Our level of personal service hasn’t changed, but we’ve improved our processes. And they’re here to stay.
We avoided most of the disruption caused by COVID-19 globally. Pharmacy Mentor was already set up in a way that lends itself to remote, digital working. Most changes we made are more a result of growth than the pandemic.
Though we’re fully remote until we can get back to the office, the work ethic of our team remains strong. We use Slack for immediate internal communications, meaning issues are still solved promptly and efficiently. The only thing we miss is interacting with each other at the office.
Our Improved Customer Service Process
Pharmacy Mentor focuses on providing an excellent standard of customer care. Previously we’ve managed this through direct support channels like Telegram & WhatsApp. where every client gets a dedicated channel upon signing up for a service with us.
With our team and client base growing, however, this needed streamlining.
Our new Support Portal guarantees your request is logged and follows a rigid protocol of action and double-checks. meaning your request is efficiently and accurately dealt with.
Sales & Upgrades
Technical Support
General Enquiries
Getting in touch with us hasn’t changed
If you aren’t already a client, then you can get in touch through either Contact Us or the LiveChat on our website.
If you are a client, you can still get in touch with us in all the usual ways: Email, Whatsapp/Telegram, or booking a call through Calendly with the team member you need.
Transparency in how we work on your projects
We’ve shored up other internal processes so they’re manageable remotely. This actually works better because everyone in the company has visibility over exactly which stage a project is in. For clients, this means if they want to know timescales or where their project is up to, we can give answers with a high degree of detail, even if the person working on the project isn’t available to discuss it.
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The ideal prescription reordering app is user-friendly, available on Apple & Android, improves your workflow, and integrates not only with your other systems (like your website) but with the GP surgeries’ systems too.
Finding the best prescription reordering app for your pharmacy is an important part of setting up your pharmacy digitally. It allows the patient to nominate you as their pharmacy easily, which secures them to your business and improves your workflow significantly, with regular orders all digitally stored and secured ready for you to process. Data shows that patients who use an app for their repeat prescriptions are loyal to those pharmacies.
From a patients’ point of view, they just want the damn thing to work.
The four apps we’ll review are all great and, by and large, meet those criteria. If you don’t already work with an app, any option will be a marked improvement to your working life. However, there are unique aspects to each app making each more appealing to some pharmacy owners than others.
Obviously, there’s also the option for you to create your own custom app. There is naturally a development cost to that upfront, but it does mean a completely customisable app that does everything you need it to. There’s the added bonus that once you’ve paid for it, it’s yours forever.
In this guide, we highlight the USPs for:
The NHS App
Healthera
MedAdvisor
Patient Access
Please note: As of this publication, we are not affiliated with any pharmacy prescription app provider and this has been written with no bias. It is for information purposes and comprises of what we know when doing our research into them on a top-level, some feedback we’ve naturally been given from our clients, and the experience we have in using the apps ourselves. We are by no means indicating one is better over the other and it’s up to you to decide which will be right for your particular business. Furthermore, these apps are in no order of priority and numbered randomly.
Healthera
Healthera couldn’t really feel more on-trend for the pandemic if it tried. A “direct line” to your pharmacist is not only a great offering for the app, but for you as a pharmacist. With phones ringing off the hook, it’s a frustrating experience for the patient trying and failing to get through to order vital medication, especially if they only have a limited window to call.
The ability to send a message with the same ease as sending any text message as well as ordering repeat prescriptions directly through an app is a big win for the patient – and therefore you as well.
Your Branding (optional extra)
A big plus of Healthera is their White Label option, which is the ability to have their app but with your own branding. This also avoids the problematic issue of sending your patients to an app that shows them your competitors, especially when competitors are more geographically convenient. Healthera also acts as a signpost for your business. If people sign up via Healthera from their GP with no pharmacy in mind, and see your free delivery, you could end up acquiring a new patient. When signing patients up directly, you give them a direct link (or QR code) which takes them straight to your pharmacy on the app (so this doesn’t happen to you!)
Healthera’s White Label option is popular with big pharmacy groups like Weldricks & Alphega.
Clinical Services
Healthera also offers the option to book services online at your pharmacy, which is great functionality at a time when demand is high. It’s a great function if you don’t already have a way for patients to book online. But if you have a booking calendar on your website as well, Healthera’s booking calendar won’t integrate – so monitor carefully to avoid double-bookings. If you have capacity to take two appointments at the same time, it’s great. If you don’t and two people show up at the same time for the same service? Less great.
Carer Mode
A great option catering for people who look after younger or older members of their family. Carer mode allows management of multiple patients’ medication through one log-in.
Registering once as yourself is fine on other apps, but when setting up a Child’s account on the same phone – which you would if, I don’t know, you’re a perfectly normal parent in a perfectly normal scenario – the app has a full-on meltdown. Not with Carer Mode.
Overall, Healthera is a safe horse to back. trusted by so many pharmacies already in the UK. It might not have every feature you could ever wish for, but neither will any mainstream app.
MedAdvisor is brand new into the UK market, so if you haven’t heard of them, don’t fret. They’ve arrived on the back of great success in Australia with an offering that rivals any existing app.
Web App
They have a web app and dashboard, meaning elderly patients who aren’t comfortable with mobile apps can still use the service. I know elderly people don’t tend to need a lot of medication or healthcare, so you could probably ignore that demographic. You know, if going out of business is on your to-do list. Seriously though, even if 25% of your elderly patients used the app instead of calling your pharmacy, imagine how much time that saves your team.
Your Branding (optional extra)
MedAdvisor, like Healthera, also offers the option of White Label apps. So if you’re looking for a branded solution, this is another great option for you. MedAdvisor works in the same way as Healthera, you send your patient a link, which when followed will onlyshow your pharmacy. On other apps, all your competitors and their distance from your patient are displayed for them to select you as their pharmacy. This eliminates a big risk factor if the patient has no real loyalty to your pharmacy that they’ll go elsewhere for more convenience.
Carer Mode
This, as mentioned, is an ace in the hole for your patients, and MedAdvisor comes equipped with this as well.
The ability to register as a Carer and manage your family’s prescriptions is so central to most of your target market, which is mothers. As a general rule, mothers rule the roost when decision-making on a pharmacy so catering for them will always yield positive results.
Do you struggle to promote your clinical services? If you do, the first thing you should check out is Google Ads for your pharmacy which is by far the most effective way of getting your services in front of people who need them.
But as well as that, Patient Access is well worth thinking about. Even if you already use another prescription reordering app. Here’s why.
When a patient signs up to Patient Access, the experience is (digitally) the best introduction they could have to the benefits of your clinical services. It’s simple, relevant and beautifully presented.
They’re asked about conditions they have or are interested in, such as quitting smoking. There are blogs, explanations of treatments, and recommendations of local service providers (like you, if you’re registered with Patient Access).
Web App
They have a web app and dashboard, meaning, again, elderly patients are catered to. It’s also got great review questions for the patients when they’re investigating health advice such as asthma. Keeping patients within a regulated healthcare app searching for help for their symptoms is a great holistic solution. Otherwise, they’re left to the whims of the internet, advised to rush to the emergency room for their headache and touch of the sniffles.
