As a community pharmacist, your modern pharmacy should be aesthetically pleasing and comfortable for your customers, yet be constructed with safety and security in mind. Create a community feel inside your store that fully embraces modern pharmacy layout and security for an inviting atmosphere.
What features should your modern pharmacy have?
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Up-to-date pharmacy shelving and fixtures
It's quite all right to harken back to the pre-modern pharmacy with well-placed artifacts such as a vintage picture here and there throughout your store, but the look of your pharmacy should be fresh and modern. Utilize up-to-date pharmacy shelving and fixtures that fit with your decor and give your store an aesthetically pleasing look that also easily showcases merchandise.
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Soft fluorescent lighting
Fluorescent lighting is bright and yet energy efficient, so it's very practical. However, standard fluorescent lighting can be harsh on the eyes. Today, you can choose full-spectrum fluorescent lights that offer a softer and more natural light that's easier on the eyes but just as cost-effective and reliable as standard fluorescent lighting -- better for your customers and you.
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Aesthetically pleasing decor
Forget about the institutional look drugstores used to have. Today's customers want a pleasant environment that they can come into without feeling like they have to rush through the shopping experience. Providing an aesthetically pleasing decor that includes pleasing paint or wall coverings, wall to wall carpeting and/or real or faux wood floors, and the up-to-date pharmacy shelving and fixtures as mentioned previously will make your store welcoming to your customers. You don't have to skimp on professional pharmaceutical service Scholastic attention to aesthetics, either. Instead, focus on providing both to your customers. They'll appreciate the effort and return the favor with increased business.
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Clear signage and logos that speak your "brand"
Retail pharmacies know how to do this to best effect, for instant visual recognition. You can do that, too. Choose a logo that fits your name, and then include signage that matches your "brand." By doing this, customers know full well that they are shopping with "you." You can provide a kind of personalized service that retail pharmacies can't – but can also foster instantaneous brand recognition, something retail pharmacies are typically good at.
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Full attention to updated HIPAA regulations
You must be compliant with the new HIPAA regulations that took effect on September 23, 2013. Specifically, you must fulfill specific requirements in regard to:
Privacy
Patients have the right to restrict protected health information (PHI) disclosures, and have complete access to their own files. Requirements still allow professionals to have access to specific health information for their patients' care and for other reasons as allowed under the new rules.
Security
Any unauthorized disclosure of protected health information is a reportable breach unless permitted by the privacy rule. Subcontractors and business associates must sign agreements that will be updated regularly, and they must comply with the HIPAA security rule completely.
Safeguarding
The new rules also require that you must restrict and control who can access hardware and electronic media that store patient health information. Centralized workstations help protect against unauthorized access, as can policies that restrict when workstations may be used. Workstations that include portable electronic equipment such as laptops should be kept in secure controlled areas, such as behind the pharmacy counter, in the pharmacy workroom, and/or in locking pharmacy shelving fixtures with strictly controlled access.
Your modern pharmacy should be fresh and inviting to your customers, and compliant with the latest HIPAA regulations. If you need to upgrade, make these changes so as to assure your continued success and your customers' comfort, convenience, and privacy.
