News Archive
2005
10.11.05
Comment - November 2005
At long last the Guild-Government agreement has been announced – with – it has to be said – not a great change to the status quo.
More than anything, the uncertainty in the run-up to the announcement of the agreement has prevented many pharmacists (owners and non-owners alike) from making important decisions concerning their business plans. Now we expect a number of pharmacies to come on the market – and our members and Accelerated Ownership Program members are in a unique position to acquire suitable pharmacies to convert to the HIP model.
At HIP we have been continuing to move forward, with founder and CEO Ken Lee announcing a number of new initiatives at our recent two-day conference (see below). This month we also welcome HIP Cleveland in Queensland as the newest member of the group, with a further 5 stores across NSW and QLD due to open soon.
10.11.05
Guide to Buying a Pharmacy
Written by HIP acquisitions expert Brian Keen, this guide gives you proven techniques on how to achieve astonishing results - even if you have been discouraged by having already spent years searching for the right pharmacy.
21 powerful chapters reveal the secrets of how to get the pharmacy you want, including the seven essentials:
- what's involved - reviewing your skills and motives
- finding the pharmacy that best suits you
- choosing your essential support team
- the initial review - don't waste your time
- assessing the practical and non-financial aspects
- negotiating a win-win outcome
- the roadmap - key steps in growing a hugely successful pharmacy
The book will be available as an e-book (in PDF format) later this month. We still have some copies we are giving away FREE of charge - to order your copy (normal RRP $29.95) go to the home page and click on the link to order.
10.11.05
HIP Conference Report
HIP holds two conferences every year for its members – these are opportunities for the Support Office to outline new strategies and services it is working on for HIP members, and to get feedback from members on these new proposals.
They are also a great opportunity for members, whose stores are spread right across Australia, to meet and exchange ideas and experiences.
The last conference was held a few weeks ago (20-21 October) in Sydney and was the first to run to two days. At the conference, founder and CEO Ken Lee outlined the group’s plans for the future – indicating the potential for significant growth for the group through a number of initiatives* including
- a pool of acquisition opportunities
- funding by a company-sourced, low entry cost innovative finance model
- a number of unique HIP-developed and branded services and products designed to meet the large market segments of customer health and wellness needs
- a planned store re-brand in 2006
10.11.05
HIP Pharmacy of the Year 2005
Last year HIP launched its Pharmacy of the Year competition to find the HIP store that has been most successful in implementing the group model, and the first winning store was announced at the recent conference in Sydney.
Stores were judged on how well they had implemented the model in 6 key areas:
1. Chemconsult® HIP dispense advice process
2. Teamaximiser® team incentive program
3. Platinum Care Club loyalty program
4. Store layout and branding
5. Adoption of the HIP culture and philosophy by the team
6. Turning customers into ‘raving fans’
The competition involved each store submitting reports every month and two field visits by HIP Support Manager Graham Dunkley.
And the winner of the 2005 HIP Pharmacy of the Year was--- William Khoo at HIP Bell Post Hill in Victoria. William is no stranger to winning awards – as you may know (see previous articles on this site) he has also won the Australian Achiever Award two years running. Our congratulations to William.
10.11.05
Companion Selling
‘Would you like fries with that’ is probably the best- known example of companion selling in retail today. With those simple words, every McDonald’s customer is asked if they would like to make a companion purchase to go with their order.
Pharmacy is clearly not the same as fast food retail but – as a professional medical service offering advice to consumers – it is important that a pharmacist point out complementary products that a customer should consider in the light of their prime purchase.
At Health Information Pharmacy we know that too often customers visit a pharmacy to buy a product, then when they get home they realise they should have bought something else as well (see examples below). If we miss an opportunity to let them know all the items they may need, we will not have helped them as much as we could – and – worse – they may go to another pharmacy to buy these items. The result of this can even be that the customer is upset and blames us and we may lose them to another pharmacy forever! By asking questions and understanding the customer’s needs and offering real, complete solutions we improve the service we give and the benefits we provide.
