healthy living PHARMA-PHILOSOPHY
Not just about prescriptions Learning the business of pharmacies Larissa Pinhal lpinhal@cjournal.ca
F
or most people, going into a pharmaceutical career is based on the desire to help those in need of medical attention. But along with the quality of care, comes the business appeal of owning a pharmacy in Alberta. However, this interest may not always coincide with the corporate model of larger organizations such as Shoppers Drugmart or grocery store departments. By owning and operating pharmacies on their own, Bob Geldreich — pharmacist and owner of Script Pharmacy — says there is “opportunity to follow your own ambitions and passions a bit more closely,” both with medicine and business. University of Alberta student, Ken Soong — who is also president of Alberta Pharmacy Students Association — says steps to further the business approach to pharmacy are now part of the courses and options provided to students. Pharmaceutical science students are now required to take a mandatory business management course, including the “introduction of business concepts and developing business plans.” Although he believes the main focus is therapeutics and clinical knowledge, Soong is now considering a new option at the university. Students can now graduate with both a degree in pharmacy and business after a one-year concentrated MBA program prior to their final year. This can provide a “major business push” that students are excited about and interested in learning. This option, according to James Kehrer, dean of the faculty of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, is one of the ways the U of A is training their students “for the future and tomorrow of pharmacy.” But with private business and self-direction — regardless of education level — comes the struggle to keep pharmacies up and running. For Geldreich, the main challenges come from lack of funding from low taxes: “Having government realize that pharmacies are a business” and receiving “kickbacks” for those pharmacies. A fee structure — determined by Alberta government and Blue Cross — is set to a maximum price for pharmacies to sell prescription medication. Discounters such as drug marts are able to charge below the maximum. Geldreich says this causes the Alberta government to argue that pharmacists are not in need of the full charge or profit and therefore need no increase in funding. 10
APR 2013
calgaryjournal.ca
With taxes, Geldreich explains that the dispensing fee pharmacies use as a source of income has not increased with inflation. A complication, he argues, that will only grow as the baby boomer generation emerges. “Fifty per cent of all prescriptions are filled for seniors, but we know that the senior population is increasingly becoming the majority of the total population,” said Geldreich. “It will be impossible for younger generations to fund the baby boomers.” Geldreich’s solution seems simple: either raise taxes — which government has not shown interest in — or have seniors pay more of the cost. Script Pharmacy takes part in the western division of PharmaChoice, which aims to group together 400 pharmacies giving them larger buying power and better prices from wholesalers, manufacturers, and suppliers. For Geldreich, in today’s pharmacy atmosphere, the key to success is knowing when, “to have our professional hat on, or our business hat on.”
“It will be impossible for younger generations to fund the baby boomers.” Bob Geldreich, pharmacist and owner of Script Pharmacy » GO to calgaryjournal.ca for more coverage of health-related issues, events and discussions »