Chapter 25. Value-Added Services as a Component of Enhancing Pharmacists' Roles in Public Health

Dr. Zgarrick is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice in the School of Pharmacy at Northeastern University's Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Dr. Zgarrick received a B.S. degree in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin and an M.S. and Ph.D. in pharmaceutical administration from The Ohio State University. He has practice experience in both independent and chain community pharmacy settings. Dr. Zgarrick teaches courses in pharmacy management, business planning for professional services, and drug literature evaluation. His research interests are in pharmacist workforce issues, professional service development, and the use of evidence-based medicine by pharmacists.

After completing this chapter, readers should be able to

1. Identify factors that should drive the development of value-added pharmacy services.

2. Describe ways that the development of value-added pharmacy services can enhance pharmacists' roles in public health.

3. Describe how the business planning process applies to value-added pharmacy services.

4. Evaluate the market for value-added pharmacy services:

   1. Consumer characteristics and needs

   2. Impact of the internal and external environments

   3. Services already available in the market

   4. Market potential

   5. Consumer willingness and ability to pay for services

5. Evaluate the ability of a pharmacy to provide services that meet consumer needs

By all accounts, Alan Brouchard, Pharm.D., is a great pharmacist. He graduated at the top of his class in pharmacy school and started a successful career with a pharmacy chain in suburban Chicago. While he enjoyed working with all his patients, he especially liked counseling children and their parents. He had a reputation for being good with kids and informative with their parents, which resulted in many referrals to the pharmacy where he worked.

Last year Dr. Brouchard's wife was offered a job opportunity in Phoenix. While he loved his job in Chicago, his wife's opportunity was too good to pass up, and he knew that there would be positions available in the Phoenix area with his pharmacy chain. He arranged a transfer to another pharmacy in his chain in Sun City (a suburb just northwest of Phoenix). When he arrived, he was anxious to further develop the pediatric services he had started in Chicago. He convinced his pharmacy manager to purchase special equipment to teach children how to monitor their asthma, to remodel the pharmacy to include a private counseling area, and to spend money promoting these services in the local community.

After 3 months, Dr. Brouchard was very disappointed in how his service had been received. On a good week, only one or two persons would come in for his services, and these often were older customers seeking advice for their grandchildren. The pharmacy manager began using the private counseling area to store diabetes supplies (which always seemed to sell as fast as the pharmacy could get them in). Dr. Brouchard did not understand why his services, which were so successful in Chicago, were not nearly as well received in Sun City. He often wondered what he could ...