Evaluation is a necessary procedure for any modern pharmacy. In fact, it is the cornerstone that defines its value, its strengths and weaknesses, its advantages and disadvantages compared to competition, its commercial development during its operation and its potential for improvement. Conclusively, the evaluation procedure is the means of determining the pharmacy’s real value and the safest way to obtain a secure image for its overall function as a business unit.
Proper evaluation starts from scratch, examining and evaluating every single domain: administration, organization and operation of the pharmacy, control mechanisms, relations with the suppliers, the performance of the personnel, client satisfaction. It is a non-stop procedure, a recurring process which is completed within a certain timeframe, in order to evaluate the findings and adopt new practices if the old ones seem to fail in practice.
Evaluation is therefore an overall qualitative and quantitative research and depiction of every aspect of the pharmacy, especially the ones referring to its commercial, financial, marketing, human resources, physical infrastructure, clientele and information infrastructure operations. Of course, it applies to every type and size of pharmacy, whether individual or network.
The methodology commonly followed is based on:
- on-site observation
- private consultations and meetings
- in-depth examination of all the operating parameters so that safe conclusions can be drawn.