Bruce Kneeland, community pharmacy consultant, discusses point-of-care testing as a form of cash-paid services in an interview with Total Pharmacy.
Bruce Kneeland: I’m often asked by pharmacists what they can do to offset the drastic reduction in reimbursement from third-party payments, and the first place I go is to find ways to increase your value to the community in cash-paid services. This would include drug-nutrient depletion programs, where you can provide people with quality nutritional supplements that will help in the treatment of their disease. It also includes my favorite growth area, the point-of-care testing. The ability to do strep- or flu-testing, have mothers of children bring their kids in from school and immediately be able to test them for strep-throat. And then to work with their physician to find an appropriate drug therapy is just a golden opportunity and it’s a cash-pay business.
The consumer – the patient will pay the same amount for the test in your pharmacy that they’re likely to pay for the co-pay for the physician’s office, and they don’t need an appointment, they can come in and see you. If you’re not doing point-of-care testing, I’d beg you to look into it and get involved.
Q&A: Pharmacist Turned Coffee Shop Owner on the Current State of Independent Pharmacy
May 17th 2024Chris Schaffner, owner of Schaffner Pharmacy and Apothecary Coffee in Sedro Woolley, Washington, discussed the state of today’s independent pharmacy market, as well as his own pharmacy operations.