Drug Topics - October 22, 2007 - (Page 17)

www.drugtopics.com OCTOBER 22, 2007 DRUG TOPICS 17 Special Report if patients, such as mothers with sick children, can’t get to the pharmacy, he will deliver medication to them, too. Another measure to trump the competition is to thank customers in a big way for their patronage. “We just celebrated our anniversary with a week-long celebration of free lunches—hot dogs and hamburgers,” said Johnson happily. Overcoming competition Geri Kane, owner of Modern Pharmacy in Cheboygan, Mich., since 1990 has had more than her fair share of sorrow and obstacles. In March, her husband, Michael, who was a pharmacist, passed away. The very next day, a Walgreens opened next door. But Modern Pharmacy, which has been in its original location for 58 years, is still going strong and overcoming competition. It’s no wonder Modern Pharmacy’s nominator praised the pharmacy as “a beacon of independent pharmacy” and nominated the store in all four categories. Explaining that the pharmacy underwent a major remodeling in 2000 to accommodate an expanding specialty comThe staff at Boaz Discount Drugs finds innovative ways to pounding business, Kane said, “We thank customers. wanted to put in a sterile lab and a hood Johnson is a firm believer that giving items away is and expand the compounding business. We had outnecessary to outpace his rivals. “When the first frost of grown the store. We went from 600 to 3,500 sq. ft.” the year comes, I give away chili. You can make an imKane, who is an accountant, didn’t seem fazed when pact by saying, ‘Thank you for coming in.’ It’s better she explained that her pharmacy competes against Walthan any ad on the radio, TV, or in a newspaper,” he said. Mart, K-Mart, and a pharmacy in the Spartan grocery Every year during American Pharmacists Month Boaz store. “Personal service is our biggest thing. We are on Discount Drugs offers free blood pressure screenings and the third generation with some families because my huscholesterol and blood sugar monitoring. band bought the pharmacy from the gentleman who Johnson’s services include counseling diabetes pa- originally opened it,” said Kane. tients. He has dedicated one of his pharmacists to therModern Pharmacy offers compounding for local vetapeutic management. erinarians, and the pharmacy does a huge hormone ther“We’ve done some really outrageous things over the apy compounding years,” said Johnson. “One year we put up a tent inside the business. “We are store with beach stuff and had patients sitting under the also the sole provider tent in the waiting area while they were waiting for their for the nearby hosprescriptions. We gave them a coke or coffee,” he said. An- pice,” said Kane. other innovative tactic for this independent pharmacy is In order to overthe installation of a drive-through window. “Wal-Mart come the competididn’t have one, so I could get ahead of them.” tion, Kane runs radio Eyeing Wal-Mart’s progress in front-end merchandise ads that are creprompted Johnson to create an aisle that he has dubbed ated by the local the “yellow brick road.” radio station. The “This aisle is the only part of the store that is tiled,” latest ad jokingly Johnson explained. “The rest is carpeted. We lined the makes fun of tiled aisle with dollar items, and a lot of times, I put the pharmacy’s lothem on sale for 50 cents. They are common items such cation with the as hairspray and shampoo.” announcement, That Boaz Discount Drugs accepts Bell South tele- “Here we are at Modern Pharmacy underwent a major remodeling to accommophone payments from customers has been a boon. world headquar- date an expanding compound“Sometimes 2,500 people a month come in just to pay ters on the corner ing business. their phone bill,” said Johnson. of Main and Elm.” Yet another measure to outpace the competition is a Noting that she bought out the other local independconnection with the Web site www.viprefills.com for ent in town three years ago, Kane said she found it necesmedication refills. “We set a goal of filling a prescrip- sary to install a Parata robot last year. “We put the robot tion a minute, and we’ve exceeded that goal,” said John- in not only to relieve stress on the staff, but to put in anson proudly. other level of security. Our volume had grown,” she said. http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.viprefills.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - October 22, 2007

Drug Topics - October 22, 2007 Contents Latebreakers Legislative Victory Builds Momentum for Pharmacy Month Letters Health-System Edition R.Ph.s Brace for Payment Denial for Hospital-Acquired Conditions Topical Human Thrombin Helps Arrest Bleeding FDA Panels Fail to Set Target Levels for Renal Patients’ Hemoglobin Warning Letters Raise Patient Safety Concerns for Fentora Ending/Reversing Weight Gain Man Given Fatal Drug Overdose at Staten Island Hospital Pharmacists Playing More Important Role in Dialysis Treatment AHA President R.Ph.'s Here's How You Can Increase Your Value Premier Launches Comprehensive Quality Improvement Project FDA Approves Dexrazoxane for Treatment of Extravasation New Federal, State Reforms to Ease Disaster Relief Kinks 150 Years of American Pharmacy Ten Tips for MTM Success Independent Superstars: The Ones to Watch The New Dynamic Duo A Parkinson's Disease Primer Classified New Products Advertisers Index Viewpoint

Drug Topics - October 22, 2007

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