Good for your patients and your business, and great for marketing.
Adherence is the buzz word right now for healthy and successful pharmacy practices. And for good reason, I would argue. While pharmacists have long known that adherent patients are healthier, putting it into practice was not always as easy as one would think. First there was the issue of how to best inform and educate patients. Then, there was the whole idea of staff buy-in. And finally, we just weren’t sure the best way to market the concept to not only current patients but as a way to attract new patients to our store.
Until now. I am here to tell you that having adherence as a core element in your marketing plan is a can’t-fail, win-win, game-changing way to grow your business. You get to do well and do good at the same time.
Today I am going to talk to you about why adherence – if you frame it in a way that resonates with your patients – will market itself. In future blogs, we will look at specific ways you can incorporate adherence into your personal marketing plan.
Why is adherence such a natural offering for pharmacies?
- It has relevance to a person’s life. It is all about making healthier choices that impact a person’s quality of life.
- It will help automate people’s decision making. KISS is not a new idea. Keeping things simple will help in adherence activities, whether through packaging, phone or text reminders or synching prescriptions. Fewer things to remember make for happier and more adherent patients!
- For those busy patients, it will innovate around helping them to operate faster. My husband is a busy man. It is not that he minds stopping at his pharmacy, it is just that he prefers only having to do that once a month rather than four times a month. Synching his meds made him a very happy patient.
- We can deliver in a way best suited to the patient’s needs. My mom has a complicated regime, particularly when you add in her OTC. The packaging she uses which organizes her meds into nice labeled pouches has changed her life.
- Adherence has the potential to deliver the ideal patient experience. When we deliver customer service that is based on the specific needs of a patient, we are able to deliver the very best experience. And a happy, adherent patient will tell others about the five star experience.
- We can immediately evaluate whether or not an adherence program is working. When we have a plan in place, we are better able to measure who is on the program and how well it is working. No plan means no way to measure.
Whatever method you use at your pharmacy to set up your adherence program is fine. Just be sure you have an implementation plan to go along with your program.
