Editorial
Welcome to the July 2014 homepage edition of i2P (Information to Pharmacists) E-Magazine.
At the commencement of 2014 i2P focused on the need for the entire profession of pharmacy and its associated industry supports to undergo a renewal and regeneration.
We are now half-way through this year and it is quite apparent that pharmacy leaders do not yet have a cohesive and clear sense of direction.
Maybe the new initiative by Woolworths to deliver clinical service through young pharmacists and nurses may sharpen their focus.
If not, community pharmacy can look forward to losing a substantial and profitable market share of the clinical services market.
Who would you blame when that happens?
But I have to admit there is some effort, even though the results are but meagre.
In this edition of i2P we focus on the need for research about community pharmacy, the lack of activity from practicing pharmacists and when some research is delivered, a disconnect appears in its interpretation and implementation.
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Health Politics
EPublications
News Flash
Newsflash Updates for July 2014
Regular weekly updates that supplement the regular monthly homepage edition of i2P.
Access and click on the title links that are illustrated
1Feature Contribution
Woolworths Pharmacy - Getting One Stage Closer
It started with “tablet” computers deployed on shelves inside the retailer Coles, specifically to provide information to consumers relating to pain management and the sale of strong analgesics.
This development was reported in i2P under the title “Coles Pharmacy Expansion and the Arid PGA Landscape”
In that article we reported that qualified information was a missing link that had come out of Coles market research as the reason to why it had not succeeded in dominating the pain market.
Of course, Woolworths was working on the same problem at the same time and had come up with a better solution - real people with good information.
5Intensive Exposition without crossing over with a supermarket
Editor's Note: The understanding of a pharmacy's presentation through the research that goes into the design of fixtures and fittings that highlight displays, is a never-ending component of pharmacy marketing.
Over the past decade, Australian pharmacy shop presentations have fallen behind in standards of excellence.
It does not take rocket science - you just have to open your eyes.
Recently, our two major supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, have entered into the field of drug and condition information provision - right into the heartland of Australian Pharmacy.
The sure way to drive business away
I attended the Pregnancy, Baby and Children’s Expo in Brisbane recently.
What an eye and ear opening event that was!
Young Mums, mature Mums, partners of all ages, grandparents and friends……...many asking about health issues and seeking reassurances that they were doing the right thing.
1
‘Marketing Based Medicine’ – how bad is it?
It should be the scandal of the century.
It potentially affects the health of almost everyone.
Healthcare providers and consumers alike should be up in arms. But apart from coverage in a few credible news sources the problem of ‘Marketing Based Medicine,’ as psychiatrist Dr Peter Parry terms it, hasn’t as yet generated the kind of universal outrage one might expect.
Community Pharmacy Research - Are You Involved?
Government funding is always scarce and restricted.
If you are ever going to be a recipient of government funds you will need to fortify any application with evidence.
From a government perspective, this minimises risk.
I must admit that while I see evidence of research projects being managed by the PGA, I rarely see community pharmacists individually and actively engaged in the type of research that would further their own aims and objectives (and survival).
Organisational Amnesia and the Lack of a Curator Inhibits Cultural Progress
Most of us leave a tremendous impact on pharmacies we work for (as proprietors, managers, contractors or employees)—in ways we’re not even aware of.
But organisational memories are often all too short, and without a central way to record that impact and capture the knowledge and individual contributions, they become lost to time.
It is ironic that technology has provided us with phenomenal tools for communication and connection, but much of it has also sped up our work lives and made knowledge and memory at work much more ephemeral.
Academics on the payroll: the advertising you don't see
This article was first published in The Conversation and was written by Wendy Lipworth, University of Sydney and Ian Kerridge, University of Sydney
In the endless drive to get people’s attention, advertising is going ‘native’, creeping in to places formerly reserved for editorial content. In this Native Advertising series we find out what it looks like, if readers can tell the difference, and more importantly, whether they care.
i2P has republished the article as it supports our own independent and ongoing investigations on how drug companies are involved in marketing-based medicine rather than evidence-based medicine.
I’ve been thinking about admitting wrong.