The HIP companion selling training module (a standard component of the HIP induction process for all team members) is designed to ensure that a customer gains the most value from their purchase while adding significant revenue to the pharmacy. Team members specialized in different product sections (e.g. cough-cold, skincare, etc) are familiar with what products go with what – so if, for example, a customer wants to buy some Panadol® it would be appropriate to ask if they need a thermometer as well, or if they are buying Calamine lotion in the skincare section then they may also need antihistamine and/or QV wash. This approach is such an important part of the HIP model that it is built into Teamaximiser® - the HIP team incentive program that operates at all stores.
HIP stores also keep lists of the ten most commonly asked for products that match or complement the prime purchase. The HIP culture is to astonish our customers with the level of service we provide, and always to think about how much more we can do for them than simply satisfy their initial need. We find that, generally, customers are extremely grateful for the help and professional service that we provide, and of course it doesn’t hurt our sales either!
10.11.05
Member Profile - Doug Roberts
Doug Roberts and his business partner Mario Barbagallo converted their Mooloolaba pharmacy to the HIP group in July 2005 (HIP now has seven pharmacies in Queensland).
Mooloolaba is a beachside resort at the southern end of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and HIP Mooloolaba is a 100sqm pharmacy located in a small shopping strip just back from the beach.
Doug and Mario bought the pharmacy in 1996 and moved it into the new shopping strip, and then joined one of the banner groups. The customer base is varied and the pharmacy offers a very broad range of pharmacy services, with a specialisation in domiciliary services and palliative care. Competition in the area is also strong and becoming stronger, with two large discount pharmacies due to open a few kilometres away.
Doug and Mario first came across HIP at the APP conference in 2004 and Doug admits that it took them a long time to decide to join the group. It had become increasingly apparent to Doug that the banner group they were with just did not fit with what they wanted to do at the pharmacy – he was also concerned that they were too dependent on the medical centre next door, and competition from other pharmacies in large shopping centres nearby was an issue. They needed a pharmacy group that would enable them to focus on their high service model and market this strongly to the local community. Doug explains why they chose the HIP model:
“HIP is the only pharmacy group that fits my philosophy and has a solid template for the future - the HIP programs and systems are enabling us to reinforce our customer relationships.”
All HIP members are allocated a business development coach to help them implement the HIP systems and to help them take the business where they want it to go. This aspect of HIP has been particularly helpful to Doug, who sees the real benefit of an ‘impartial set of eyes’ in the business, as well as the value of the involvement of the business coach at the implementation stage.
HIP Mooloolaba completed implementation of all the systems within three months and Doug was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to convert their customers from their old loyalty club to HIP’s Platinum Care Club program – reporting that the 24 hour pharmacist hotline offered to Platinum Care Club cardholders is a very good selling point.
Doug now sees the HIP model as a way of achieving his goals – expanding his business interests, spending a little more time with his family – and doing more skiing!
30.08.05
New Book - Guide to Buying a Pharmacy
Written by HIP acquisitions expert Brian Keen, this guide gives you proven techniques on how to achieve astonishing results - even if you're discouraged having already wasted years of searching!
21 powerful chapters reveal the secrets of how to get the pharmacy you want, including the seven essentials:
- what's involved - reviewing your skills and motives
- finding the pharmacy that best suits you
- choosing your essential support team
- the initial review - don't waste your time
- assessing the practical and non-financial aspects
- negotiating a win-win outcome
- the roadmap - key steps in growing a hugely successful pharmacy
The book will be available as an e-book (in PDF format) in October 2005. The first 50 copies are available FREE of charge - to order your free copy (normal RRP $29.95) go to the home page and click on the link to order.
19.08.05
Comment - August 2005
Retail pharmacy is not set to get any easier – with another discount warehouse opening it seems every month – and the possibility of the major supermarkets entering the fray perhaps even within 5 months – you could be forgiven for thinking that now was a good time to get out of pharmacy.
It seems probable that the Guild-Government negotiations will result in a relaxation of the pharmacy location rules – allowing pharmacies to open within the current 1.5km ‘exclusion zone’ enjoyed by existing pharmacies – with a continuation of the current ban on supermarkets being allowed to operate pharmacies.
