Source of information: Pharmacy U – See the orginal article here

As businesspeople, pharmacists recognize that it is important to ensure products and services generate revenue and turn a profit. As healthcare professionals, however, they often find it difficult to discuss price with a patient.

The services we offer must be sustainable. As pharmacists, we need to understand that being a healthcare professional and a businessperson are not at odds. We want to do the most we can to support our patients, but we need to be able to sustain that. We need a building. We need lights.

Charging for services often makes pharmacists more ill at ease than patients. Comfort levels are built on recognizing that for patients to accept the cost of a service as reasonable, they must value that service – and they must see that their pharmacist does the same. “Ironically, ‘free’ can be an unappreciated word,” notes Beresford.

Patients are already familiar with, and often very accepting of, charges for a range of health-related services outside of the pharmacy. They are also aware that pharmacists are now being paid to provide important services such as giving flu shots and writing prescriptions. The demand for those services is high. In Mahone Bay, a town of about 900 people, roughly 450 alone got the flu shot from Beresford and her team. Such services help sustain the pharmacy business.

4 top tips to charge for your services

• Be confident. Charging starts with your belief in the value of the services you’re providing.
• Post a sign with charges for services. That way there are no surprises.
• Change your mindset. You’re not just a pharmacist, but also a businessperson.
• Don’t be afraid to charge. Often, freebies are regarded as lacking in value.