Editor's Note: This is an early article by Mark Neuenschwander we have republished after the soul-searching surrounding a recent Australian dispensing error involving methotrexate.
Hmm. There’s more than one way you could take that, huh? Like Someday when I get around to it (I’m not sure) I may admit that I was wrong about something. Actually, I’ve been thinking about the concept of admitting wrong. So don’t get your hopes up. No juicy confessions this month except that I wish it were easier for me to admit when I have been wrong or made a mistake.
Brian Goldman, an ER physician from Toronto, is host of the award-winning White Coat, Black Art on CBC Radio and slated to deliver the keynote at The unSUMMIT for Bedside Barcoding in Anaheim this May. His TED lecture, entitled, “Doctors make mistakes. Can we talk about it?” had already been viewed by 386,072 others before I watched it last week.
Dispensing errors – a ripple effect of damage
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA
Most readers will be aware of recent publicity relating to dispensing errors and in particular to deaths caused by methotrexate being incorrectly packed in dose administration aids.
The Pharmacy Board of Australia (PBA), in its Communique of 13 June 2014, described a methotrexate packing error leading to the death of a patient and noted “extra vigilance is required to be exercised by pharmacists with these drugs”.
This same case was reported by A Current Affair (ACA) in its program on Friday 20 June http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8863098/prescription-drug-warning
Take a vacation from your vocation
Have you ever had one of those days when all you could think was, “Gosh, do I need a vacation.”
Of course you have – because all work and no play aren’t good for anyone.
A vacation doesn’t have to be two weeks on a tropical island, or even a long weekend at the beach.
A vacation just means taking a break from your everyday activities.
A change of pace.
It doesn’t matter where.
Everyone needs a vacation to rejuvenate mentally and physically.
But did you also know that you can help boost our economy by taking some days off?
Call it your personal stimulus package.
Explainer: what is peer review?
This article was first published in the Conversation. It caught our eye because "peer review" it is one of the standards for evidence-based medicines that has also been corrupted by global pharma.
The article is republished by i2P as part of its ongoing investigation into scientific fraud and was writtenby Andre Spicer, City University London and Thomas Roulet, University of Oxford
We’ve all heard the phrase “peer review” as giving credence to research and scholarly papers, but what does it actually mean?
How does it work?
Peer review is one of the gold standards of science. It’s a process where scientists (“peers”) evaluate the quality of other scientists' work. By doing this, they aim to ensure the work is rigorous, coherent, uses past research and adds to what we already knew.
Most scientific journals, conferences and grant applications have some sort of peer review system. In most cases it is “double blind” peer review. This means evaluators do not know the author(s), and the author(s) do not know the identity of the evaluators.
The intention behind this system is to ensure evaluation is not biased.
The more prestigious the journal, conference, or grant, the more demanding will be the review process, and the more likely the rejection. This prestige is why these papers tend to be more read and more cited.
Dentists from the dark side?
While dining out with an elderly friend, I noticed that he kept his false tooth plate in his shirt pocket. He had recently had seven amalgam-filled teeth removed, because he believed that their toxins were making him sick; but his new plate was uncomfortable. He had been treated by an 'holistic dentist'. Claiming to offer a "safe and healthier alternative" to conventional dentistry, are they committed to our overall health and wellbeing or are they promoting unjustified fear, unnecessarily extracting teeth and wasting our money?
Planning for Profit in 2015 – Your key to Business Success
We are now entering a new financial year and it’s a great time to reflect on last year and highlight those things that went well and those that may have impacted negatively in the pursuit of your goals.
It's also a great to spend some time re-evaluating your personal and business short, medium and long term goals in the light of events over the last year.
The achievement of your goals will in many cases be dependent on setting and aspiring to specific financial targets. It's important that recognise that many of your personal goals will require you to generate sufficient business profits to fund those aspirations
ReWalk™ Personal Exoskeleton System Cleared by FDA for Home Use
Exoskeleton leader ReWalk Robotics announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company’s ReWalk Personal System for use at home and in the community.
ReWalk is a wearable robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) to stand upright and walk.
