Health Caring Drugstores say key is a personal touch

Bill Foster says he believes that good customer service is an independent pharmacist's key prescription for survival in tough economic times.

After an explosion and fire occurred at Davie Place nursing home in 2007, his employees at Foster Drug in Mocksville worked late to make sure that residents of the nursing home had the correct medications after they were moved to hospitals and other nursing homes.

"Our people actually took pictures of people, got their medicines, went down to the store, bubbled everything, bagged it up and put their picture on the bag and put the bag on the person in the stretcher," he said. The pharmacy was recently recognized for handling that crisis with the "Top Independent Pharmacists" award from Drug Topics Magazine.

That kind of service helps local pharmacies stand out from the big chains, he said.

Overall, the pharmacy industry has not suffered as much as some industries have in this economy, said John Norton, a spokesman for the National Community Pharmacists Association in Alexandria, Va.

There are 23,000 independent pharmacies in the United States, of which 758 are in North Carolina, according to the association.

"From a business standpoint, we haven't seen a drop off," Norton said. "In the past year, our numbers have been pretty stable."

He credits such government-backed programs as Medicare and Medicaid for the stability.

Foster and the operators of Marley Drug and Jonestown Pharmacy in Winston-Salem said that business has been flat from a year ago but that they are not losing money.

"Most of our customers have some type of insurance that helps them with their medicines, and they realize that they need to take care of themselves and be healthy," said Kristi Vlahos, who owns Jonestown Pharmacy with her husband, Ike.

Dave Marley, the president and chief executive of Marley Drug, said he has been filling fewer prescriptions but that they are more profitable than the ones he has filled in the past. Also, he said that his customer count is up about 1,000 people over last year.

Business is good at longtime Andrews Pharmacy in Winston-Salem because it is a compounded pharmacy that makes medications from scratch for unique patient needs, owner Jerry Beamer said.

"It's a niche for us," he said.

But Beamer's traditional pharmacy in Davidson County, which had an unemployment rate of 13.1 percent in October, has not fared as well. He estimated that sales are down between 10 percent and 15 percent at Your Pharmacy of Lexington because some people are doing without or cutting back on their medications.

"When somebody loses their job, then they may go on COBRA," Beamer said. "They may have insurance for a little while, but in the end, they end up without an insurance card."

David Price and his business partners, Dale Keith and John Wakefield, opened Stanleyville Family Pharmacy in northern Winston-Salem in October.

"As far as people coming in -- foot traffic -- we're doing well," Price said. "Everybody that transferred over here has stayed. It's just a matter of being here awhile and getting our name established."

Independent pharmacists say that their biggest concern is that mail-order pharmacies are poised to eat away at their revenues.

Vlahos said that health-insurance companies push hard to get customers out of stores and into mail-order pharmacies.

"They say, if you go to the drugstore, you're going to pay a $40 co-pay for this drug, but if you do it through mail order, it's only going to cost you $20," she said. "There's nothing we can do."

Norton said that if patients want a 90-day supply of prescription drugs, typically maintenance drugs such as medications for high blood pressure, pharmacy benefit managers that administer prescription drugs will usually just make the mail-order option available.

Beamer said that some companies have gone to mandatory mail-order programs for their employees.

To compete, many independent pharmacies rely on personalized services, new programs and a professional and friendly store environment. Pharmacists said they get to know regular customers' names, are available to talk to them and try to fill prescriptions within 15 minutes.

Marley has added various new systems and programs, including a free generic-drug voucher and a 90-day supply of more than 400 generic drugs for $18.

"In order to counter mail order, I've got to take market share from the chains," he said.

fdaniel@wsjournal.com


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