Management in Pharmacy

Study Notes

Management is a process that involves bringing together resources to achieve common goals efficiently, which applies to both simple and complex tasks.

Anyone who has a task to accomplish or a goal to achieve is a manager, regardless of their job responsibilities or position.
Management involves planning, organizing, leading/directing, and control/evaluation activities.

Planning is a key function of managers that involves predetermining a course of action based on goals and objectives, considering internal and external environments.
Planning can be formal or informal and is essential for achieving goals and objectives.

Organizing involves the arrangement and relationship of activities and resources necessary for effective accomplishment of goals or objectives.
It determines required resources and when to obtain them.

Leading or directing involves bringing about purposeful action toward desired outcomes, requiring leadership skills.

Control or evaluation involves reviewing progress made towards objectives, determining what happened and why, and ensuring quality and effectiveness.

Managers must use resources, including money, people, time, material resources, and information, to achieve goals and objectives.
Resources are scarce and must be used efficiently.

Management activities occur at different levels, including self-management, interpersonal management, and organizational management.
Managers perform activities at all levels.

Self-management is the most frequent level of management, which involves pharmacists prioritizing and managing time efficiently to accomplish tasks and counsel patients.

Interpersonal management occurs between a manager and one other person, while organizational management affects groups of people and occurs at work and in personal lives.

Planning involves purposeful efforts taken by an organization to maximize its future success.
Planning may involve managers and frontline employees.

There are several types of planning activities, including business planning, financial planning, operational planning, resource planning, organizational planning, and strategic planning.

A vision statement describes what the organization wants to be in the future, while a mission statement defines the purpose and definition of the company.
Both statements are essential for creating momentum and motivation.

The pharmacy business combines patient care and entrepreneurship, driving advances in the profession.
Pharmacists can create new innovative services that fulfill patient needs and generate profits.

A preliminary evaluation is necessary to determine if the business concept merits the development of a complete business plan.
This involves conducting a literature search and exploring the business concept.

A complete business plan involves seeking input from key stakeholders, defining the business or program, conducting market research and analysis, and more.

Define the business or program and its mission statement.
Conduct market research and analysis, including identifying the target market and competitor analysis.
Assess clinical and quality requirements, such as applicable regulations and requirements.
Define processes and operations, including organizational structure and marketing strategy.
Develop financial projections, including costs and revenue estimates.
Identify an action plan, including major milestones and start/finish dates.
Assess critical risks and opportunities using a SWOT analysis.
Establish an exit plan, including benchmarks for success and failure.

Operations affect profitability in businesses, and efficiency in operations is crucial to improve profit margins.
Example: Pharmacy compounding a product requires efficient operations to minimize costs and maximize revenue.

Outputs of a pharmacy include goods and services provided, such as prescription filling and compounded products.
Managing operations for the highest quality at the lowest cost justifies the existence of a business.

Processes have specific capacities, and bottlenecks are the limiting resources.
Identify and eliminate bottlenecks to increase capacity and improve profitability.

Flowcharts are diagrams of steps in creating goods or services that help analyze resources and improve processes.
Identify and evaluate capacities and bottlenecks, and manage quality through understanding the process.