Accessing “Patient Access” as a patient…
It’s tragically ironic that, of all the apps I’ve tested as a patient, this is the hardest to access. As well as fingerprint access (which seems fairly secure already) I was asked to set up a memorable word. I set up an 8 character word. At times when signing-in, it has asked me for the 9th character of my 8 character word. Fairly tedious. A quick check of the online reviews suggests this is a recent addition, and wildly unpopular. I’m sure this will get looked at, but it’s always worth bearing in mind that by adopting this software, you are recommending it to patients. A frustrating experience will reflect negatively on you.
Cost
There’s a one-off cost for setup, and Patient Access takes a 15% cut of the price of any clinical service that is booked through their app. But 85% of a sale is better than 100% of no sale. Patient Access is another source of referrals for you to potentially grow your business.
If you want a trusted name, look no further. One mention of the NHS sells patients on this as essentially an official part of the process. It’s perfect if you just need a stock offering that does what it says on the tin. It’s hard to distance yourself from an app when something goes wrong if it’s branded to you, or if the patient never heard of it but you recommended they use it. If something goes wrong with the NHS App, it’s unlikely you’ll be associated negatively. Public perception will just be that it’s the “NHS” in general, not you specifically.
It also makes it possible for anyone to nominate you as their pharmacy, as the NHS App doesn’t rely on the GP’s IT enabling this option.
Being the NHS comes with its drawbacks though. As it’s publicly funded, the internal processes for app updates may well be slower than a private company. Features that aren’t seen as mainstream won’t be available through this app, as the NHS App will cater to the majority.
Web App
The NHS has a web app which as previously discussed for Medadvisor, is a critically good inclusion. Even if people are comfortable with using mobile devices, sometimes it’s just more convenient to use a desktop. Having more ways to access your medication is always a benefit.
Lengthy Setup
Some see it as a positive, some unnecessarily fidgety. With the NHS App, patients must prove their identity before reordering prescriptions. This is great to reduce fraud, but it may also increase patient frustration with the setup process. This could dissuade them from using the service altogether.
You’re on the NHS App whether you like it or not
This is the bare minimum you should recommend to your patients, as it’s an option you’ll already be featured on. This gives patients the ability to nominate you for EPS and order their repeat prescriptions electronically without you investing anything into the service.
An up and coming player…Manage My Meds
Manage My Meds isn’t yet as popular numerically with some of these other players, having only launched in December 2020. But it’s got lots of the features that make these other apps great and is well worth a look in.
Whichever Prescription Reordering App you go for…
Always consider not only your current parameters but also what your pharmacy will need in the next few years. Once you have a few hundred patients signed up to an app, it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to switch providers. This isn’t a decision to take lightly, as it will significantly impact your business.
Have you been using any of these Prescription Reordering apps for your pharmacy? Finding a solution useful or poor? We’d love to hear from you.
If you’re looking for help in selecting the prescription reordering app for your pharmacy, please get in touch with us. Our Director, Saam, is a pharmacist of 15+ years, and we speak to literally 100’s of pharmacists every week using a variety of different prescription reordering apps, we’re in the know.
Want to stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest ways of growing your pharmacy business? Subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates, including articles like this one. Be sure to check your email for confirmation and always check our Privacy Policy before signing up.
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The Patient Medication Record (PMR) world has long-awaited revolution. Is the solution (and the revolution) finally here?
PMR Systems – A critical analysis
A PMR system determines the Quality of Life of a pharmacy team. You don’t want something you use so frequently giving you headaches. But it isn’t just your experience that improves with a good PMR. Your patients’ experience is dependent on a system that enables both communication and efficient service. As we discussed in our guide to choosing an online payment provider, with increasing competition on prescriptions, customer experience is paramount to retaining their business.
The whole EPS system works better for patients, but there is a world of potential for PMR’s to grow to improve customer experience. With automated giants like Amazon Pharmacy wading into the prescriptions market, you can be damned sure they’ll have the best system in place for prescriptions. The focus on clinical services is pivotal. Your PMR should both free up Pharmacists’ time and make patients’ lives easier.
Industry-Leading Pharmacy PMR Systems in the UK
All the providers we’ll look at in this article are “industry-leading”, using their own words. So, it isn’t really clear who the industry leader is. Or what they even mean when they say that. Is industry-leading the best? Or is it the first to be released? Hopefully, our guide will provide direction and a bit of clarity with what you can expect from each provider. We’ll update this guide routinely so it’s always a useful source for you when you need it.
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Does any PMR System fit a modern pharmacy?
The name Patient Medication Record shows the focus of PMR systems. And this way of thinking, along with a lack of cutting-edge competition, held back PMR development (and pharmacies) for some time. You’re undeniably reliant on prescriptions as a baseline to your business and require a system to manage that. But the historic reality of PMR systems was no matter how good they are at managing medication, they’re focused on – and therefore limited to – managing medication. As a business, when your infrastructure is limited, so is the service you’re able to offer. If you want to grow (or you’re forced into it by ever-decreasing prescription margins) into something more than a dispensing pharmacy, you’ll naturally need more from the system you’re using.
There’s an issue with complaining about PMR’s when thinking about the system that a modern pharmacy needs. The intuitive thing to do is to think of what already exists and try to make it better, but that’s like trying to make a plane and starting with a car. You can slap a pair of wings on a car, but it’s going to take you a lot longer to make it fly than it would if you just started from scratch and designed a plane.
Think about designing a system from scratch to manage your patients now. How would it function? What is it capable of doing? Understanding that the focus of a modern pharmacy is now multi-dimensional, the chances are you wouldn’t even call it a Patient Medication Record System, but a Patient Management System. (Or a Patient Integrated Care System, if only for the abbreviation PICS)
With all that in mind, what’s the best existing PMR system on the market?
Which PMR System does the best job?
Whilst no system is perfect for every pharmacy (one size rarely fits all), which existing provider comes closest to ticking all the boxes you want?
The five PMR systems we’ll review all offer unique elements to improve your working life. However, there are unique aspects to each system making each more appealing to some pharmacy owners than others. We’ll also include the company’s own video (where available) to give them a chance to speak for themselves.
Please note: As of this publication, we are not affiliated with any PMR System provider and this has been written with no bias whatsoever. It is for information purposes and comprises of what we know when doing our research into them on a top-level, some feedback we’ve naturally been given from our clients and the experience our CEO has had in using some of the systems as a pharmacist himself. We are by no means indicating one is better over the other. It’s up to you to decide which will be right for your particular business. Furthermore, these PMR systems are in no order of priority and numbered randomly.
1. Invatech – Titan PMR
The Titan PMR from Invatech was created in 2016 by their CEO Tariq Muhammed to remedy some of the headaches he’d faced when running his pharmacy group. You can tell its creator has experience running a business, as it addresses a lot of business headaches. It’s a PMR, but crafted with business management in mind.
An immediately striking element of Titan is it’s clearly created to be used by anyone. One of the biggest issues in any business adopting new technology is “buy-in” from the staff, and the training needed to get them using it effectively.
Titan’s system undoubtedly reflects modern software expectations. Anyone familiar with using a smartphone will find the system intuitive.
