Expanding Your Vaccination Program

Samantha Pomeroy (00:05):

Hello, pharmacy friends, Samantha and Kelly here from IPC Pharmacy Services Department with a quick message for you. We all know that flu and RSV season is just right around the corner. It’s so hard to believe. So we want to take a few minutes to talk to you about expanding your vaccination program and let’s get those flu clinics rolling. Now, hopefully you’ve already started this process, but if you haven’t, that’s okay. Let’s start now. Kelly, you’re a pharmacist. You and I both come from independent pharmacy. We’ve spent time behind the bench. So in your experience, what’s the first thing that comes to mind for you when we’re talking to our members about expanding their vaccination services?

Kelli Stovall (00:46):

The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about expanding vaccination services is really to get out in front of people that perhaps you don’t already know. What kind of groups, what kind of centers can you put yourself in to offer this service to the community? Perhaps it’s local employers, maybe it’s small, local employers. It could be school districts, maybe for staff where you offer services for flu shots, senior living centers, assisted living centers, local health fairs, farmers market, maybe there’s a farmers market in your community, and once a month you can rent a booth and offer this service to the attendees. And then of course, there’s also schools and universities in your area. Maybe there’s a community college, public libraries, YMCA, just lots of places that you can get yourself out in front of other people.

Samantha Pomeroy (01:40):

I love those ideas. We did many flu clinics before coming to IPC. I never thought about a farmers market, though. That is a great idea. I also was just thinking while you were talking, concierge services are really on the rise right now and becoming more and more popular in certain areas for our pharmacies, so don’t forget about those. Offer to come to their home, vaccinate them and their families and their kids. Sometimes it’s just hard to get everybody into the pharmacy and it might be a better experience for them if you come into their home, and they might be willing to pay a little extra for that. So don’t forget about that. Kelly, what if we have some members listening that don’t offer immunizations or have a vaccination program at all? What would you say to that?

Kelli Stovall (02:24):

I would tell them that it’s incredibly important to consider this service for your business because it is about visibility. You are putting yourself in front of a group of people, a group of patients that may not be walking through your door. So not only are you offering this service to improve the health of your community, you’re actually then giving yourself a great chance of bringing in new customers throughout the year just from this one service that you offer.

Samantha Pomeroy (02:51):

I could not agree more. I think that it’s really a must for pharmacy. So if you’re looking to get, expand or market, please reach out to us. Kelly and I would love to help in the pharmacy services department. You can go to our website ipcx.com and there’s a pharmacy services and business consulting page. I will link that. We also have created a wonderful immunization resource center on our website, so I will link that as well below for you.

Kelli Stovall (03:23):

Let’s work together to get your community vaccinated.

Samantha Pomeroy (03:26):

I agree. Thank you. Bye.