...Executive Summary One of the main challenges facing independent pharmacies is competition from larger chain pharmacies and mail order services. Apex Care Pharmacy is an independent pharmacy seeking to become more competitive with chain retailers and increase revenue by partnering with Mental Healthcare facilities. Market research has revealed that client intake at these Mental Health facilities has spiked in recent years with an average of 150 clients per facility. Obtaining business from these facilities would be a tremendous opportunity for Apex to increase customer volume and company revenue. Deliverables for this project include establishing a long-term partnership with at least three Mental Healthcare facilities. This endeavor will also increase pharmacy revenue by servicing the monthly medication needs of facility clients. Since Apex is a relatively small establishment, the project team will consist of the Project Manager who is the Pharmacy Owner, the Pharmacy Manager, the Marketing Representative, the Pharmacist, and the Pharmacy Techs. The Project Manager will oversee the entire project and serve as the final decision maker on all project details. The Marketing Rep will locate and recruit Mental Healthcare facilities, the Pharmacy Manager will handle administrative aspects, the Pharmacist will process and fill client prescriptions, and the Pharmacy Techs will support the Pharmacist in these tasks. The project will consist of a three phase process....
Words: 2326 - Pages: 10
...stores and $24.2 billion in revenue. Over two-thirds of the company’s revenue was generated by their pharmacies. Despite the company’s size and success, the company was facing a serious issue regarding the service at their pharmacies as they had many customers who were unhappy with the service they received. To combat these problems, CVS developed a Pharmacy Service Improvement (PSI) team to evaluate and redesign pharmacy operations at CVS retail locations. II. PSI Opportunity In 2000, 7.2 million regular pharmacy customers left CVS taking with them 55 million annual prescriptions that could have increased revenue by $2.5 billion. It is estimated that if the PSI team can develop a better fulfillment operations system they could prevent 60-90% of customer defections. Additionally, through the PSI’s preliminary research they have found that 44% of heavy users switch due to the poor service they receive. The loss of heavy users is significant because they bring in continuous revenue streams In addition to simple customer happiness, through the PSI program the CVS team has the opportunity to make the people working at the CVS pharmacies happier, especially those working at the pickup window. These groups of employees must handle the continuously angry customers who are dissatisfied with their service. It is known that this job is so difficult that many of these techs leave after less than one year on the job. Thus, requiring CVS to continually hire new employees, which...
Words: 1239 - Pages: 5
...Personal Statement My passion for pharmacy begun when I took a pharmacy-tech class offered in my high school. I was intrigued about the things I learned in the class; I learned about the different type of drugs, its brand names, its function to the human body, how to calculate dosages, and how one can apply them in the pharmacy field. This gave me the opportunity and curiosity to look farther into the pharmacy field. I took a chemistry course and became interested in the elements and molecules of the periodic table, how it is related and how it is applied in medicine. I took Human Anatomy and Physiology; which captivated me into how the functions of the human body relates to pharmacy. The combination of these two science courses gave me the curiosity in learning more about pharmacy....
Words: 540 - Pages: 3
...Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Business Seminar Case Study Bethany Odom, Katie Tewell, Kelly Snider, Brad Lowe Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………….3 Day-to-Day Operations Diagram……………………………….4 Drop Off………………………………………………………..5 Data Entry………………………………………………………7 Production………………………………………………………10 Quality Assurance………………………………………………12 Pick-Up…………………………………………………………12 Pharmacy Additions……………………………………………14 Our Future………………………………………………………15 Works Cited…………………………………………………….16 2 Introduction The current system in a CVS pharmacy allows customers to quickly drop off their prescriptions whenever convenient for them, the pharmacists and technicians to fill the scripts near the time the customer would like to pick them up, and customers to return to the store to pick up their medications at the specified time. However, this system creates long lines and angry customers during busy pick-up times, such as around the evening meal, when the typical work day concludes. We would like to implement a system that focuses on the day’s procedures and alters the drop-off, data entry, and production steps, therefore ideally reducing the number of problems that occur and must be resolved during the pick-up stage. With some additional changes made to the pick-up procedure, we feel CVS will be able to better their customer service and increase customer satisfaction while keeping the safety of its shoppers the company’s number one priority. The following page presents a data...