Whatever happens, retail pharmacy will need to get smarter to continue to compete and this is why Health Information Pharmacy is developing two projects to ensure its members remain even more competitive. The first is an IT project called HIPPOS and the second is a focus on developing medical centre pharmacies – more about these projects below.
19.08.05
HIP Medical Centre Projects
Health Information Pharmacy focuses clearly on a high-service business model, so it is natural that the model works particularly well in a medical centre context.
HIP Castle Hill is within a large medical centre and the new HIP pharmacy on Sydney’s Northern Beaches will be annexed to a brand new medical centre.
About six months ago HIP forged an agreement with a medical centre management company to develop sites together – the management company giving HIP first option to open the pharmacy in their new centres and HIP flagging potential sites for joint projects. The structure of the medical centre model is particularly attractive to GPs as it takes away a large part of the administrative burden and brings other allied health professionals into each centre.
The Northern Beaches centre will be the first of these projects to come to fruition, with further undertakings under consideration around Australia. We will run a full report on the Northern Beaches project in a future newsletter.
19.08.05
HIPPOS
The acronym stands for Health Information Pharmacy Point Of Sale and is not – as the name might imply – a point of sale system!
It is in fact a sophisticated, web-enabled software program currently operating at a number of HIP stores which is able to extract data at a transaction level from any of the commonly used pharmacy POS systems and provide useful reports on sales, stock and gross profit margin.
The system has been developed specifically for Health Information Pharmacy and currently generates standard reports (most on a daily basis) enabling HIP members to monitor and act quickly to address problems in areas such as low gross profit, changes in gross profit at individual product level and slow stock turn as well as till errors and poor staff performance. It also helps iron-out stock reporting errors that are generated by double entries in the POS, etc.
Since implementation the system has helped stores improve gross profit by 4-6% which has added a significant boost to the bottom line at each store. One store in particular has been able to reduce stock levels by $60,000 since running the system. The result of this and other HIP programs in one recent acquisition has seen a six-figure increase in the asset value of the business in less than 12 months!
19.08.05
New Features on HIP Website (1) - Video
If you have visited www.hip.com.au in the last few days you may have noticed a couple of new features. The first upgrade is the addition of the HIP video to the site – if you have a broadband internet connection* you can now see our 8-minute video over the web.
The video is especially worth watching as it has a number of our existing members talking about why they joined HIP and what benefits they have seen since joining.
You can also see a 360 degree video tour of a Health Information Pharmacy store on the site under 'About HIP' then 'Store Photos'.
19.08.05
New Features on HIP Website (2) - Forms
The second addition to the site is a section where you can download standard forms and documents to learn more about HIP and, if you wish, you can in fact start the process of applying to join the Accelerated Ownership Program or converting your existing pharmacy to a Health Information Pharmacy.
We have included here a summary of the process as well as the relevant questionnaires and our standard confidentiality agreement.
07.07.05
Member Profile - Jenny Leung
Jenny Leung is the owner of HIP Belmont - a 149sqm pharmacy located in the Brisbane suburb of Belmont approximately 10km south-east of the Brisbane CBD.
The pharmacy is in a 7-day convenience centre and was first opened by Jenny as a greenfield site in 1994. The area demographic is predominantly 25-40 showing a growth in young mothers and families.
Jenny first came across HIP when she read an article in Retail Pharmacy about the group. At the time she was working with a business coach and had been thinking about starting something similar to HIP but decided to look at HIP before going any further. Jenny says "When I met with the HIP team and came along to the induction I had very high expectations of the group - I am happy to say that Ken (Ken Lee CEO HIP) delivered, otherwise we would not have joined!"
Jenny was already running a high performing pharmacy but was looking for something that would help her fine tune the systems and take the pharmacy to the next level. She was also keen to implement the HIP marketing program and put in place a program to test and measure marketing strategies - a fundamental part of the model. Since joining the group GP has increased by 1.5% and average dollar sale was up by $2 within three months of joining. Another of Jenny's concerns was the opening of large discount operations only 3km away - "if we hadn't joined HIP when we did we would be in negative growth by now."
