Special Guest: Mona Ghattas

Duran Central Pharmacy

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104

www.durancentralpharmacy.com

I have been to your pharmacy twice and am intrigued by the physical layout of your pharmacy.  Tell us just a bit about where your pharmacy is and how your unique physical location provides both opportunities and challenges.

So your pharmacy is attractive and the staff are all friendly.  Tell me, how does that happen?  How do you keep the staff motivated and the pharmacy looking so nice?

So, we all know third party reimbursement is bad and getting worse.  What kinds of things are you doing to fend off the negative effects of that?

As you mentioned some of your management techniques and professional services, I am reminded you are an active and fully engaged member of IPC – The Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, the New Mexico Pharmacist Associations – and active in other groups. Anything special you’d like to share with our listeners about how being active in pharmacy, business and other groups helps you provide more profitable clinical services?  (feel free to throw in a comment on WSPC as well)

One of the things I have told pharmacy owners for 40 years is that to be successful you not only need to take good care of customers but you also need to get out of the pharmacy.  Do you have a comment on that philosophy?   

You’ve done some interesting thing with flu shots – share a story or two about where you go and how those clinics came about.

You have something like 60 employees, that is a good size operation. And, that means providing health insurance is a challenge.  But you told me about an insight you had about doctors and their problems with insurance that I think would be helpful for pharmacist to understand.  Doctors hate insurance too.  How has learning that helped you work better with prescribers in your area.

I remember you showing me some spread sheets and sharing how you meld reports from your pharmacy system with your POS. Tell me more about how/why take the time to look at both front end sales and pharmacy sales in that manner

So, time is about up – take a minute and share something you think other pharmacists could do better that would improve their practice – any advice for our listeners? 

Bruce Kneeland, while not a pharmacist, has been in the industry for more than 40 years.  On the Pharmacy Crossroads series, Kneeland talks with amazing owners and gets them to share examples of management practices, marketing programs or clinical services they provide that can help other owners improve their practice as well. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.