Value Added Pharmacy Services

Question 1

identifying consumers

Answer 1

The purchase of any service or the acceptance of any idea is driven by the needs, wants, and demands of consumers, not those of the marketer

Question 2

recipe for marketing success

Answer 2

• identify consumers
• evaluate their needs
• develop products and services designed to meet consumer needs better than your competitors

Question 3

Identify and evaluate important parts of a VAPS business plan

Answer 3

• Identify the organization’s mission statement and strategic plan
• Explore prospects for various types of VAPS
• Learn more about the potential VAPS that have been identified

Question 4

sources for exploring VAPS prospects (not an objective)

Answer 4

• Pharmacy customers
• Pharmacy colleagues
• Professional organizations
• Other health care providers
• Pharmacy magazines and journals
• Professional meetings
• Payers

Question 5

What is the first aspect of the market that should be considered?

Answer 5

potential consumers

Question 6

What are the subgroups of potential consumers?

Answer 6

3 P’s

• Patients (and caregivers)
• Physicians and other health care professionals
• Payers

Question 7

What can you do to assess patient needs?

Answer 7

administer a survey

Question 8

How can you get physicians and other health care professionals to get on board?

Answer 8

• Share same patient pool
• Seek information about patients
• Identify a service need in a physician/group practice
• Work on a pilot project to address needs and seek expansion after documenting impact

Question 9

What are the different types of payers?

Answer 9

• Insurance companies
• Managed care plans
• Employers
• Local, state, and national government agencies

Question 10

T/F; Payers tend to not look at the outcomes that pharmacies look at

Answer 10

T

Question 11

What are ways in which you can evaluate competition?

Answer 11

• look broadly to other health care providers, not just pharmacies
• don’t see competition as threat; observe and learn
• niche marketing; have consumers see it different from others

Question 12

How can you determine the market size / potential?

Answer 12

• access internal information (patient profiles, purchasing / financial records)
• review literature (epidemiologic studies, incidence / prevalence)
• conduct market research

Question 13

What will conducting a market research tell you?

Answer 13

• Where consumers currently obtain services
• Level of satisfaction with services
• Willingness and ability to pay

Question 14

Examples of internal analysis (can be either a strength or a weakness)

Answer 14

• resources: staff, pharmacy, working capital

- administrative support

Question 15

Examples of external analysis (can be either an opportunity or threat)

Answer 15

• Patient demographic trends
• Laws and regulations affecting practice
• Reimbursement and compensation policies
• Competition from other pharmacies and health care providers
• Technology
• Changing needs of health care consumers