The Titan system has individual logins that are completely customisable for the users too. This means that your pharmacy technician and Superintendent Pharmacist can work with information and functions that make sense to their job role, whilst working from the same system
The genius behind Titan’s PMR is that it brings in modern business solutions, such as the ability to monitor individual performances such as completion rates and mistakes. This allows for detailed performance analysis and gives good insights into where training is required. On the topic of training, the system has an inbuilt guide/tour of how to use its functions – so face-to-face training isn’t required. However, it’s important that staff understand the full functionality of what’s available to them. Quickly skipping through the tutorials will lead to inefficiencies down the line.
Integrations
It integrates, unsurprisingly, with Invatech’s Care Home Management system, Atlas PCS. If you already work with Atlas, it makes sense to adopt Titan too in the same way if you have an Apple or Microsoft laptop you’re better off with the same make of phone. The compatibility outweighs so many other pros and cons.
However, Invatech claim Titan PMR should be able to integrate with any healthcare app created using approved structures. This relies on other healthcare apps being built in the right way. So there might not be a raft of apps you can immediately integrate with, but it’s certainly future-proof.
Titan’s USP
Where it gets really exciting with Titan PMR though, is the “building blocks” approach to a tailored system. As much as one size can never fit all, this building blocks feature allows you to create different models of PMR for different models of pharmacy. As such, with a bit of time investment, you can mould your PMR system to your exact business model. Their claim “if you can imagine it, Titan can probably do it.”
A new player in the PMR market, Titan PMR has reimagined what PMRs should be. Whilst it might not be the complete package just yet, that might only be because other healthcare applications need to catch up to the level of integration that Titan can offer.
Titan’s offering is focused on helping Independent Community Pharmacies, mainly as that’s CEO Tariq Muhammed’s vision. “Leaving good pharmacists to do great services,” is the mantra behind his foray into technology in the pharmacy industry. So, provided you’re an Independent Community Pharmacy, Titan could well be the PMR for you.
Cool features
Integratable API – Allows for integration with other systems
Forward-Thinking/Future-Proof – The reason for Titan’s creation was a frustration with the existing systems. As long as Titan doesn’t become the very thing it set out to beat, it looks like a strong horse to hitch your wagon to. The way it’s designed stands it in good stead for the future.
Building Blocks Model allows you to model your system on your pharmacy model, rather than try and fit one to the other.
Flexible Support Channels including WhatsApp –Customer service is obviously a huge factor. Whilst we can’t attest to the service provided, the flexibility to speak to people is a good sign.
Considerations
Only recently released. With other more established PMR’s, it’s easier to find and read the experiences of people like you with reviews and testimonials online. Whilst there’s no telling if there are user issues, you’d be an early adopter at this stage, and therefore open to potential teething issues and bugs. It’s also unclear what the customer service is like. However, their eMAR product Atlas has positive Trustpilot reviews.
Cegedim Rx is already a big player in the PMR world when it comes to Medication Management. But the big advantage – the name. Pharmacy Manager. Not just the name, obviously. (Though it does sound like a fun computer game.) The benefit is more in how Cegedim Rx views Pharmacy Manager. Which is to say, they also view it as something that should reflect the whole of Pharmacy, including the incorporation of delivering services.
Switching PMR systems can be an administrative pain, so if you’re looking to switch to a new provider, it’s worth thinking about the future as well as the present. What’s the company’s vision for their PMR offering? Does their vision match up to your strategy as a pharmacy?
User Feedback
Cegedim Rx appears keen to listen to feedback from their users, and understand the direction Pharmacy as an industry is headed to develop their product into one that works for its users.
This is taken from the Cegedim Rx website:
“We have embedded our commitment into a product experience goal that commits to delivering products and solutions that precisely match our customer’s needs, enhance the UK healthcare systems, and facilitate improvements in patient care and outcomes.”
It’s promising to see both pharmacies and patients involved in product development.
Interface
Aesthetically, the Cegedim Rx is great to look at, having undergone a facelift in a recent update.
The dashboard design is useful, with a useful colour-coding alert system to prioritise tasks. It has good links to NHS services, including the prescription tracker and NHS mail within Pharmacy Manager, meaning find out what stage prescriptions are at without having to leave your PMR.
We know that Cegedim have big plans to advance Pharmacy Manager even further so in terms of innovation, they are helping community pharmacy evolve in its operations. This is a strong feature of the PMR and the company as a whole.
Integrations
As mentioned, Pharmacy Manager is integrated with the NHS Prescription Tracker, which makes handling customer calls a breeze, as you’ll always know exactly where a prescription is up to.
If getting and giving great customer service is your main priority, Cegedim might be your best option.
Cool features
User Interface – With a focus on making sure you never forget anything ever again by making the important things visible.
Reliability – Cegedim Rx support is widely praised for their communications and the system held up even during the Pandemic.
Updates –Cegedim Rx are constantly listening to customer feedback and improving the system with updates which improves the issues that people want fixed.
Considerations
Consider the functionality of this PMR and compare it to other PMRs. Does it have the required variety of spec to do what you want to do in the pharmacy?
Rx Web divides people more than pineapple on pizzas. Whichever way you slice it, (#PizzaPunIntended) Rx Web is a forward-thinking solution. But can they deliver? (end of pizza puns)
Cloud-based
A cloud-based platform enabling access from any PC or terminal instantly is a smart solution for pharmacies with more than one branch, or even just a large pharmacy with lots of terminals.
Cloud-based is so much better for so many reasons – there’s a reason Microsoft & Apple use it.
Imagine your pharmacy was broken into and your IT equipment was stolen. On the cloud, your data is still safe and accessible. Storing your data on your hardware isn’t secure.
Multiple pharmacies under the same umbrella? Working from the cloud makes it as though you’re working as one. Instead of your teams working in isolated branches, the cloud is a tree to connect them all. This means if you have a branch that’s busier than another, the one that isn’t as busy can be taking the prescription workload off the busy branch. Not only that, but the prescriptions will appear to be coming from the pharmacy they were ordered from. From the consumer’s perspective, it’s seamless.
Features
Rx Web gets a lot of praise for its range of features, even from its critics. It even includes some Clinical Service support, though the list of supported services is limited to basic services like MURs, Flu Jabs, and Health Checks.
It also integrates with Care Home systems and its features around Care Homes specifically are quite extensive.
Whilst it’s great that they offer patient communications, and even give you 200 free texts per month, but it feels like 200 free texts won’t get you very far. Meaning there’s almost certainly additional costs in there if you wanted to truly use this system. They also, bafflingly, offer fax functionality with this. I don’t know how many of your customers have a fax machine sat at home. But perhaps you’re a pharmacy set in the ’80s. If you are, look no further. Rx Web has fax support.
Price
Trying to get exact prices from PMR companies is a tricky task, especially as they often range based on individual needs. However, Rx Web has a reputation as the cheapest on the market, so if reducing your outgoings is your main priority, Rx Web might be your first port of call. We believe they only charge per pharmacy, so even if you have 10 terminals in your pharmacy, you pay once.
Reliability
Where Rx Web seems to fall down is on its system’s integrity. Whilst some users report no issues, there are a lot of negative comments around Rx Web’s ability to run properly at busy times, suggesting their server isn’t big enough to cope. The technical support also receives mixed reviews. Their contract claims to be simple, but there are reviews that claim there is also no cooling off period. So simple it might be, but make sure you check what you’re signing up to. All things considered, it looks like a bit of a lottery when you sign up with Rx Web. You might be a big winner, but you might be a big loser.
