Initially, it is worth mentioning that the Own Pharmacy modality has been gaining prominence among the most influential healthcare operators in the market. The program aims to bring beneficiaries and companies closer together, so that service occurs in an interconnected manner.

Like any type of commercial approach, Own Pharmacy has certain challenges, and it is up to the operator to develop its project in the most careful and detailed way possible.

In this article, we will look at the advantages and challenges of implementing the project. Also check out our post about The role of health operators in the health promotion process!

Benefits of your own pharmacy

Better mapping of the portfolio and its care: with the application of the project it is possible to have greater control over medication prescriptions, medical appointments, diagnoses, among other data that are stored at the pharmacy.

This type of information can be fed into specific systems for this purpose, and help the healthcare provider carry out prevention campaigns against diseases and their complications.

In the medium and long term, this allows for a huge reduction in equipment and labor costs, among other factors. This occurs because beneficiaries are at less risk of contracting pathologies.

Competitive Advantage: The healthcare provider that chooses to have its own pharmacy also offers its customers a great advantage: a discount on medicines. As is known, there are a series of processes that medicines go through before reaching the final consumer, including manufacturing, transportation, distribution and sale in the pharmacy.

Therefore, for the enterprise to survive, the value attributed to each product ends up being high. In the case of an in-house pharmacy, it is possible to offer customers cheaper medicines, considering that this is not the operator's final activity. This favors the business and at the same time encourages beneficiaries to purchase medicines locally.

Greater control through indicators: The storage of information obtained when selling medicines in a pharmacy from the health operator means that it has more information about each patient and can identify the products that most need to have in stock.

This means that the patient's treatment is often closely monitored, considering that it is even possible to notify beneficiaries when purchasing the medicine again. Likewise, it is possible to indicate to customers the benefits of making medical appointments instead of purchasing over-the-counter medications.

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Risks of your own pharmacy

Operating cost: although pharmacies are classified as establishments that provide a healthcare service, they are still an enterprise. In the case of its own pharmacy, the healthcare provider must take into account the commercial nature of the business so that it does not result in losses.

As medicines have great discounts when sold in these places, the most recommended thing is to carry out an analysis of the most used medicines and the socioeconomic profile of the beneficiaries who use them.

This way it is possible to identify which products can receive more discounts, thus facilitating financial control by the operator, and at the same time offering savings to customers.

Using medications without a prescription: Even though there are several campaigns and research exploring the risks of self-medication, this is still a very common practice in Brazil. For a long time, people have not been so concerned about making medical appointments and receiving a diagnosis and an appropriate prescription, thinking that they can medicate themselves based on their own experiences, those of their family, friends or co-workers.

This aspect is extremely harmful for healthcare operators who work with their own pharmacy, as it ends up making it difficult to identify information from the region, in addition to potentially causing risks to the health of beneficiaries. The most interesting thing in this case is to work with a policy aimed at not encouraging sales without a medical prescription.

Legal requirements: The legal aspects that operators who have their own pharmacy must pay attention to are set out in law no. 13,021 of 2014. The law sanctioned by then president Dilma Rousseff provides for the exercise of pharmaceutical activities, as well as their respective supervision.

One of the main requirements present in the law is contained in its article 5, which states: “Within the scope of pharmaceutical assistance, pharmacies of any nature necessarily require, for their operation, the responsibility and technical assistance of a pharmacist qualified in the form of law".

This obligation is already standard practice in all pharmacies, however it leads to higher personnel costs, considering that the professional receives an intermediate salary. Furthermore, it may be necessary to hire more than one pharmacist, depending on the pharmacy's opening hours and days.

Other requirements are set out in articles 6 and 13 of the law, they are:

* Organization and maintenance of the register of medicines present on site;

* Guaranteeing the safety of dispensing medicines;

* Observation of the technical and legal aspects of the prescription;

* Adequacy of the location to the required sanitary requirements;

* Use of equipment suitable for the conservation of immunobiologicals; among others.

All legal obligations relating to the operation of the pharmacy generate operational costs, and must be followed strictly to guarantee the personal integrity of customers and the maintenance of the business.

Considerations regarding your own pharmacy

Everything discussed serves as a parameter so that the healthcare provider can decide whether to implement the project, or even make the necessary adjustments to important aspects of the business. This way, it is possible to have more clarity regarding the benefits and risks of this business approach, always paying attention to the appreciation of the beneficiaries, as well as the success of the enterprise. There have already been these experiences in the sector that are worth studying in more depth before making the decision to open your healthcare provider's own pharmacy!

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