ReWalk, the only exoskeleton with FDA clearance via clinical studies and extensive performance testing for personal use, is now available throughout the United States.
Attracting and Retaining Great People
Welcome to the new financial year in Australia.
For many in business the past year has been described as a challenging period.
Adjectives are a key feature of the English language. In the business lexicon their use can be, and often is evocative and stimulate creative images. But they can also contribute to inexact, emotional perceptions.
Throughout the financial pages of newspapers and business magazines adjectives abound.
References to “hot” money draw attention and comment. The recent wave of funds from Chinese investors, keen to remove their wealth from the jurisdiction and control of government regulations is creating a potential property bubble in Australia.
Updating Your Values - Extending Your Culture
Pharmacy culture is dormant.
Being comprised of values, unless each value is continually addressed, updated or deleted, entire organisations can stagnate (or entire professions such as the pharmacy profession).
Good values offer a strong sense of security, knowing that if you operate within the boundaries of your values, you will succeed in your endeavours.
Evidence-based medicine is broken. Why we need data and technology to fix it
The following article is reprinted from The Conversation and forms up part of our library collection on evidence-based medicines.
At i2P we also believe that the current model of evidence is so fractured it will never be able to be repaired.
All that can happen is that health professionals should independently test and verify through their own investigations what evidence exists to prescribe a medicine of any potency.
Health professionals that have patients (such as pharmacists) are ideally placed to observe and record the efficacy for medicines.
All else should confine their criticisms to their evidence of the actual evidence published.
If there are holes in it then share that evidence with the rest of the world.
Otherwise, do not be in such a hurry to criticise professions that have good experience and judgement to make a good choice on behalf of their patients, simply because good evidence has not caught up with reality.
Laropiprant is the Bad One; Niacin is/was/will always be the Good One
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, July 25, 2014
Laropiprant is the Bad One; Niacin is/was/will always be the Good One
by W. Todd Penberthy, PhD
(OMNS July 25, 2014) Niacin has been used for over 60 years in tens of thousands of patients with tremendously favorable therapeutic benefit (Carlson 2005).
In the first-person NY Times best seller, "8 Weeks to a Cure for Cholesterol," the author describes his journey from being a walking heart attack time bomb to a becoming a healthy individual.
He hails high-dose niacin as the one treatment that did more to correct his poor lipid profile than any other (Kowalski 2001).
Culture Drive & Pharmacy Renewal
Deep within all of us we have a core set of values and beliefs that create the standards of behaviour that we align with when we set a particular direction in life.
Directions may change many times over a lifetime, but with life experiences and maturity values may increase in number or gain greater depth.
All of this is embraced under one word – “culture”.
When a business is born it will only develop if it has a sound culture, and the values that comprise that culture are initially inherent in the business founder.
A sound business culture equates to a successful business and that success is often expressed in the term “goodwill” which can be eventually translated to a dollar value.
ReWalk™ Personal Exoskeleton System Cleared by FDA for Home Use
Exoskeleton leader ReWalk Robotics announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company’s ReWalk Personal System for use at home and in the community.
ReWalk is a wearable robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) to stand upright and walk.
ReWalk, the only exoskeleton with FDA clearance via clinical studies and extensive performance testing for personal use, is now available throughout the United States.
Pharmacy 2014 - Pharmacy Management Conference
The brave new world of health and wellness is not the enemy of Pharmacy, it is its champion.
Australian futurist, Morris Miselowski, one of the world's leading business visionaries, will present the Opening Keynote address on Pharmacy's Future in the new Health and Wellness Landscape at 2.00pm on Wednesday July 30.
Morris believes the key to better health care could already be in your pocket, with doctors soon set to prescribe iPhone apps, instead of pills.
Technology will revolutionise the health industry - a paradigm shift from healthcare to personal wellness.
Health and wellness applications on smartphones are already big news, and are dramatically changing the way we manage our personal health and everyday wellness.
Generation and Application of Community Pharmacy Research
Editor’s Note: We have had a number of articles in this issue relating to pharmacy research.