Depends if you like pineapple on your pizza, I guess.
Cool features
Low Fees – Users often remark on Rx Web being the cheapest on the market
Features –Especially considering the price point, Rx Web provides a lot of bang for your buck.
Considerations
Server unreliability is concerning – though apparently, the servers are better now than they were.
Ranging reviews on Customer Service implies it depends who you get through to on the day.
ProScript’s reputation is that they’re the best PMR system, but also the most expensive. Logically, that makes sense. If something frees up more of your time, it’s more valuable. But how exactly does ProScript Connect do this? And does it stand up to the new kid on the block?
This video isn’t a promotional video, and it’s four years old. But it’s the only thing available and might give you some idea of what to expect with ProScript Connect.
Works even when your broadband goes down
With even the best internet prone to disconnect for no discernable reason, the idea that your PMR system (and effectively with it, your ability to do prescriptions) is tied to such whims is less than ideal, to say the least. ProScript’s “Constant Connect” automatically connects you to your NHS network via a 3G/4G connection in the event of a broadband failure. Pretty useful, if things like working are important in your pharmacy.
Clinical Services Provisions
Helpfully, there aren’t specifications for exactly which PGDs are covered, but that suggests you could feasibly assume that all PGD’s are included. The fact that there’s a Service Hub included does make ProScript Connect a really useful engine if you’re big on clinical services.
Wide Range of Features
Many of the benefits of ProScript come through the many modules they’ve developed as a part of the software, as above. Without going through them all one by one, it’s safe to say that each one is useful and thought through.
Communications wise it’s the same as many other providers, where you are able to send email or text notifications to patients…but again, what we’d really love is the option to text message back. Whilst it’s not imperative for prescriptions, communicating whether a patient needs to cancel or rearrange an appointment is valuable automation that just isn’t catered for at present.
Multi-tasking
It seems simple, but the ability to open tabs and work with different windows is useful. It makes so much sense in fact, that it makes any system where you can’t do that, look a bit silly.
Interoperability
Does ProScript Connect play well with others? Integrations are a big feature of what ProScript is aiming to do, with a big focus on linking with NHS systems like GP Connect & SystmOne. It uses SNOMED CT, which is required now by all NHS systems and enables information to be shared accurately without duplicitous re-entry by hand.
They also have an open API, so any third-party apps can build their apps to work with ProScript. (whether or not they do that will be down to the third-parties). But it’s certainly a plus point from ProScript. Integrations are so important for saving time on tedious admin tasks.
Cool features
Integrations – With a focus on working well with NHS systems, there’s no doubt that ProScript plays well with other applications you might have or want.
3G/4G connection to cover internet failure is a big win.
Tabs! I get they aren’t the tidiest, but tabs are so useful to work with.
Considerations
Cost – ProScript is high-end, which means paying high-end prices. But you get what you pay for in life.
Positive Solutions isn’t just a PMR provider. Although their PMR system is a solid standalone offering, what probably makes them the right option for you is if you’re interested in their Integrated Pharmacy Solution. It’s a fairly comprehensive solution including an ePoS system that completely integrates with your PMR. They offer other products like Analyst Head Office, which gives analysis on things like retail sales, profits, dispensing volumes across pharmacies, etc. Or Analyst Handout, demonstrated in the video below, which takes the power of your PMR into mobile terminals.
Switching PMR systems can be an administrative pain, so if you’re looking to switch to a new provider, it’s worth thinking about the future as well as the present. What’s the company’s vision for their PMR offering? Does their vision match up to your strategy as a pharmacy?
No Dispensing Downtime
Just like ProScript, Positive Solutions understand the frustrations with system downtime on a PMR, and provide 3G coverage if and when your broadband fails.
Incorporates Delivery Mates into your PMR
Your driver simply scans all the prescription bag label barcodes with the eDelivery app and the app does everything else.
Maps the best route with all traffic information for the driver and this includes keeping your patient informed of estimated delivery times. A dashboard in the pharmacy gives you all the information you need. It’s especially useful managing volunteers, proving you have a robust system to protect against fraud.
Extensive training
Most PMR suppliers tend to opt for either face-to-face training or online training. Positive Solutions have both. Face-to-face training upon installation, and an eLearning platform for training whenever it’s needed.
Integrates with your Robots
If you’ve got a robot or an automated collection point, Analyst PMR can be synced up with them so there’s no gap in your workflow.
Cool features
Services Functionality – With a focus on making sure you never forget anything ever again by making the important things visible.
Good All-Rounder – Positive Solutions provides almost all the benefits and features other providers offer. Sometimes not as good, but at least the functionality is there.
Reliable Customer Service – With instant responses during working hours, so if something goes wrong it can get looked at straightaway.
Reports – Included in the price, unlike with some PMRs.
Considerations
Some of the extra products in their ecosystem appear to come as standard in other PMR packages.
That’s the golden question. Which one is right for your pharmacy business?
It depends on how your business operates but we think the following are major reasons to influence your decision:
Customer service – Stuff goes wrong. It’s inevitable. The PMR record will not load or the system my go down. And making sure that the PMR company are responsive and accessible is key. If providers have limited access or don’t get back to you, simply avoid them.
User reviews – Does the company have social proofing? What do your colleagues say about them? Word of mouth goes a long way but if they are actively generating reviews online, this is a very good indication to go with them.
Integration – Does the software integrate with other third-party providers? Or is the software totally inflexible? If providers aren’t collaborating with other companies or their software/hardware does not integrate with other solutions, you’re limiting yourself.
Innovation – If when having a demo of the PMR provider, the user interface still looks like that from Windows 95, it may be a sign that the company lacks forward vision. Is the PMR provider using cloud-based or hybrid solutions, modern interfaces and state of the art software and hardware? If yes, then this is a green light.
Time-saving – The ultimate limiting factor for a pharmacist today is time. Will the provider will save you time in your operations and streamline workflow? This is an extremely important factor. More time = less admin = more room to develop and grow your business.
Have you been using a particular PMR system for your pharmacy? Finding a solution useful or poor? We’d love to hear from you.
If you’re looking for help in selecting the PMR for your pharmacy, please get in touch with us. Our Director, Saam, is a pharmacist of 15+ years, accompanied by the fact that we speak to literally 100’s of pharmacists every week using a variety of different PMR solutions, we’re in the know.
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The new Distance Selling Pharmacy Websites Regulations come into effect on both January 1st and then April 1st, 2021. What do the regulations mean for you? We break everything down so you understand what you need to do.
We’re working in collaboration with Rushport Advisory, a leading consulting firm covering the pharmacy market. They have helped us curate this article and are guiding us to deliver the most robust and legally compliant distance selling pharmacy website on the market.
What do the new regulations say?
The exact wording for the Distance Selling Pharmacy Website Regulations are as follows:
28B An NHS pharmacist in respect of distance selling premises must ensure that there are arrangements in place at those premises which enable a person performing pharmaceutical services to communicate confidentially with a person accessing pharmaceutical services—
(a) by telephone or another live audio link; and
(b) via a live video link.”
This regulation is effective from January 1st, 2021.