Joining HIP has enabled Jenny, and her husband Noel, to focus on their longer term goals - spending less time working in the pharmacy and being able to spend more time with their children. "Five years from now I want to have 4 pharmacies 100% owned, not to be working full time and to be achieving 40% GP in all of them - with HIP I am on track to achieve this."
07.07.05
Three New HIP Pharmacies
HIP will shortly be opening three new outlets in NSW - in Caringbah, Kingswood and on Sydney's Northern Beaches. All three sites are being acquired by members of HIP's Accelerated Ownership Program (AOP), either on their own or in partnership with other HIP Members.
In fact two of the new owners are the very first members of the AOP - Sal Torrisi and Simon Reinhard, who will be opening their second pharmacy within a year of opening their first (HIP Narrabeen which opened last October). The new Northern Beaches pharmacy will be attached to a medical centre and the arrangement has involved a licence relocation and relocation of GP's - not a simple scheme. This included HIP arranging the sourcing of a medical centre management company and finding a suitable freehold property. Total number of pharmacy partners in the venture is seven. Both Simon and Sal are delighted that they have been able to move ahead so quickly - Simon says "HIP is what I expected - and more. My original - admittedly ambitious - plan was to own five pharmacies within five years - now owning two within a year I am way ahead of schedule."
Sal echoes Simon's sentiments "Before I joined HIP my goal was to own two pharmacies in three to five years - never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would own two within a year. HIP is a very strong and supportive group which encourages me and which gives me a sense of security."
HIP Kingswood is being opened by AOP member Sam Ashour, who was previously the manager of HIP Croydon Park. Sam says "The Accelerated Ownership Program is just that - after only a year and a half as a manager within the group I am now a pharmacy owner."
The Caringbah pharmacy is being opened by David and Donald Croot, long established, current pharmacy owners who have previously operated multiple outlets. After spending many months themselves hunting the market for a pharmacy that suited them, David and Donald joined the AOP last year in an effort to accelerate their buying process. The pharmacy HIP sourced for them is located in a shopping centre in the south Sydney suburb and will be expanded from 97sqm to 140sqm under HIP. David explains how the HIP scheme helped him "It gave us access to a much broader range of pharmacies to look at - I am very excited to be joining HIP."
In total eleven pharmacists become owners of new HIP pharmacies this month.
For more information about our exclusive Accelerated Ownership Program contact the HIP Support Office.
07.07.05
Comment - July 2005
There is still plenty of speculation in the business press on the future of pharmacy in Australia - speculation because we as yet have no inkling of what the Fourth Agreement will hold.
While we wait major wholesaler groups like API are busy realigning their banners/brands to allow for more prescriptive (and probably more expensive) retail models to maintain competitiveness. This increased emphasis on the look of the store and the retail side of the business inevitably means taking away more control of the business from the pharmacy owner - something that does not sit well with many. The Health Information Pharmacy model - whilst having a small number of core systems which are compulsory in all stores - leaves complete autonomy with the individual owner with regard to most aspects of running the business - the owner is guided and helped by their business development coach to help them achieve the business objectives they have - and these vary widely from owner to owner.
BRW magazine also featured a recent article on the likely growth of franchising in the health sector, including community pharmacy. It noted that many healthcare professionals think that franchising will devalue their skills if a McDonald's style approach is used to standardise products and services in the sector. Interestingly, experience within HIP indicates the opposite. One of the core HIP systems is a consulting process called Chemconsult®, which allows medication conflicts to be picked up more easily during the dispensing process - comments from pharmacists who work with the system within the group indicate that this system actually allows them to use their pharmacy skills more effectively. This is borne out by statistics that show a higher medication error 'flag' rate when the process is in use.
24.05.05
Comment - May 2005
As the negotiations between the Government and the Guild continue behind closed doors there has been a marked increase in the number of news items on the TV and in the press regarding the arrangement – the balance seeming to be against the position of the Guild rather than for.
The recent item on A Current Affair on discount pharmacies highlighted substantial price differences between regular pharmacies and the new discount outlets with a clear message that consumers should use the discounters to save considerable amounts of money, particularly on repeat purchases.
