Ok, now, which catagory do you and your pharmacy fit into?

“Yeah, this bottle is brown and stuff. Did you totally check out my shelf behind, you could eat your dinner off it.” (more…)

I came across this article which mentions something we’ve read in similar studies and articles that state that pharmacists are the top, or in the top three usually, most trusted professions. I wonder if we still feel this to be the case for a couple reasons.

In a recent post I mention the move toward discount pharmacies. While this may have some positives for the public on their bottom line when visiting the pharmacy, there are somedraw backs I will discuss later, but for now I want to focus on the issue of trust. Going back a few years, I don’t really think you need to go back to far, lets say, maybe four or five years ago, the public did not have a clear concept on drug pricing. The pharmacy would charge what they charge and that was that. Now, for those in the pharmacy profession, I think we can agree  previously we were charging reasonable prices and this helped support what is effectively a small business for the owner and all the costs involved, as well as having many staff on hand so when a customer walked in wait was minimal. Secondly, there is an onus of responsibility on the pharmacist who has also dedicated much time and expense in becoming qualified, so in line with similar professions, monetary reimbursement is expected. In general, it was a fair system. (more…)

Here’s an interesting article from the Canadian Pharmacist’s Journal regarding establishing a vaccine practice on site. While this type of practice is not advancing in Australia, there are places such as Canada which are moving ahead.

The article mentions the advantages to the patient/customer as well as the pharmacist for this practice. Firstly it acts as a point of call for education and information particularly about travel vaccines. It is a convenient place and (probably) easy to schedule the vaccination. This is of particular help if booking at the doctor’s is not able to be time with a departure date, and eases the burden on the G.P. office to take in patients for vaccinations which takes away time from those patients that have more pressing investigations needed. (more…)

To make sure I completely throw myself at every possible fad, I have also setup a Twitter account, for those that find communicating through facebook too old fashioned and labour intensive. If you’re with Telstra, you can even voice twitter, because, yeah, we managed to phase out writing, so lets do the same with typing and texting. Ah. (more…)

Yes, everyone and everything needs to be on Facebook. I remember like yesterday, and it was only a little over two years ago that over the table at a pharmacy social event a colleague was asking me if I was on Facebook.

“What?” I replied (more…)

While I’m sure there was no real meaning behind this, I couldn’t help but smile when National Pharmacies’ online competition for the PS3 gave a little free advertising to Grand Theft Auto IV, the least family friendy game they could have possibly picked. That’s what happens when you grab the first image that pops up on a google search! (more…)