28C “An NHS pharmacist (P) in respect of distance selling premises must ensure that P has a website for use by the public for the purpose of accessing pharmaceutical services from those premises, on which there is an interactive page, clearly promoted to any user of the website when they first access it, which provides public access to a reasonable range of up to date materials that promote healthy lifestyles by addressing a reasonable range of health issues.
This regulation comes into effect on April 1st, 2021.
What does that mean for you?
A closer look at 28B
Most pharmacies already have a telephone line and internet access already. But the requirement of confidentiality from the pharmacy premises means you need an area where a member of the pharmacy staff cannot be overheard when communicating with patients.
As well as communicating by phone (or an “audio link”), note the regulations state AND via a “live video link”. This means you need to have both options available. This is fairly straightforward to implement provided you have a laptop and internet connection through apps like Zoom, Teams or Skype.
We’re in the digital age. So people expect digital communication.
A closer look at 28C
This regulation is a little bit trickier to get into place and is also quite vague. Terms like you must provide access to a “reasonable range” of up-to-date materials clearly depends on who you are reasoning with.
The local NHS area teams ultimately will decide and so it’s likely to be their standards you must match. But don’t try and match the requirements. Blow them out of the water. The difference isn’t big between the two and will ultimately benefit your business anyway.
Here’s everything you need to comply with Regulation 28C
A website
Most DSP’s still do not have a website, believe it or not. If you’re operating without one, you need to get one.
An “interactive page”
A website that doesn’t have interactive pages is known as a “brochure website” because it performs in the exact same way as a brochure or leaflet. That is to say, it doesn’t really do anything other than display information. An interactive web page makes the user actively engage with the site (think links to other resources.)
Your website needs to be interactive. We design the best interactive modern sites.
The interactive page must be “clearly promoted” to any user of the website when they land on your site. This is another term in the regulations that is open to interpretation with both terms.
What does clearly mean?
It could just be that you don’t hide links to the page within a huge body of text (though it’s unclear why you’d ever do that.)
In which case, having it as part of the “menu” of your website, accessible on every page would meet that requirement.
What does promoted mean?
Do you have to draw attention to it? If so, a banner on every page encouraging visitors to the interactive page would meet the requirements.
It’s highly unlikely that the regulatory teams will nit-pick, provided you show them a modern website with a great user experience (ie. it’s intuitive) and up-to-date information (rather than NHS regulations from 2013 – we’ll talk about that now).
A good range of health content
DSP’s need to showcase their service offering
This is where you may get frustrated. Creating content is a time-consuming process when you’re not familiar with it. Naturally, you want to be doing other things with your time. Outsourcing this work will save you a headache. We can help you with this (and the whole project) in a cost-effective way because we live and breathe health content and create pharmacy websites every day.
It’s tempting to simply copy and paste content from other pharmacy websites, but resist this temptation. Copied and pasted content is traceable and you could find yourself in breach of copyright laws with regards to someone’s intellectual property.
Embrace the compliance, improve your service
The crux of the new regulations is there’s no hiding as a product-only pharmacy, where you do little more than package prescriptions. Offering a channel of communication for consultation with the patients using your service is now mandatory.
You’re expected to carry this into your website. It can’t be just a prescription production line anymore.
We mentioned this before, but ultimately these Distance Selling Pharmacy website regulations improve your service to patients. That isn’t something to begrudge, but something to embrace. Realise that with an amazing website that is simple for your patients to use, those same patients will show you more loyalty.
Looking for help in meeting the new Distance Selling Pharmacy website regulations?
Please get in touch with us. As we offer website services almost exclusively to pharmacies, we have all the knowledge already of what you’ll need to get set up.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-05-at-19.56.45.png19663298Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2021-01-05 20:28:552022-02-21 16:27:19Distance Selling Pharmacy Websites – What the New Regulations Mean for You
The demand for a Covid-19 Vaccine will be sky-high. How do you market the Covid-19 vaccine as a pharmacy professionally and effectively?
How and when will Community Pharmacies be able to offer the Covid-19 vaccine?
The Covid-19 vaccine is getting its first major rollout in the UK. Community pharmacy is expected to play a part in the massive vaccination drive. However, because of the specific storage requirements of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, it’s unlikely many will play a part initially, so it might be a while until you can market the Covid-19 Vaccine for your pharmacy.
We won’t go into how to offer a Covid-19 vaccine in this article though, as that’s been covered plenty of times by the governing bodies in pharmacy.
What we’re going to cover is how to market the vaccine if you do end up offering it. The tips we’ll cover will both drive people to your Covid-19 vaccine service AND make your life easier.
How to use Facebook, including setting up auto-replies and posting.
Creating a dedicated COVID-19 vaccine page on your website
Updating your Google Business Profile
Advertising Your Service (without breaching policies)
1. How to use Facebook to generate awareness, build trust, and save you time
The vast majority of the UK will have Facebook profiles, and it’s a source of information that is widely shared. As a trusted healthcare provider, sharing accurate advice with links to the NHS or the UK Gov. site helps build trust in your community and keeps them aware of when they might be eligible for the vaccine.
An example of a Facebook post you should share with your community,
Every pharmacy gets those people who come in and want to ask you every question under the sun whilst 10 customers look at their watches in the queue behind them. Imagine being able to tell them that they can find all the information on your Facebook page, and if they still have any questions to send you a message on there. (More on this below!)
It is unclear at this early stage as to whether you will be allowed to promote a COVID-19 vaccine service on Facebook at all. During the pandemic, Facebook have been extremely strict on allowing any promotion of anything which claims to protect against COVID-19. Whether this changes with approved vaccinations remains to be seen. You should always check with your friendly neighbourhood Pharmacy Mentor before promoting via Facebook. We keep ourselves up-to-date with exactly what you are and aren’t allowed to promote on Facebook. You don’t want to end up with your Facebook page being banned.
Auto-replies on Facebook
Set Up Auto-Replies on Your Messages Inbox
This useful trick is for busy pharmacists who don’t have time to answer messages on Facebook. It also gives a channel of communication for your patients who prefer using Facebook.
Think of all the common questions you get asked about services.
Is it free?
What are your opening hours?
Do I have to book? Etc, etc.
We manage a lot of Pharmacy Pages, we know the types of questions people ask. It’s normally something they could Google, but prefer to stay on Facebook.
Instead of their message going into a black hole and making you look bad at responding, you can set up an automated response to Frequently Asked Questions.
You should always try to answer the question if possible. But you can also give them a call-to-action as well. Include links or phone numbers in this response, whatever your preference and tell them how to book or where to find out more information.
2. Create a dedicated Covid-19 Vaccine page on your website
Example page for a client of ours
Your website is your online shop window, so make sure you or your developer updates it to reflect that you’re providing the Covid-19 vaccine service. As soon as the user lands on the site, they can’t miss it. Have one button which leads to a blog post/web page about the service for the patient to learn more, and one that jumps straight to a booking calendar link for people who want to jump straight in.
Pharmacies we worked with did similar things for Covid-19 PCR Testing.
The content of this dedicated page should make both yours and your patients’ lives easier. Set expectations. Give information. Answer Frequently Asked Questions.
All of this helps streamline your processes and create more revenue.
Screening & Risk Assessment Forms
Most clinical services have elements of risk, meaning patients often need screening for pre-existing health conditions or other factors that can present risks such as age or current medications. Most recently at the time of writing, people receiving the Covid-19 vaccine appear to be at risk if they have strong allergic reactions.
