Following the current economic crisis and the increasing number of healthcare cuts implemented in recent years, the situation in pharmacies is changing.
Cuts in public spending and delays in payments by the Public Administration have been damaging the health of Spanish pharmacies. However, after Royal Decree 9/2011, this situation may at least stop worsening.
One of the first consequences of the RD is the change in the role of the pharmacist, moving from being a passive link in the chain to taking on a decisive role at the time of dispensing the drug, being able to choose between a range of possibilities of branded or generic drugs with the same reference price.
On the contrary, the role of the doctor is limited to prescribing the most suitable active ingredient for each patient profile, with the pharmacist making the final decision.
Another consequence of the crisis in pharmacies is the creation of new services with the aim of adding value to their businesses: counselling during pregnancy, personalised dosing systems, screening for pathologies such as HIV and colon cancer, etc., thereby emphasising the role of the pharmacy as the main access point to health.
What we are already beginning to see is that the RDL is changing the relationship between pharmacies and laboratories. The latter have initiated commercial management models with the pharmacist to defend their brands in the pharmacy and try to compete with the rest of the therapeutic options in the category by seeking a place in the pharmacy's warehouse.
This change in situation redefines the universe of study in market research. Until now, the main focus of research was the doctor, but now the pharmacist is taking on an increasingly important role.
How can we, as market research departments, approach pharmacists and understand the reality in the pharmacy?
Among others, in addition to delving into the commercial strategies carried out by laboratories, it is very important to know the satisfaction of the pharmacist and the image that each of the supplier laboratories or potential suppliers has.
Modeling Pharmacist Satisfaction and understand each factor of satisfaction as a set of attributes (determining the importance of each of indirect way) using multivariate analysis techniques based on structural equations, neural networks, etc. will allow us to build a matrix of strategic priorities:
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And, analyze the image and positioning of laboratories in the pharmacy office and apply positioning engineering tools To determine the optimal positioning within it will provide the keys to answer the following questions: What path or route should the brand take in the pharmacy? Is there a perceptual gap in the market? What positioning movements are not credible in the pharmacy for my drug? What can I do to position my brand in the ideal of the pharmaceutical community?
In short, from market research we have to apply strategic methodological tools that allow us to obtain a real picture of the pharmacy market and allow us to define the future strategies of the laboratory in the pharmacy office.
From a marketing and research perspective, it is necessary to think about this new situation and act to gain a place in the pharmacy's warehouse. Or, is it not becoming absolutely essential to be the pharmacist's first choice for dispensing?
Jennifer Varon
