The trend towards more personalised healthcare services is just what the doctor ordered for national pharmacy network Terry White Chemmart.

“I think pharmacy has a bigger role to play and there is scope for pharmacies to become the healthcare hubs for local communities and lower the cost of healthcare delivery by relieving general practitioners of some basic health services,” chief executive Anthony White (pictured) says.

“With such a large number of pharmacies staffed by highly qualified healthcare professionals, there is an opportunity to better utilise these skills to support better frontline healthcare delivery,” Anthony says.

Enhanced sales

“I don’t see growth coming purely in the form of fees but rather through the better performance of products. For example, offering free pain management clinics to build better relationships with customers, which can often translate to enhanced product sales over time.”

Another opportunity for the Australian pharmacy sector is in the area of immunisation, building on the steadily increasing role currently played in delivering services such as flu vaccinations.

“We feel that the pharmacy industry can deliver a less expensive and more convenient option for administering vaccinations. We have already partnered with major employers to help make vaccinations available to staff, and there is strong potential to move into other areas of immunisation,” Anthony says.

Improved service

The company recently announced a partnership with software and virtual pharmacist app provider MedAdvisor.

“This will help improve our service to customers by offering advance prescription orders to reduce in-store wait times, sending reminders to take specific medicines and access to broader medical information,” he says.

The expansion of the company’s professional services offering to improve customer engagement is clearly well under way and with growth of 3.5 per cent last year, the results speak for themselves.