New Year's Resolutions: Changing Pharmacy for the Future

The only thing we know for certain about our health care system is that it will change. Therefore, pharmacy leaders struggle to transition their business, organization or practice to new care delivery models under changing reimbursement models. As we begin the New Year, I want to paraphrase Rich Temple, an executive consultant at Beacon Partners, who provided 7 adjectives to describe “cream-of-the-crop healthcare leaders in a post-healthcare reform environment.”

I think they apply equally well to pharmacists who also need to be leaders in changing pharmacy.

Here they are:

• Be visionary—Do you have a vision of how you want to change your practice? That’s the first step in creating your future.
• Be nimble—Changes come quickly so you have to react quickly to stay in front.
• Be an out-of-the box thinker because you can’t keeping doing the same things and expect different results.
• Be technologically savvy because technology will play an increasingly important role in any reformed system.
• Be business-minded because unless you can balance the bottom line you won’t be able to play in the reformed system.
• Be relationship-oriented because in the end it’s who you know that really matters as changes occur.
• Be a life-long learner because change will continue and you need to be able to anticipate it.

As you make those New Year’s resolutions, think about incorporating some or all of these adjectives into your commitment to change in 2012! We at Pharmacy Times wish you all the best for a happy and healthy New Year!