Rather than waiting for the patient to come all the way into the pharmacy, or you having to phone them, why not have a form on your website that they can fill in? It saves both parties time and hassle.
Let people book their Covid-19 Vaccine online with you
Another amazing time-saver for you, and more convenience for your customer, keeping your phone lines free and your vaccinations organised automatically. Adding a booking calendar to your website allows you to take bookings not only for Covid-19 Vaccines, but for any other service you offer like Flu Jabs.
If your customer is booking at any time when your pharmacy isn’t open, the ability to book online is critical for making sure their experience with you gets off to a good start.
You aren’t just competing with other pharmacies for convenience….people can book their hair appointments online nowadays. They expect you to provide this option, and it doesn’t give the best impression of you if you don’t.
It’s worth mentioning that for most other services, it’s also a huge advantage to allow people to pay for their service when they book it. For one, it’s another major convenience for them. But it’s also a really committing action. People are a lot less likely to call up and cancel appointments when they’ve paid for them.
3. Update your Google My Business
Superb marketing tool
First things first, if you don’t already have a Google My Business profile, get one. For popular businesses like pharmacies they often get automatically generated. But if you’re not in charge of what’s on your profile, you don’t know what people are seeing when they find you online.
Presuming you’ve already got control of your account, for major pharmacy events like flu season and Covid-19, you want to make sure it’s updated so when people Google vaccines, they are reassured by your presence. Take the example above for Covid-19. People seeing this pharmacy are aware of the safety measures in place before attending. This lets your patient know what to expect and reassures them that you’re the right place to go.
If you’d like to set up your pharmacy on Google My Business, then you can take this quick course which will walk you through the whole process, step-by-step. Using instructional videos, the Drive Pharmacy Footfall with Google course will teach you how to use the tools within Google My Business to attract new customers.
4. Harness Google Ads and organic rankings
Be sure to check the Google Ads policies first
How do people who don’t know about your pharmacy find you? Heck, how does anyone find anything these days? Google, of course! (Other search engines are available.) Though being found on Google is pretty competitive.
How do you make sure you appear on Google when people are searching? Well, two ways really.
The easiest way is Google Ads
As shown in the image above. See how many ads show up before you even get a look-in with an organic page? The downside to Google Ads? Cost. The cost gets higher and higher the more competitive the search you’re trying to be top of is.
Note: It may not be possible to run Google Ads for the COVID Vaccine through your pharmacy due to the changing Google Ads policies. Stay up to date today and seek our guidance if necessary.
If you’re willing to test for a return on investment, Google Ads is a fantastic way to help you get the thousands of visitors that flow through Google every day to your website.
The most sustainable way is optimising your web page for SEO
Remember that dedicated web page we talked about earlier? Well, optimised in the right way, Google shows your article to more people. If your optimised web page is top of Google, that’s like being one of those department stores at the entrance to a shopping mall. People have to go through you first every time. Unlike those department stores, you don’t have to pay a premium rent (that’s Google Ads). With an optimised web page, Google rewards you for giving it a super relevant and optimised page to show people by showing it to people first, for free.
Interested in seeing this in action for a pharmacy? Check out this in-depth look at getting found on Google. It’s a case study of using the power of Google to promote COVID-19 PCR tests for a pharmacy, back when no one else was really doing it.
Avoiding Facebook Advertising
We won’t go into this in too much detail, but Facebook’s Ads Policy, which you won’t (and that’s fine), prevents you from promoting almost everything to do with COVID-19 right now. Recently you couldn’t promote so much as a face mask without facing a suspension of your Ads account. But this may change in the future.
You should also avoid posting too much on your Facebook page about any COVID-19 service, as we have seen pharmacies have their entire pages banned for such activity. Again, this may change, and we’ll update this article if it does.
But for now, avoid Facebook for directly promoting the COVID-19 Vaccine.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/How-to-market-the-covid19-vaccine-1.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2020-12-16 09:42:162020-12-28 09:52:32How to Market the Covid-19 Vaccine for your Pharmacy
The Kings of Convenience, Amazon, are here to make things easier for your customers. You need to be just as convenient if you want to keep hold of them.
This article is updated periodically to reflect changes in both the online payments and pharmacy industries.
Accepting Online Payments for Your Pharmacy
If COVID-19 didn’t stress the importance of online payment gateways for your pharmacy, Amazon’s recent inroads into the pharmacy world should.
I tell people all the time that they aren’t competing with other pharmacies, but the general expectation of the public to what they should be able to do online now. Is it really too much to ask that someone can book and pay for a service online from you?
Well, now you are competing against other pharmacies. Amazon Pharmacy isn’t just out for you, but for everyone. Everyone will be stepping their digital game up.
The Digital Wave
This isn’t the beginning of the digital wave. The wave has been swelling for a long time. But it’s only just now reaching Community Pharmacy. If you haven’t bought into the idea yet that things are going to change dramatically in pharmacy, then soon it will be too late to surf the wave. Soon the wave will be crashing down on you and pulling you under.
Fortunately, a lot of pharmacies are now taking action. Also, with the evolution of digital health and mobile technology, and the ability to provide a vast array of private services, there are so many more reasons why taking payments online is a fantastic thing to do for your patients. We’ve had a lot of questions recently about online payments for pharmacy. Which one is the best? The cheapest? Which one has the best customer service?
We’ve learned a few things over the last year about pharmacy payment gateways. For example, Stripe, a brilliant online payment gateway that we use for our own business, does not generally accept pharmacies as customers.
So we decided to write this article to give you an idea of the options available to you.
Here are the Top Online Payment Gateways for Pharmacy in the UK
Opayo – A new name, but one you can trust – Our Recommended Solution and our Partner
Opayo, formerly SagePay (a massive name in online payments) is an incredibly reliable online payment solution for pharmacies. The name change has come about because of a takeover by Elavon a Subsidiary of U.S. Bank, which adds extra weight behind an already robustly reliable and secure platform. They offer an entirely scalable suite of payment options to suit your needs, including card machines for your physical location as well as their online offering. Opayo offers all the same integrations with website platforms as PayPal, which is a massive plus.
All your data in one place.
Collecting and understanding data from your existing customers is critical in getting them back into your pharmacy and spending more money. We wrote an article about Data Collection for Pharmacies and its value for pharmacy owners. Opayo’s Cloud Connect solution generates helpful data from your payments, allowing integration of orders, payments, and returns into your online data system to offer personalised product recommendations.
The fact that Opayo offers both in-store and online payment solutions means your data collection doesn’t miss anything. If people are paying by card, you’re collecting valuable information on customer activity. With real-time reports, understand what sells best, when you’re busiest, and who the bestsellers in your team are.
Convenience encouraging returning customers
Using a secure method called tokenisation, customers’ cards can be held securely on your system without you risking being hacked and having their details. This means when customers return to your site (to re-order a repeat item for instance), their checkout journey is a lot quicker. You know yourself, a quick checkout process is exactly what you want. That’s why Amazon’s “Buy with One Click” functionality exists.