Words: 4457 - Pages: 18
...Pharmacy tech is the trade that I’m in. This is a good trade to be in if you really like are very good in Math and Reading. The reason I choose this trade because in the future I would like to be on the medical field. This was one of my long term goal that would benefit me as I get older in life. Another reason I choose this trade so I can have a better life for me and my family. The hardest thing about this career is that you have to do a lot of converting and the different type of math. It would will take time to learn how to convert you measurements that you are using. Learning the different types of drugs will take a lot of time to get in your head without you needing the paper to know them. There are different types of drugs that I will have to know and what they are used for. In this career you make up to 9,347 monthly, and yearly you make 112,160. The benefits of a pharmacy job with rxpro health associate and finding out the benefits of working for one of the most respected and skilled pharmacy staffing companies in the business....
Words: 506 - Pages: 3
...Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Business Seminar Case Study Bethany Odom, Katie Tewell, Kelly Snider, Brad Lowe Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………….3 Day-to-Day Operations Diagram……………………………….4 Drop Off………………………………………………………..5 Data Entry………………………………………………………7 Production………………………………………………………10 Quality Assurance………………………………………………12 Pick-Up…………………………………………………………12 Pharmacy Additions……………………………………………14 Our Future………………………………………………………15 Works Cited…………………………………………………….16 2 Introduction The current system in a CVS pharmacy allows customers to quickly drop off their prescriptions whenever convenient for them, the pharmacists and technicians to fill the scripts near the time the customer would like to pick them up, and customers to return to the store to pick up their medications at the specified time. However, this system creates long lines and angry customers during busy pick-up times, such as around the evening meal, when the typical work day concludes. We would like to implement a system that focuses on the day’s procedures and alters the drop-off, data entry, and production steps, therefore ideally reducing the number of problems that occur and must be resolved during the pick-up stage. With some additional changes made to the pick-up procedure, we feel CVS will be able to better their customer service and increase customer satisfaction while keeping the safety of its shoppers the company’s number one priority. The following page presents a data...
Words: 4457 - Pages: 18
...innovation and sustainability to manage today’s complex business environment. Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS We have all had experiences of waiting in line at retail stores, but there is often extra anxiety associated with dropping off and picking up a drug prescription (“script”). Nobody wants to wait for long periods of time only to find out that the wait does not yield the desired result—a properly fulfilled transaction. Below is the new fulfillment process that was rolled out in the later part of 2002 and it included three (3) major changes: 1) The first three steps are completed while the customer is present at the CVS drop-off counter, 2) DUR is combined with the QA step, and 3) the box that held scripts was replaced by an online virtual queue that was viewable at all workstations. First 3 steps completed while customer is present DUR is combined with QA 1. What are the key problems with the current business process that the Pharmacy Service Initiative (PSI) team is attempting to resolve? RESPONSE: Drop Off: Un-manned drop off window. Data Entry (No Refill Allowed, DUR Hard Stop, Insurance Check): Many scripts allowed the customer to refill the prescription at least once. Customers could lose track of how many refills were allowed, however, and drop off an ineligible script. When this occurred the system printed a label for the ineligible script, which was put in a “Dr. call bin.” A tech would periodically take the contents of this bin and make phone calls or...
Words: 1352 - Pages: 6
...In focusing on my career goals, I have decided to work as a hospital pharmacy technician while obtaining my PharmD and to, therefore, join the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). The organization's emphasis on inpatient pharmacy makes ASHP the perfect organization for me. Becoming a member of this organization will afford me the opportunity to network with countless inpatient pharmacists and technicians in the country. It would also give me access to ASHP's continuing education, which I feel will be more useful since it focuses on topics that are specific to my inpatient setting, as opposed to the generalized topics covered in courses offered by other organizations. The financial aspect of obtaining and maintaining professional...
