Don't rely on reckoning

The project, "Building Organisational Flexibility to Promote the Implementation of Primary Care Services in Community Pharmacy", aims to develop tools which may assist pharmacists and pharmacy staff to optimise their business viability through the implementation of services without the need to rely on "reckoning".

The researchers, Elle Feletto, Laura Wilson and Charlie Benrimoj from the University of Sydney, argue that comprehensive guidance for pharmacy owners and their staff to implement  professional pharmacy service to optimise their business viability does not currently exist.

"This prompts many to use the commonly heard phrase 'I reckon' for making business decisions associated with services for the pharmacy," they write.

Research suggests one of the ways of making the business of pharmacy sustainable may be through developing capacity to implement practice change and introduce more professional pharmacy services, say the authors.

However studies of Spanish and Portuguese community pharmacies found that existing capabilities within community pharmacy are predominantly focused on maintaining viability through product supply, not services.

"This trend can also be seen here in Australia. Implementing practice change through service implementation can be a daunting process and difficult to manage particularly at the same time as managing the daily operations of the pharmacy, dispensing prescriptions, giving good quality advice and maintaining a profitable business," they say.

The project will look at areas such as staff structure, training and education, technological capabilities, decision making and planning in order to identify the means by which pharmacies may increase their levels of organisational flexibility.

"Research from outside the area of pharmacy suggests that the framework of organisational flexibility may provide a viable platform for building capacity to change. The difference between change and flexibility is not always clear. Organisational change refers to the literal changes an organisation undergoes in response to a specific event. On the other hand, flexibility focuses on increasing the organisation's capabilities to allow change to happen with more ease. More specifically, flexibility is about building the capability to control internal business functions in a timely way."

This program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement through the Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement Grants Program managed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.