Pricing
Pricing is helpfully not measured in % of a transaction, making comparison guides that much easier to write. Starting at the basic package, you pay £25/month for 350 transactions/month, workingwhich works out as 7p per transaction. volume discounts aren’t disclosed on their website. If you like mysteries, that’s great, but less so if you want to plan things meticulously. We recommend understanding futures rates before signing up with any provider. makes our top online payment gateways for pharmacy in 2021.
Transaction Fees: 7p/transaction on the basic package,
PayPal is probably the easiest payment gateway to add to any website. It’s also one of the most trusted names in online payments, which gives people convenience and confidence – two crucial factors when you’re looking to defend against convenience on an Amazonian scale.
PayPal is everything you’d want from a modern payment services provider: transparent, affordable and flexible even for the smallest of businesses.
It’s optimised for mobile and major eCommerce CMSs such as WooCommerce (WordPress), Magento, Wix, BigCommerce and Shopify – not something all gateways can claim.
Pricing
PayPal’s pricing is also completely transparent. Their comprehensive list of merchant fees means you know exactly what you’ll be charged for depending on the kinds of transactions you’re accepting. There’s a high chance you only need to look at the Domestic Card Payment rates if you’re a UK-based pharmacy.
The ideal PayPal customer is going to be a small business with a relatively high volume of card transactions every month – some pharmacies definitely fall into that bracket. 2.75% transaction fees for UK-based companies are pretty steep by anyone’s measure. However, that rate decreases the greater the volume of sales you make is. If you can turn over £15k sales every month, it’s highly affordable at 1.0%.
Remember, having more than one gateway on your site gives people more options and flexibility with paying you. Including PayPal alongside another solution is sometimes a better solution for your customers. Ultimately, that’s the game here – making it easy for people to give you their money.
On the downside, PayPal business customers are known to complain about funds not being released for lengthy periods and getting a resolution can take too long in the case of customer disputes. This is often just whilst PayPal verifies you as a trusted seller, but it can still be a pain if your cashflow is tight. On a similar note, its customer support team is generally quick to respond but often slow to resolve issues.
Pharmacy Mentor are Partnered with PayPal, so if you want to get in touch to see if we can get you a better deal, please contact us and we will refer you to them.
Zion Payments – A new breed of Payment company
Zion Payments are a modern day company. You can tell immediately from the way they present themselves that they’re the type of company that was founded because they looked at all the existing companies and thought…we can do better.
This article is updated periodically to reflect changes in both the online payments and pharmacy industries.
As companies automate more and more, they forget customer service shouldn’t be automated. Zion Payments challenge on the basis that simply by delivering excellent customer service, they’ll take a decent chunk of market share with the people that value good customer service.
One-Click Purchases
I mentioned whilst talking Opayo that Amazon’s One-Click option exists, and it makes it INCREDIBLY easy to buy from them. Long-term readers of mine know I preach about making it easy for people to give you their money. Zion Payments offering this One-Click Purchase is only a small feature, but it makes such a big difference.
It also shows that they understand how the modern consumer’s mind works. Not a bad trait for a company you’re partnering up with.
Transaction Fees: We’re currently enquiring about the full breakdown of transaction fees.
So which is the best online payment gateway for your pharmacy?
The best online payment gateway providers for pharmacies in the UK enable you to take card details online and they’re all highly capable options. In reality, the best choice for your business is going to come down to additional factors, such as the other payment services you need from a provider and the transaction fees you can expect to pay. It also depends on what you prefer more, lower fees, or better customer service.
PayPal, Opayo, and Zion give you a varied selection to consider initially. Then it comes down to flexibility vs simplicity.
Have you been using a particular payment system for your online pharmacy sales and transactions? Finding a solution useful or poor? We’d love to hear from you.
If you’re looking for help in selecting the right online payment gateway for your pharmacy, please get in touch with us. We’ll be glad to help.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Online-Payment-Gateways-for-Pharmacy.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2020-12-04 08:05:542021-09-24 10:59:22The Top 3 Online Payment Gateways for Pharmacy in the UK (2021)
Google Ads for pharmacies. They’re happening on a small scale right now for Travel Clinics and Private Services, compared to the rest of the business world. But they’re growing, as people realise how much money they can make using them.
How do Google Ads work?
Even if you appear at the top of the page organically, companies and pharmacies using Google Ads appear above this because of the way the Google results are laid out. (Strangely, Google rewards people giving them money?)
They choose search terms to target, such as “Travel Clinic.”
Then when people search for things that are related to Travel Clinics on Google, e.g., Travel Vaccinations – the ad appears like this:
Ads display at the top of Google for the search terms they target.
It might seem like a waste of money to pay for ads to appear when you are already ranking at the top organically, but if you don’t, you’re giving advertisers an opportunity to appear above you and steal the customers who were looking for you.
Especially when they’re searching for something like “Travel Vaccines.”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t go home and search for Travel Clinics to relax. It’s because I need one. Now assume I don’t care where I get my vaccine from, I just want the damn thing. So I’m going to click on the first relevant thing I see.
And if that’s an Ad, that’s exactly what I’ll click on. If they make it easy for me to book on their site, and they’re the price I’m expecting to pay, then I book my appointment and go on with the things I actually want to be doing.
And that’s it. Deal done. Transaction over. It cost that business however much Google charged them for a click, which on average is between 50p-£1.
How can you get a piece of that sweet, sweet Google Ads pie?
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em. Funnily enough, it’s really simple.
You choose search terms to target, such as “Travel Clinic.”
Then when people search for things that are related to Travel Clinics on Google, e.g., Travel Vaccinations – the ad appears as above.
If that all sounds familiar, it’s because it’s exactly the same process that they used to get all the customers unchallenged. Except now you’re actually competing for the business, not just standing by and letting them take it.
We know the ads that work, the best times to run them, and the way to set them up for success. Your ads will attract clicks, even when alongside another ad.
Unconvinced by Google Ads?
You’ll likely want to understand how this happens, to get similar results for your pharmacy.
You might have tried Google Ads for your pharmacy and not seen much success from them. You might have heard horror stories of people pouring thousands of pounds down a black hole with no return. This is entirely possible, when Google Ads are run without the proper knowledge of how to get results.
But our results speak for themselves. Here’s an Ad we pointed towards a website. Note – we are showing you SMART Campaigns here, not Advanced Campaigns. We’ll be adding info about Advanced Google Ads at a later point.
Example SMART Google Ad Campaign
It gave the option to call immediately or visit the website for more information, as well as links to book appointments for that service. 50p/click which is the low end of average. Think we’re showing off? I literally just picked a random ad. Here’s another one. (This was the second one we looked at, I can’t even guarantee it’s the best performing.)
This Ad targeted flu jabs and averaged approximately 30p a click in North London.
This second Ad was promoting a Flu Jab service (the Pharmacy forgot they’d asked us to do it and were wondering why they were getting private flu jab enquiries!) They got an even lower cost per click at 30p! This one was aimed at driving calls to the pharmacy and physical visits.
The search terms this ad got results for.
You lose customers by not showing up when they’re searching online.
Exceptional results even without a massive budget.
Both of these ads are LOW budgets. And we don’t recommend that. For multiple reasons.
Our management fee remains the same regardless of your budget (unless you want super serious Ads). So the more you spend, the greater the value is.
The same is true of Google’s charges. The more you budget, the lower your average cost per click is. It’s the equivalent of buying in bulk.