The PGA has conducted a number of research initiatives over the years, including one recently reported in Pharmacy News that resulted from an analysis of the QCPP Patient Questionnaire.
Pharmacy Guild president, George Tambassis, appears to have authored the article following, and there also appears to be a disconnect between the survey report and its target audience illustrated by one of the respondent comments published.
I have asked Mark Coleman to follow through, elaborate and comment:
Marketing Focus E-Zine
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PDF version | Barry Urquhart |
Barry Urquhart, Managing Director of Marketing Focus, Perth. Barry is an internationally recognised conference keynote speaker, facilitator of strategic planning workshops and marketing business coach. | |
You are on your own. Federal governments around the world are progressively planning, scheduling and, in a few instances, implementing cut backs in the economic stimuli and financial guarantees. As a consequence, more “normal” economic circumstances will prevail during the ensuing two years. The impact and importance of a dynamic marketplace will soon become apparent to all. The business fraternity can expect to experience a “jobless recovery”. Accordingly, consumer expenditure will be selective, patchy and difficult to accurately project. Business-to-business transaction volume will be constrained, impeded somewhat by relatively tight credit policies being maintained by the banks and financiers. “Gearing up” does not appear to be a phrased that will be applied broadly. Hence improved profits will be most readily be found with internal efficiency initiatives, refinements to the manner in which business is done and an emphasis of winning a greater “share of wallet”, rather than pursuing unfettered increases in share of market. Competitive edge and advantage will be incremental and progressive. Dichotomies between leaders and managers will become apparent in sectors, regions and marketplaces ……and there is a significant difference.
So, let me repeat. You are on your own. It will be you and your leadership qualities which will determine the extent of the rewards.
FIVE SECOND SERVICE
Do visit our website and view the 8 minute segment “5 Second Service” that was recently telecast on the Channel 7 television program “Today Tonight”. Simply follow this link.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Understandably, many people are perplexed by the differing analyses and forecasts for the Australian and global economies as “we go forward”.
There is no evidence of consensus on what will be the circumstances, trends and outcomes as different nations and regions progressively emerge from the downturn which was a consequence of the Global Financial Crisis.
Let me share with you one key finding and conclusion from an intensive and extensive workshop conducted with a team of academics, consultants, financiers and senior corporate executives during October.
Within the next 14 to 24 months widespread progress and economic upturns will be enjoyed by all the nations in the OECD. (Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development).
That progress and upturn will not be experienced without pain. It will variously include higher interest rates, increased unemployment and underemployment, mortgage stress, squeezed trading margins, competitive commodity prices, inconsistent cash flows, mortgage foreclosures and business failures. Common among those nations will be the changed and lessening role of governments.
However, let me stress, nothing is new. The marketplace needs to cleanse, refine and restructure itself to provide better platforms for sustainable improved and improving performance standards. Moreover, each of the individual tragedies detailed above represents opportunities for those who are well placed to capitalise.
We have learnt a lot within and from a diverse range of clients and industry/commerce sectors since the full effects of the GFC have impacted on economies and entities. Our challenge at Marketing Focus has been to ensure that appropriate frameworks are in place to ensure alignment exists between three key elements, being:-
· MARKET STRUCTURE FRAMEWORK
· CORPORATE CULTURE REFINEMENT
· STRATEGIC PLANNING TEMPLATE
An absence of, deficiency in or inappropriate sequencing of one or all of these does deny an entity the prospect and foundation for competitive advantage, sustainable development and stability.
PROFITABLE RELATIONSHIPS
Close relationships come at a cost.
Really knowing the perceptions, preferences, expectations and buying habits of existing and prospective customers accord businesses considerable benefits, advantages and rewards. Business owners, managers and staff members expect increased revenue, repeat purchases and recommendations in return.
Investments in data base collection, retrieval, collation and analysis require appreciable investment in time, money and resources.
The information trails being exploited include reward programs, company badged credit cards, priority/reward initiatives and personalised direct marketing communications.
Information is power, and to many, a bankable commodity.
HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
The latest consumer research into business practices reveals that clients and customers are aware of and sensitive to the “push” by companies to gain more information about themselves and their expenditure patterns.