The Economist magazine also puts the boot in in its latest edition which includes a special report on Australia (May 17th edition). In a section called “The Limits to Growth” it writes “But there are still too many protected sectors, including newsagents, the legal profession, most public services, health insurance, pharmacies and international aviation, where significant barriers to entry remain.
Cracking some of these open would yield valuable supply-side benefits – and help keep a remarkable success story (Australia’s current economic performance) rolling.” Whatever your views on deregulation, the case is still far from clear cut (either way).
24.05.05
HIP Mooloolaba Opens
At the end of April HIP opened its newest outlet in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
The owners are Doug Roberts – who manages the pharmacy - and Mario Barbagallo. This brings the total number of HIP outlets in Queensland to 6 – just one behind our home state NSW with 7.
24.05.05
HIP New Team Members
In April we welcomed Peter Allen as our new recruitment manager in NSW.
Peter has a strong background in recruitment having been Franchise Development Manager responsible for Australia and overseas for Computerland, Dymocks and most recently Blockbuster.
David Bateson has moved from Sydney up to Brisbane to take up the role of HIP recruitment manager in QLD. He is contactable at the HIP (QLD) office on 07 3901 1055.
Finally we welcome Vanessa Drew who joins the HIP Sydney office team as Junior Secretary.
24.05.05
HIP Pharmacy wins Australian Achiever Award for Second Year Running
HIP Bell Post Hill in Geelong (VIC) has won the 2005 Australian Achiever Award for Melbourne’s Pharmacy Services & Supplies category, having previously won this distinction in 2004.
Now in its eighth year, the Australian Achiever Awards are an independent, unbiased award system based on assessment ratings from businesses own customers – an indication of a well run business where satisfied customers are a sign that a business is healthy and worthy of patronage.
The award system focuses on seven criteria, each scored separately, namely: Time Related Service, Addressing Client Needs, Care and Attention, Value, Attitude, Communication and Overall Perception. The criteria are rated individually in percentage terms and the final score is an amalgam of these. Anything above 80% overall is regarded as exceptional and reflects outstanding customer service. A list of over 3000 businesses who have achieved this standard can be viewed at www.achiever.com.au HIP Bell Post Hill achieved a 98.31% overall score for Customer Service and Relations, topping all other Melbourne Pharmacy Services & Supplies businesses.
The 2005 Australian Achiever Award proves HIP Bell Post Hill continues to deliver on the promise of customer satisfaction. Owned by HIP Member William Khoo for four years, HIP Bell Post Hill operates under management with a team of two pharmacists and three assistants, all HIP trained and coached.
William says “our customers have ready access to our pharmacists and health consultants for personalised advice. We also provide an information kiosk with over 3000 health and diet related topics for our customers to use. With these we aim to empower our customer to be better informed about their medical conditions and thus reduce medication related complications.” Some of the comments Australian Achiever received from HIP Bell Post Hill customers were: “Nothing is ever too much trouble. They go out of their way to please. The staff are very informative and caring. They really listen. Extremely professional.” “Very friendly and polite. They give the best service in Geelong. Always clean and tidy. Very caring, very attentive service. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
24.05.05
'Jobs at HIP' Section Coming Soon
We will shortly be adding a ‘Jobs at HIP’ section to our website – so if you are interested in working with us make sure you check the site regularly or better still sign up to our regular jobs bulletin email on the site.
24.05.05
Accelerated Ownership Program (AOP) Report
We have been busy working for our AOP members this month - three offers on pharmacies and a couple more being held ‘off-market’ pending initial due diligence – this entails a huge amount of work sifting through all we can on the market, but it is proving to be very worthwhile and more successful that we had hoped!
Case Study
Fri 22nd April: Brian Keen and David Bateson from HIP learned of a possible new Sydney listing whilst holding business appointments on Queensland…
Monday 27th April: Obtained business figures, sought further information, etc.
Monday 2nd May: Peter Allen completed HIP appraisal, HIP review panel confirmed suitability and two of our AOP members introduced to opportunity. HIP assisted members reviewing funding, speaking to advisors, vendor, etc.
Friday 6th May: After broad-ranging discussions between all parties an offer was presented to the vendor by our AOP member.