A limited budget means that your ad switches off during the day when the daily budget runs out. This means lots of people could be searching for your service and your ad stops displaying whilst your competitor’s ad keeps going. And they go back to winning all the business.
Also, please note that the above ads were run on SMART campaigns which is the basic form of Google Ads. Advanced Ads require more budget and management fees because of the data we are gathering. We’re learning exactly how to make the best ROI from every pound we spend.
Want to increase clinical bookings with Google Ads? Book a call and we’ll get you up and running.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Untitled-design-1.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2020-10-29 18:36:552022-05-16 14:15:33Google Ads for Pharmacies: How to advertise your pharmacy on Google
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a massive period of uncertainty for pretty much everyone. But where there is chaos, there is also opportunity. In this particular case, for pharmacies, the opportunity was marketing PCR Tests.
The Opportunity
The demand for PCR tests quickly picked up when lockdown was lifted and people were allowed to travel again.
This graph shows the popularity of the search on Google over the past 12 months.
The Results
Pharmacy Mentor harnessed this demand for our clients who offered PCR testing. We also recommended that other pharmacies begin to offer PCR testing through their pharmacy as a result of the trend analysis.
Here are the stats for one of them:
Off the wall statistics for an independent pharmacy website.
This reads like a marketing symphony. Imagine for a second that this was a physical pharmacy…
New users: – 28,702 people have walked into your pharmacy off the street. 28,702 people.
Sessions: – Those people came into the pharmacy on average 1.54 times.
Page Views: – Of the 90k page views, the consultation form page had 18.5k views. So, of those 28,000 people who walked into your pharmacy to ask about PCR tests, 18,500 signed up for a consultation.
Good Problems
It’s really been a bit of a problem. Because it’s not easy to cope with such demand.
Fortunately, the fact we have Telegram & WhatsApp support for our clients means they get instant support whenever they need it. And this did need quite a bit of support!
A separate phone-line and email had to be created for PCR requests and all other requests on their website. Fortunately, having created their website too, so we could do this immediately.
On-site consultations needed to become online consultations to make room for flu jab appointments. I’ll say that again. To make room for flu jab appointments. The pharmacy was wall-to-wall booked with PCR consultations.
Then online consultations booked up. We had to turn the form off temporarily because there was too much demand and people couldn’t book appointments.
We’ve had to evolve the website to be able to accept online payments to streamline the money coming into the business. Not a bad problem to have.
“Please help, I have so many calls and requests per day, I can’t process it all.” At its peak, marketing PCR tests was making this pharmacy £5k/day.
How we did it
You’ll likely want to understand how this happens, to get similar results for your pharmacy.
Two words. Keyword Optimisation.
Understanding how Google works, we created and optimised two articles for their website (yes, you need a website for this to work). Our keyword research found the terms that people mostly used to search. We published each article – making it both user-friendly (easy to read, easy to use) and Google-friendly (clearly optimised for keywords and formatted well).
A couple of weeks later, due to the lack of competition, the articles topped Google for the relevant keywords, beating the Government websites.
We created a digital form on the site for people to fill in so they could book everything online, as well as a payment mechanism. Two reasons for this:
It’s easier for you as a pharmacist to manage.
It’s better for the customer/patient – because when people are searching the internet:
They aren’t always in a position to pick up the phone
Phone lines might be busy
Your pharmacy might be closed when they’re searching for the service (in the evening!)
You lose customers by not allowing them to do everything online.
Able to act with our finger on the pulse
There was obviously the matter of timing, too. That’s why we’re the perfect healthcare partner. We know the heartbeat of healthcare when it comes to marketing throughout the year.
Overall, the investment on this project from the pharmacy was around £500. This resulted in making £1,000’s/day.
When the opportunity knocked, we answered.
Our monthly marketing packs give you access to what is essentially a remote marketing department. With constant dialogues from our team, you’ve got instant access to the trends and the tactics that maximise impact – from those trends, for your pharmacy.
PCR testing is an exceptional bubble, for sure. If you do offer PCR tests, get in touch nowbecause we can maximise your impact.
But this strategy works for all the PGDs and on-site services you offer, as well as eCommerce. There’s a massive vacuum on Google in the world of healthcare. Waiting for pharmacies like yours to fill it – and fulfil the demand of all the thousands of searches happening every day.
Looking for help in marketing your services better and building an online presence? Please get in touch with us. We’ll be glad to help.
“When you provide your audience with a unique innovative solution that will help make a difference to their lives, such as the ability to collect prescriptions conveniently 24/7, 365 days a year, it’s a beautiful recipe for marketing.”
Saam Ali – Founder and CEO, Pharmacy Mentor
About
Pharmacy Mentor worked with Hub and Spoke Innovations to understand how to drive more people to sign up and use the Pharmself24 machine in the pharmacies that they are installed in.
Challenges
A Pharmaself24 machine is installed into a pharmacy but the only way pharmacy owners are signing people up is when the person comes into the pharmacy.
Although the machine provides the most convenient way to collect prescriptions, 1000’s of people in the community still don’t know about it.
The pharmacy has no or a poor digital avenue to allow for patients to sign up easily.
The pharmacy owner does not know what is the best way to sign people up or have the time to implement.
Solutions
Pharmacy Mentor works with the pharmacy to employ an affordable and effective digital marketing strategy that will:
Provide several digital avenues (website, social media, online forms etc) to understand which works best.
Create and execute highly engaging, localised and targeted sponsored Ads.
Analyse the results of the Ad and reform to make even more effective.
Results
We’re helping an increasing number of Pharmself24 customers Nationally reach their target audience more effectivly, increase awareness of the machine and drive signups.
Example No.1
Pharmacy in Central Scotland
Purchased a Standard Ad pack from us
Developed 804 clicks
Reached 11,256 people in a 3km radius around the pharmacy
Converted 199 patients
Phenomenal ROI achieved with this Ad
Example No.2
Pharmacy in Northwest England
Purchased a Standard Ad pack from us
Developed 415 clicks
Reached 10,208 people in a 2km radius around the pharmacy
Converted 127 patients
Conclusion
Digital marketing plays a key role in helping more people know about the unique services you offer. It can very effectively engage the audience around your pharmacy and get them to take action, such as signing up to use your Pharmaself24 machine. It is by far the most affordable marketing and should be an integral part of a pharmacy’s business model.
If you’re looking for help in marketing your services better and building on online presence, then please get in touch with us and we’ll be glad to help.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Copy-of-Pharmacy-Consultant-1.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2020-07-24 08:27:292022-02-01 14:23:52How we are driving 100’s of EPS signups through Pharmaself24 Marketing
There is a paradigm shift taking place in the healthcare industry. With mounting financial pressure on the NHS and an innovation boom in the healthtech industry, all eyes are on community pharmacies as the remedy to a system that some claim is failing its patients.
We’re moving closer towards a patient-led healthcare system, allowing patients more control and choice over their health. With wearable tech, trackers and measuring devices on phones, as well as advancements in AI and data storage, we have more ways than ever to manage chronic illness, health, and wellbeing. Read more
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/healthech-for-pharmacies-patient-led-healthcare-diagnost.jpeg6001275Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2019-10-17 08:43:162019-10-17 08:43:16The Healthtech Putting Pharmacies Back Into the Heart of the Community
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