Words: 406 - Pages: 2
...A confused high school kid walked into a pharmacy. Looked around and saw the scrubs and lab coats placed ever so gracefully on the pharmacists and pharmacy technician’s shoulders. "That's what I wanna do when I grow up" I thought to myself. Mesmerized by the importance of a pharmacy I scurried home and applied online. Months went by and I didn't get a single phone call. All of a sudden in the middle of summer I got a phone call for a job interview. I went in and filled out the necessary paperwork and the job was mine. On my first day of work I decided I would leave thirty minutes early just to get a feel of the place. I hopped in my car and took off. What happened next is a sign from god I should've taken seriously. A mile away from my destination I broke a stop sign and totaled my brand new car, but that didn't stop me. I got a ride from the police officer and went to work leaving my car completely abandoned and in the hands of the tow truck driver. Pharmacies are always busy. You always have to contact insurances, doctors, fill medication and that's when you're not taking care of customers. I was so accustomed to a lifestyle where I would lie in bed all day and watch reruns of friends or parks and recreation. Holding a job is hard, especially when you're selling hours of your life for eight dollars and twenty five cents an hour. I was only one month into that job when I realized that working in a pharmacy wasn’t all that luxurious, Most of the customers you deal with...
Words: 584 - Pages: 3
...ALEC SUNGA Group 3 I. PROBLEM STATEMENT a. What can Consumer Value Store do to improve their customer service so that customer complaint can be avoided or at least be lessened? b. How will the company be able to motivate their employees in terms of their work output? II. OBJECTIVES a) To be able to identify the problems that usually occur during the drop-off stage. b) To be able to come up with solutions that can help improve customer service. c) To determine the pros and cons of system upgrade to help minimize errors in data entry. III. STATEMENT OF FACTS a) CVS had 29.5 million pharmacy members at the start of 2000 and a revenue of $20 billion. b) In the year 2002, CVS was one of America’s largest retail drugstores, with over 4,000 stores and revenue of $24.2 billion. c) An estimated of 10.9 million infrequent customers left in 2000. d) In 2000 the company was able to attract 8.5 million new regular members e) Heavy users filled an average of 40 scripts a year and were most likely to leave because of poor service. f) Light users filled an average of 5 scripts per year. IV. ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTION a) Hire part-time employees to work during the peak hours where majority of the...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...A few years ago PharmaCARE’s study showed the AD23 would also slow the advancement of Alzheimer’s disease. This led John and the other pharmacologists that he led to reformulate the drug to capitalize on its outcome. To evade the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) inspection, PharmaCARE founded an exclusively held company, CompCARE, to function as a compounding pharmacy. This company would retail the new invention to people by prescription only. CompCARE profited from PharmaCARE’s standing, records, systems, and trades and marketing skill, and within several months the health community was talking about AD23. Response was good, mainly amongst Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Affairs patients. Realizing the chance to get additional income, CompCARE started marketing AD23 straight to customers and promoting AD23 right to clinics, hospitals, and physician offices, although compounding pharmacies are not allowed to market medicines in large qualities for common use. To dodge this provision, CompCARE pushed doctors to give them fabricated patient names. As time passed, PharmaCARE sold CompCARE to WellCo, a big pharmacy company, a little while before AD23 was connected to over 200 heart attack deaths. CompCARE and its new establishment revel in best ever earnings and PharmaCARE’s stock price came close to 300 dollars per share. Individuals who used AD23 appeared to be having cardiac arrest at a...