Significant new, or perhaps previously unrecognised, findings reveal that as relationships are established with businesses, brands, services and service providers consumers develop higher expectations about customer service standards and product/service quality, they become less tolerant of suboptimal performance delivery, tend to be more expressive and, given the closer relationships, are more targeted (read: personal) in their expressions, be they positive or negative.
Thus, the widely held truism that customers are becoming more discerning and demanding is set on solid foundations.
It is a consequence of commonly applied business practices which are a conspicuous manifestation of the “relationship marketing” philosophy and era.
NO HALF MEASURES
Sadly, a significant percentage of small to medium sized businesses commit to embracing the concepts of relationship marketing, data base management, customer field farming and then decidedly compromise the principles and frustrate customers by providing insufficient funds, resources and times for the appropriate supportive infrastructure.
Large numbers of invaluable information banks on individual customers remain inert and rapidly aging to obsolescence because of under-resourcing .
Ideally, internal or possibly external people should be assigned to work and to capitalise on the potential business enhancements for specific time spans and on specific dates to undertake nominated activities. There is no room for “loose” undocumented, subjective expectations.
Close relations enable businesses, and fosters expectations among clients and customers, to customised, personal communications which provide unique and, possibly, excusive offers.
An active, current and malleable database enables firms and departments to fulfil the base desired performance standards of not less than 6 communications within a 12 month period (preferably, employing a spectrum of media including emails, text messages, brochures, telephone calls and personal visits).
Moreover, the essence of an active data base is currency. That is, the information contained is relevant and pertinent.
Typically, some 1.2% to 5% of a database phase into obsolescence each calendar month. This necessitates constant monitoring and effective management, with a total revision around every 9 months.
Clearly, such administrative details cannot be effectively undertaken by part time or casual employees or with a non-specific allocation of time and resources.
Customer relationship data bases dictate a disciplined approach. That is one of the reasons why so many are ineffective, contribute little to growth or enhance competitiveness and are perceived by some business owners, managers and staff members to be intolerable burdens.
MEETING EXPECTATIONS
One interesting aspect of good performing relationship marketing data bases is that staff members are recipients of all communications before such is received by existing, prospective and past clients.
Low tolerance customers and clients are incensed when responding to customised communications they are confronted with an uninformed, often detached staff member who exhibits the characteristics of a person lacking product knowledge. It is not a scenario on which positive, long term relationships are founded and sustained.
So, getting closer to customers does come with benefits and advantages with the countervailing force of costs and obligations.
RELATIONSHIP AUDITS
Important information can and should be elicited from all team members who directly interact with and service customers.
An audit of just how well they know their customers and their perceptions, preferences and buying habits can be enlightening, confronting and in some instances disappointing.
Often there is a considerable disconnect between the operation of customer data bases and an evident lack of knowledge about customers which permeates many entities.
The ideas and aspirations of relationship marketing data bases all to often falter because of the inadequate funding and resource allocation. It is difficult to budget for the non delivery of potential and opportunities.
Like most things in life and business there is a need to recognise the inextricable association between rights and obligations, then to strike a balance between the two.
THE AUTHOR
Barry Urquhart is Managing Director of Marketing Focus, Perth.
He is a former lecturer in management, marketing and organisational behaviour at the Curtin University of Technology.
Barry consults to, facilitates interactive workshops with and provides customer conference keynote addresses for big and small entities in the public and private sector.
He regularly visits and works in Britain, North America, South Africa, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.
Email: urquhart@marketingfocus.net.au
Web: www.marketingfocus.net.au
Tel: (08) 9257 1777
Mob: 041 983 5555
Return to homeResearch Reports
Staff Researcher: First discovery of a direct molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetesPractice Development
Neil Johnston: Organisational Amnesia and the Lack of a Curator Inhibits Cultural Progress | open full screen
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA: Dispensing errors – a ripple effect of damage | open full screen
Fiona Sartoretto Verna AIAPP: Intensive Exposition without crossing over with a supermarket | open full screen
Information Technology
Dr David More: Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 30th June, 2014Preventive Medicine
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