Back in the early 2000s, Elizabeth Holmes famously started Theranos, a company that made blood testing devices that wound up in pharmacies. Although we all know how that ended, she did start a trend of putting a healthcare clinic in a pharmacy building.
These clinics are often staffed with nurse practitioners, who can prescribe things like antibiotics, but sometimes a pharmacist fills in for them. While it seems like running a clinic out of a pharmacy is a good idea, and for patients who don’t have proper insurance or huge co-pays, it is, the pharmacy runs into a few issues, mainly centering around the type of insurance premiums taken out for the business itself.
The Future of Pharmacies
As more pharmacies start offering things like vaccines right inside the stores themselves, it’s easy to see the situation escalating. Between high out of pocket health insurance costs and copays, it makes sense for those with health savings accounts to want to spend as little as possible on healthcare costs. Pharmacies can help in these situations, as they have the ability to provide care for simple things, like treatments for the flu, strep throat, and more, filling in the gaps in locations without an urgent care center.
In addition, simple tasks like blood testing, which doesn’t require much more than a laboratory and a phlebotomist can be added to a pharmacy as well, turning it into a tiny clinic. Again, this must be done keeping costs in mind because a pharmacy can offer the tests for less than hospitals, because they have less overhead.
Taking Over Where Hospitals Fall Short
It seems as though rural hospitals run into financial issues every year, with more of them closing and leaving patients without a way to get the care that they need. Although smaller clinics can help provide some types of care, there are only so many of them in rural areas, and the wait times can be lengthy. In these situations, it makes more sense to have pharmacies fill in the gaps, providing simple diagnoses, sports physicals, blood testing, and additional vaccines to patients on top of fulfilling prescriptions for medications.
Insurance Considerations
As changes come to pharmacies across the country, adding extra services and essentially becoming small clinics with a store attached, the need for insurance for pharmacies evolves as well. A liability policy may no longer be enough—especially when diagnosing and treatment become routine. Malpractice insurance, additional liability policies, and more may be required to protect pharmacists, phlebotomists, lab techs, nurse practitioners, and others providing patient care. Even in a smaller setting, things can go wrong.
Have Questions? Contact Charlotte Insurance
Want to learn more about the right types of insurance for your pharmacy? Contact Charlotte Insurance. Our agents can explore and explain all available options and put together the insurance coverage plan your business needs.