Pharmacy layout and design is an essential factor in driving revenue and profitability, including the front-end retail merchandising area, your integration with adjacent medical clinics, and in your dispensary. Anything that can be done to create efficiencies in the prescription filling processes should be seriously considered if wages are getting out of control. Management should ask themselves precisely what they hope to accomplish through a pharmacy layout refit, such as improving current workflow, and what can be done to save time and improve customer satisfaction regarding the services received. Additionally, in these uncertain times, it is imperative to reflect on modifications to your design to protect staff and customers.
An ideal setup behind the pharmacy counter will allow for prescriptions to come in and go out as quickly and as safely as possible without having to reach, step around, or to waste time taking unnecessary steps when completing a task. While wasted steps or excess bending and reaching may not seem like such a big problem during a single isolated task, multiplying these efforts many times during a single workday will quickly add up. Over time, these inefficiencies can have a marked effect on revenue and affect service quality. Changing the back-end pharmacy layout should help. Consider using our services to create an efficient pharmacy design.
Smaller independent pharmacy owners are learning that they have ignored their front store for far too long. It’s getting harder to make profits in the dispensary, and so attention must be placed on the front store to make it a profitable entity into its own – not just a loss leader. Learn what causes customers to want to come in more often, to stay longer (and shop more) when they do come in, and to spread the word to others about the excellent shopping experience your pharmacy offers.
Having a clinic adjacent to your pharmacy does not guarantee success. We have studied and designed integrated clinic/pharmacy layouts that keep the prescriptions in the building that go beyond the “shared” waiting room.