4 Ways to Spring Clean Your Pharmacy

Spring has officially arrived. At least according to the calendar. Spring is almost synonymous with many things, from spring break to spring forward. April showers to May flowers. And, of course, we can’t leave out spring cleaning.

While you’re dusting those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies at home and sorting through your neglected summer wardrobe, it might be time to start thinking about what spring cleaning you can tackle in your pharmacy.

Give spring cleaning a whole new meaning this year by refreshing a few key areas in your pharmacy.

Reports

Unlike a smudged window or dusty shelf, there aren’t always visible signs that a bit of extra attention is needed. Reports are the indicator you need to find problem areas so they can be addressed.

Start by deciding what metrics matter the most to you. If you’re having trouble narrowing down what to look at, start with the 10 pharmacy metrics recommended by business coach and CPA John Marshall. These simple calculations, from inventory turns to med sync percentages and more, will give you a good overall picture of the health of your pharmacy business.

Will-Call

Overflowing will-call can make life difficult for a number of reasons. Perhaps most importantly, prescriptions that aren’t getting picked up represent money that’s really just sitting on your shelves.

Consider will-call management applications to keep your will-call lean and clean all year round. Being able to bag multiple prescriptions together makes storage easier (and reduces forgotten prescriptions). And, for prescriptions that don’t get picked up, you should be able to easily identify prescriptions that were filled before a specified date and return them to stock.

Inventory

Dust bunnies aren’t the only thing you need to eradicate when you’re tackling a thorough spring cleaning. It’s also time to identify and say goodbye to products that aren’t selling. You can use your point-of-sale reports to find products with no movement, or even low return on investment.

Then, get those products cleared out to make room for better performing items. No matter what it is, if it isn’t working in your front end, it isn’t something you should carry.

For more on inventory holding costs, turns and more, check out this article.

Updates

Spring is a great time to refresh things like equipment or software. If you have upgrades you’re planning to make during the year and haven’t gotten around to them yet, take the time now to plan when those will happen and take the first steps. This might be working with your software providers to get the latest versions installed or updating your point-of-sale hardware to the newest technologies. Or, you could be evaluating a bigger change. Even if you aren’t going to make changes immediately, mapping them out now will help you prepare for the rest of the year, and know who you might need to talk to at upcoming pharmacy shows.

What do you think? Are there things you do every year to keep your pharmacy looking its best? Share in the comments below!