Words: 1890 - Pages: 8
...“Practice of Pharmacy”*DOES NOT INCLUDE: other providers dispensing drugs (including nurses), hospitals engaged in compounding/ dispensing, etc | a. the interpretation, evaluation, and implementation of a medical order, b. the dispensing of drugs and devices, c. drug product selection, d. the administration of drugs or devices e. drug utilization review, f. patient counseling, g. the provision of pharmaceutical care, and h. the responsibility for compounding and labeling of dispensed or repackaged drugs and devices, proper and safe storage of drugs and devices, and maintenance of proper records. | “active practice of pharmacy” | the performance of the functions set out in this section by a pharmacist as his or her principal or ordinary occupation | “pharmaceutical care”Note: CAN enter into practice agreement | the provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving therapeutic outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life, including include a. the cure of disease b. the elimination or reduction of a patient's symptomatology c. the arrest or slowing of a disease process d. the prevention of a disease or symptomatology | Equipment and Reference material requirements for operating a pharmacy | * Not very specific anymore * Up to judgment of pharmacist based on what they will be doing in the pharmacy * References must be up to date, in either printed or electronic form, and available...
Words: 7455 - Pages: 30
...I have read and understand the plagiarism policy as outlined in the syllabus and the sections in the Student Bulletin relating to the IWU Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I certify that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from Indiana Wesleyan University. Thesis The health care industry each years spends millions in medication errors that could be prevented. By implementing a data entry system that would allow access by medical professionals and pharmacies to collaborate and reduce the chance of medication errors dramatically. The data systems are pricy but when compared to the cost of medication errors and loss of lives it saves most medical establishments money. Annotated Bibliography The need for data entry systems to reduce medical errors Rinda, J. (2012). integration helps clinicians reduce medication errors. Health Management Technology , 33 (10), 12-13. With the risks of medication errors endangering lives, the technology has been gearing towards linking smart infusion pumps with health information platforms. Electronic health records have already been developed and are currently being used in some areas. This can lead to reductions in health care costs and increase in workflow. The medication...
Words: 1839 - Pages: 8
...him as a client. He expressed his concerns about his involvement with PharmaCare’s top-selling drug AD23. John and his team of pharmacists discovered that the drug could slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s. Therefore, his team reformulating the drug to maximize the effect of the drug without the approval from Federal and Drug Administration. In this paper, I will evaluate three ethical issues relating to marketing and advertising, intellectual property, and regulation of product safety, as well as, analyze whether PharmaCare violated any of the issues in questions. I will argue the pros and cons of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Marketing by drug companies. I will determine which parties were responsible for regulating compounding pharmacies under the current regulatory scheme. Also, the actions that either party, or the FDA could/ should have taken in this scenario; whether PharmaCare could face legal exposure surrounding its practices. I will analyze whether or not the PharmaCare used U.S. Law to protect its own intellectual property, and if John (the client) has any claim of being the true “inventor” of AD23. I will present at least three ways the company could compensate John for the use of his intellectual property if he had followed proper protocol. I will summarize one example of intellectual theft, as well as, examine the effect on that company’s brand. Next, I will analyze the potential issues surrounding the death of John’s wife and other potential litigants against...
Words: 3335 - Pages: 14
...Live from the 2015 Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo. Consumers care more about the money in their wallets and purses than they do about their health, said Helena Foulkes, executive vice president of CVS Health and president of CVS/ pharmacy. “Consumers have a lot more skin in the game then they did a year ago,” Foulkes said Tuesday during a roundtable discussion at Fortune’s annual Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo. If a person needs to get a colonoscopy today, he or she will spend between $600 and $6,000 out of pocket. Cost matters today, she explained—but there’s not enough information to tell them where best to go for the service. Kyu Rhee, IBM’s chief’s medical officer, said that empowering patients with transparency—especially for data around the quality of the health care they could receive—is key. “We need to go from a system of record to a system of insight,” he said. Foulkes, who leads CVS’s retail business, including its more than 7,800 retail stores, 18 distribution centers and e-commerce sites, says that the company is looking to reduce the complications around taking medicine—a chief patient complaint among doctors. “People don’t take their medicines as prescribed, and we are thinking about how do we help you stay on your medicines,” she said. “We should allow consumers to text us if they want to refill a their prescriptions, or ping them on their phones to remind them to take their medication.” The challenge is also taking users prescription...
Words: 342 - Pages: 2
