Amazon: Rise or Fall of Retail Pharmacy?

Sigh.  There is a lot of fear in the world of pharmacy right now.  This week, Amazon announced the acquisition of PillPack, an online drug store. In a profession that is already seeing job position demand exceed supply, pharmacists all over the country are wondering if their jobs will become consolidated or obsolete. Over that last ten years, retail pharmacy (and hospital, I might add!) has repeatedly been asked to do more with less resources.  Technician hours are being cut, pharmacist overlap is going away, and pressure to fill a certain number of prescriptions and meet metrics has remained front and center.  The reason most pharmacists entered this profession was to connect and help patients while using their clinical knowledge to counsel patients on adherence, therapeutics, and provide optimum care.  Unfortunately, between the phone calls, insurance rejects, immunizations, and other troubleshooting, the part of our job that gives the most satisfaction is getting the least attention and ultimately suffering (if you look at customer satisfaction scores!).

I have friends hoping that amazon would be the perfect environment for a pharmacist to work in - flexibility, time to talk to patients, etc...I believe my friend used the analogy to working at Google.

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.    

Online pharmacies have their advantages (simpler for the patient) and disadvantages (counseling, therapeutic duplication, detailed education, lab value monitoring, etc...). I personally believe the retail giants will survive.  Acute needs will always be there as will the convenience of picking up medications.  Many of the errors that we catch, the side effects that we counsel on, and the interactions that we find when we talk to patients, would not be found without some long, thorough conversations. There is still a "wait and see" approach which for now, allows people to fill in the blanks.  Time will tell where the industry is headed.