Monday 9th May: After assistance with negotiations an offer accepted – secondary due diligence started with settlement aimed for late June…
While this was happening we were assisting with a number of other negotiations and in fact we are now reviewing pharmacy opportunities at the rate of around one a day – with six promising examples in front of us currently: these businesses vary in size and geographic location and are offered to AOP members on a strictly ‘first come, first served’ basis.
If you are interested in joining the Program now is a good time to contact us as we currently have a number of good acquisition opportunities – but these will not last.
24.05.05
HIP Opens QLD Office + New Address in NSW
Contact details for our new offices in NSW and QLD are now under 'Contact Us' on this website
31.03.05
Pharmacy Breakthrough Workshop - Mon 11 April
“Let’s create a plan to build your sales, increase your profits and maximise the value of your pharmacy – in just 8 hours”
Spend a day with guest speaker, CEO and founder of Icon Business Solutions, Greg Albert and Ken Lee, CEO and founder of the Health Information Pharmacy (HIP) group – and then build a comprehensive one-page strategic plan to revolutionise your pharmacy…
5 Key points you will learn
- The hidden secrets in your business - and the keys to controlling your life
- How to systemise the routine - and humanise the experience
- Increase the turnover of your pharmacy - and make more profits immediately
- How to reduce your working hours - and work on your business not in your business
- Team motivation, direction and focus - and getting the best possible performance
Introducing Guest Speaker Greg Albert
“If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.”
Greg’s business training, consulting and coaching company has worked with hundreds of businesses and over 20 pharmacies in Australia and overseas… Greg is an expert with a wealth of experience in the field of business solutions for pharmacy.
What pharmacy owners have said - “The best investment in my life” LN NSW “…HIP have lived up to all their promises…it’s been worth every penny!” WK Vic. “I wish I could have done this 20 years ago” MC Qld.
HIP special one-day event - Sydney, 10 am to 4pm 11th April 2005 - only $275 - fully refundable
Only five seats available so call 1800 457 888 NOW (24/7)
15.03.05
HIP ‘Accelerated Ownership Program’ goes from strength to strength with opening of HIP Avalon
Last Friday 11 March HIP Avalon on Sydney’s Northern Beaches opened its doors to the public. HIP Avalon is the second HIP pharmacy to open thanks to the pharmacy group’s Accelerated Ownership Program (AOP).
William Khoo – already a Member and owner of HIP Bell Post Hill in Geelong (VIC) – and Liong Ang from Fremantle WA – joined the Program independently late last year. The HIP team identified a suitable pharmacy and suggested the partnership - with Liong moving to the Sydney area to act as on-site nominated manager and William remaining in Geelong. Liong and William follow in the footsteps of Simon Reinhard and Sal Torrisi who were HIP’s first AOP members with HIP Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, which opened in October last year.
10.03.05
HIP Pharmacy Tour in Brisbane-Tue 15 Mar
Response at the APP 2005 conference to the HIP pharmacy model was outstanding - so much so that we are holding a pharmacy tour on Tue 15 Mar (11:30-2:00) for Brisbane/SE Queensland-based pharmacists who would like to see the model in action.
The tour will be at HIP Belmont - owned and run by HIP Member Jenny Leung (pictured right). Ken Lee - CEO of HIP - will also be there to explain more about the HIP model. To reserve your spot simply go to the Events Calendar on this site and click on 'Book Now' or call HIP on 1800 457888
22.02.05
HIP at APP
If you are going to the APP Conference on the Gold Coast next month drop in and see us at stand 5 of the exhibition.
This year our focus is on the HIP Accelerated Ownership Program (see below) but if you currently own your pharmacy and are interested in converting it to an HIP store we’d be delighted to see you too! If you come to the stand this year you will also have an opportunity to speak to existing HIP Members and Business Coaches as well Ken Lee – founder and CEO of the group.
We will be sending out a timetable closer to the conference so that you can plan your visit if you would like to meet one of our Members, Coaches or our Founder. As a bit of fun we will also be running a ‘lucky dip’: top prize is a $100 book voucher but 25 copies of our favourite business books – including ‘The E-Myth’ by Michael Gerber – are also up for grabs.
