Community Pharmacy is a resilient industry and over the years you have had a lot of challenges thrown at you and boy have you battled hard for your community; for all Australians. Unfortunately, another obstacle has been thrown into the pharmacy landscape and your next challenge which will have a huge impact on your business and patients’ welfare is to commence on 1 September 2023; 60 day dispensing.
Pharmacies are likely to be impacted negatively through this policy and I want to share some insights on how you can keep track of your pharmacy’s performance through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
What are KPIs?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a type of metric system used to measure your progress and key targets to determine the success of your business. It demonstrates the performance at a particular period which can be used to make changes or continue with strategies that will help produce a positive result for the next period.
Can I do anything before I begin to set and monitor KPIs??
There are a couple of things you can do to prepare yourself. The first being going back to your data over the past 12 months to review your history and current performance. Knowing your current business performance is a great starting point as it allows you to determine if 60 day dispensing will affect you and by how much.
The other things you can do is review the StrongRoom or NostraData reports that are available to review estimated impacts; just make sure you read it with a glass of wine in hand. Use these reports to facilitate discussions between your business partners and your team. You can start brainstorming and putting in place strategies. I understand some owners might feel this is pointless as we don’t have a crystal ball to tell us what the future will bring however, you can control the processes which you do have control over. Bringing awareness is a starting point and if you feel the need to create strategies to prepare your pharmacy, go ahead and do this.
Which KPIs can I monitor during the 60 Day Dispensing impact?
Come 1 September 2023, I would recommend reviewing and monitoring these KPI’s to see how the 60 day dispensing is impacting your bottom line.
When and how often should I review KPIs?
When monitoring these KPIs, the comparison should be reviewed monthly as follows:
- Comparing the difference between this month V last month
- Comparing the difference between this month V same month last year
- Comparing the difference between this month V budgeted figures (if you have prepared one)
Quarterly and annual reviews can also be reviewed but monthly monitoring is better at this stage to keep a close eye for the 60 day dispensing impact.
What should I do with the data?
The data will be able to show you trends that are happening within your pharmacy business and I won’t sugar coat this but please don’t be surprised if the outcome looks like you are going backwards if you have not implemented any new strategies.
Some follow up call to action items that can be done:
- Ensure your data makes sense so you make implement good strategies.
- Sharing current performance with your partners, mentors, and/or team.
- Discuss and brainstorm ideas and use this to form new strategies for the business.
- Regular monitoring allows you to capture change faster to ensure you don’t fall backwards.
Please don’t be deflated over the upcoming future results if you are going to be impacted. What I want you to do is to change your mindset and look at this as an opportunity for your pharmacy. You have the ability with the power of data to use this to your advantage and pivot and change your strategies.
Each and everyone of you are resilient and here at Peak, we will be there to ride this crazy rollercoaster with you and know you are not alone. If you want to discuss KPIs or find ways we can help you with the 60 day dispensing impact, please get in touch with us.
Victoria Le is a highly accomplished Practice Manager at Peak Strategies, boasting an extensive professional background as a Chartered Accountant and Manager spanning more than a decade. With her wealth of experience and expertise, she excels in guiding the organisation towards success and ensuring optimal performance.