The new role of pharmacists

The pharmacist gives specific information about the prescription drugs and on the repayment terms, but his role tends to go beyond that (they are even becoming an alternative to medical desert).  In France the pharmacists unions acquire a revolution of their job, since a new convention of the CNAM ( the National Health Insurance Fund) dated from April 4^th 2012 gave them real public health mission and allowed them to support patients particularly for chronic disease.

Since June 2013 in France, pharmacists have been allowed to test patients for 3 different diseases but they have to possess a privacy space. This space can be used for simple acts such as measurement of blood pressure or taking the pulse but also for therapeutic conversations for major treatment. This space is also required by the General Pharmaceutical Council in its Guidance on patient confidentiality. For a better management of patients reception in this private space, a solution may be to give the possibility to make an appointment on the Internet. The customer make an appointment on the Internet and choose the time slot he prefers, the system propose an hour according to the reserved hours and appointments already made. When he arrives the patient can identify himself directly with the pharmacist or for more privacy on a touchscreen dispenser thanks to a card and bar code reader,  or entering an appointment code. The customer is identified and is appointment is automatically taken into account.

Almost half the pharmacies are in difficulty, a direct consequence of the drop of drugs prices and the boom of generic drugs. One of the solutions is to diversify the activity: nutritional or aesthetics consulting and hygiene products with the condition that they succeed to develop their sales. Thanks to a system of reception management, patients are free from queue lines and are able to continue their purchases in the pharmacy while waiting for their turn to come. To start in this field a good solution seems to be Weasy: plug & play and easy to use, the Weasy will optimize your reception management and, thanks to a mobile app, consult statistics on the activity of the pharmacy. This kind of system offer a rapid ROI since it ensure increasing of sales, loyalty of customers and optimization of resources.