21.01.05
Comment - January 2005
The Fourth Agreement is due to be negotiated and drawn up by June this year.
Although Federal Government ministers have been restrained in their comments in the lead up to the negotiations, it is clear that the government will seek concessions from pharmacy – in all likelihood a reduction in margins or some change to the remuneration structure for PBS items, to try to stem the spiralling costs of healthcare.
Woolworths and Coles are of course currently denied the option of opening pharmacies within their stores but the Government will certainly be watching recent developments in New Zealand where in-supermarket pharmacies have started opening. What is almost certain is that the agreement – when it arrives – will mean a further erosion of the current position for pharmacy.
The HIP group already has strategies in place to deal with deregulation or reduction in margins should they occur (for details of these please see previous newsletters or contact us). In an article in last month’s AJP magazine Bruce Annabel of accountants Johnston Rorke points out what should be some worrying information for pharmacies. Firstly he quotes a 16.6% increase in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics retail category sales to June 04 (presumably against previous year) with only a 2.9% increase in sales in the pharmacy sector in the same period. These figures would indicate that pharmacies have lost this business to other retailers.
Further proof of pharmacy’s inability to compete with sophisticated retail operators comes from stock performance data collected by the firm (over 2 years) showing S2/S3 categories taking up 55 linear metres of shelf space and producing 33% of Gross Profit dollars while 161 linear metres devoted to gifts/beauty/hair products produce only 20% of Gross Profit dollars. For the same categories stock turn figures are 6 and 2 respectively.
Health Information Pharmacy does not insist that individual member pharmacies stock a particular range of products – this is left to the individual Member to decide. However it does provide comprehensive training and ongoing support to Members (via the integrated business coaching program) to allow them to make good stock decisions – and is in the process of rolling out a sophisticated POS analysis system that is already making these decisions easier.
Results to date – as mentioned in earlier editions of UPdate – show that HIP pharmacies are seeing significant growth in all key performance indicators as a result of these strategies.
21.01.05
HIP Lindisfarne wins Tasmania QCPP Pharmacy of the Year 2005
Many congratulations to Theresa and Jerry Niekrasz at HIP Lindisfarne in Tasmania who have just won 2005 QCPP Pharmacy of the Year (Tas)!
Theresa and Jerry will now compete against the other State winners for the title of Australian QCPP Pharmacy of the Year which will be announced at the APP conference in March. HIP Lindisfarne follows in the footsteps of HIP Castle Hill in Sydney which won NSW/ACT QCPP Pharmacy of the Year in 2003 (making 1 in 10 HIP pharmacies a QCPP winner!).
21.01.05
Member Profile - Theresa Niekrasz
Theresa’s pharmacy is situated in a small shopping strip in the Hobart suburb of Lindisfarne – about a 10 minute drive out of Hobart CBD.
The pharmacy has been there for around 40 years and serves a predominantly older demographic although this is changing as more young families move into the area. There are other pharmacies within about 5 minutes of HIP Lindisfarne with no major discounters, although this is likely to change as at least one major discounting chain has announced plans to open in Hobart.
Theresa and her husband Jerry bought the pharmacy about 3 years ago after Theresa had done some locum work there and had found out that the owner wanted to sell. Theresa stayed with the original banner group for about a year before joining Health Information Pharmacy in September 2003. Theresa chose to join HIP after having looked at what the other banner groups had to offer – of all of the groups she felt only HIP offered the level of support she was looking for.
This was confirmed when she and Jerry came along to the 3-day induction course: “I was blown away by the content of the induction program – so much information and guidance on how to apply general business principles to running a pharmacy as well as some very specific pharmacy-related strategies to help me grow my business. The great thing about the HIP induction program is that you are not left to your own devices – you have a business coach to help you implement the systems”.
After a slightly slower start then she would have liked Theresa and Jerry have now implemented a whole range of standard operating procedures in the pharmacy – this has been so successful that HIP Lindisfarne recently won QCPP Pharmacy of the Year 2005 in Tasmania (see above). Theresa is now looking forward to reaping more benefits of implementing the HIP program by reducing the hours she works in the pharmacy, with a longer term plan to open a second pharmacy run completely under management using the HIP model.
