There is nothing like firsthand experience when it comes to the products and services we provide to our customers. About a week ago, I had the unfortunate honor of utilizing highly convenient urgent care services. A playful romp with one of my dogs left me with a fairly nasty cut in my hand and prompted me to visit my neighborhood urgent care. After much poking and prodding, a couple of shots and an x-ray, I was deemed well-enough to return to the normalcy of my life. As fate would have it, we reached this conclusion at nearly Midnight. One result of my visit was a prescription for an antibiotic. Finally, after a few hours of healthcare, I was ready to leave with script in hand. Being a purveyor of clinic dispensing services, I asked if I could simply purchase my medication at the clinic. "No, we don't dispense medications."
Seriously? I was completely drained. It was midnight. All I wanted was to retire peacefully to the comfort and safety of my bed as quickly as humanly possible. Fortunately, there was a 24-hour pharmacy nearby. Did I go? Nope. That pharmacy was not in my health plan and I was not going to take any amount of time to drive to it and wait for my prescription to be filled. The result was that I waited for another 10 hours and made an additional trip in the morning to get my antibiotic.
Overall, I was very fortunate to have access to an urgent care at the time I needed it. For that, I am very thankful. A trip to the ER would have been far more expensive and even more time-consuming. However, complete service would have entailed the closing of my experience with my dispensed medication in-hand as I left the the health center. I would have been happy to pay MORE THAN MY COPAY to have left the clinic with my medicine. This antibiotic would have been a $15-$20 item; no-brainer from my perspective.
There is a lesson here for all of us. What did the urgent care lose? A little bit of profit from my drug purchase? Sure. However, the bigger loss was my complete satisfaction. We all have choices. Given similar circumstances in the future, will I chose this particular urgent care? Maybe. In the larger scheme, offering medication dispensing services is a small part of a clinic's potential overall value proposition. As you consider how you position, what your competitor's offer and what you want your patients to feel as they leave your health center, I encourage you to think of the small things realizing that pharmaceutical dispensing might be that one little detail that makes a big difference.
