These past few weeks have been very busy for our advisors at Waypoint. We have travelled many miles and spent countless hours on the phone working with our clients. We have also gone to several meetings to support community pharmacy owners (these will be detailed in a series of blogs called From the Front Lines of Community Pharmacy). A common theme keeps arising from these meetings, the battle for the future of community pharmacy is just beginning.  

As I sit here watching a massive thunderstorm outside my window (there is no tornado, so please do not worry), I can't help but think of the famous scene where Dorothy wakes up in the new world of color and tells Toto that they aren't in Kansas anymore (for pharmacy owners that are physically located in Kansas, please pretend that you are not for this blog).  I think scene is very applicable to what is happening in community pharmacy today.

In the movie, it took a large storm and tornado (basically massive destruction and disruption) to relocate Dorothy and Toto "over the rainbow." I think the same is going on in community pharmacy right now. PBMs, insurance companies and other third parties are all causing massive disruption and destruction. The question is becoming more and more clear: Are you prepared to end up in a totally different world when the dust settles from all of this?

If you are ill-prepared for this new world, whatever it may be, then you may be setting yourself up for failure or a quick exit from community pharmacy ownership. Being prepared is essential for the future success of your pharmacy. To put it another way, Henry Hartman said it best when he said,

"Success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity"

There will be tremendous opportunity moving forward in community pharmacy if you are prepared for it. Of all the ways you can prepare for what ever is next, it's been our experience that the most successful pharmacy owners visualize their success and write down their goals.

Other ways to prepare include establishing a group of peers; other pharmacy owners you can meet regularly with to share ideas and experiences. On an individual level, optimize your savings outside of your pharmacy gives you greater freedom to choose what you do when we land “over the rainbow”.

Unlike Dorothy, the changes we are facing will not go away when we click our heels together. Preparation is key.