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Find Out What Pharmacists And Customers Are Telling You.

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That is what one independent pharmacist had to say about the challenge of operating in today’s third-party driven pharmacy model. The irony is that as the business of pharmacy has grown both in volume and complexity, it also has become less profitable, creating pressure for independents and chains alike to staff the department appropriately.

This speaks to one of the biggest and most critical disconnects facing retail pharmacy today. That is, while headquarters-level executives talk about the commitment to pharmacy service, many pharmacists believe their stores are chronically understaffed. According to an online survey of retail pharmacists conducted by Drug Store News, more than 64 percent of pharmacists believe they could vastly improve their customer service performance if only they had more staff. In addition, without exception, every one of the 15 members of Drug Store News’ live pharmacist panel agreed that inadequate staffing was a problem in the store they worked in.

“Staffing is a major problem,” noted one pharmacist. “Compare [the average drug store] to a typical Starbucks. If you want to have a profitable operation, you have to have enough staff to make enough coffee so people don’t get frustrated waiting in line for coffee and walk out of the store.

“Same thing in pharmacy,” he continued. “If you have enough staff so that customers can get their prescriptions and the pharmacist has time to counsel patients, and occasionally even get out into the OTC aisle and make a recommendation … you could really drive the profitability of the store.”

One pharmacist argued that years of staffing pharmacy “by the cake method,” still very much the norm, has gone the way of the dodo bird—especially given the current trajectory of pharmacy care. As drugs and payment models have become more complex, the personnel demands on pharmacy become even more pronounced.

“For years it has been about prescription count,” she said. “You were given a certain number of technician hours and a certain number of cashier hours based on the store’s prescription volume. I’m sorry, but that was 20 years ago. Pharmacy now is about patient care and pharmacy practice—it’s no longer just about numbers. If I need 10 or 15 minutes to talk to Jane about taking her insulin, then that is going to affect my prescription count.”

This strict, by-the-numbers method of staffing can be shortsighted when taking in the scope of the entire pharmacy operation—does a chain leave too many dollars on the table by not freeing its pharmacists to work more with customers? It also does not account for some other very tangible factors, such as the level of automation in place in the store and the basic workflow and management systems that support the operation.

One pharmacist who worked for a chain that has been engaged in the $4 generic drug discount price war lamented the impact on store pharmacy volumes and how, without the addition of extra staff to make up the difference, customer service is slipping in the store she works in. “It has been crazy,” she said, noting in particular her inability to provide her patients the level of counseling and overall attention she tries to offer. “They don’t want to give you the extra help; I might have one technician and one cashier … but the lines are getting bigger and bigger at each window ... I can’t have a phone in both hands and be at three windows at once—you are bound to make mistakes.”