time and start simply

Many independent pharmacies struggle to find the time to undertake services. The pharmacies that we see providing multiple services successfully make the best use of resource through empowerment of checking technicians and counter staff, ensuring they are trained to provide some of the simpler services.

If you are new to providing services the first thing you need to do is focus on just one service that you would like to offer. When you are comfortable delivering this service to an excellent standard you can add further services. The more services you undertake, the better use you are making of your initial investment and the more cost effective they become.

Develop your offering

Sometimes there are obvious ways of developing your offering. For instance, as a follow-on to your flu vaccination service you could consider a travel vaccination service making use of your vaccination training, or you might want to offer coeliac testing if you’ve started with food allergy testing.

Whatever private service you decide on, there are plenty of people to approach for help and advice, whether manufacturers, colleagues or organisations like Numark.
Next month we’ll look at how to market your services.

Reference
1. Anderson C, Thornley T. “It’s easier in pharmacy”: why some patients prefer to pay for flu jabs rather than use the National Health Service. BMC Health Serv Res 2014. 14:35. www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/14/35