2020 Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards

92 GHP / 2020 Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards , Sep20575 S Best Family-Owned Independent Pharmacy 2020 – Pennsylvania Fishtown Pharmacy is a small, family-owned business that continuously upholds its responsibility to the community. The family run store not only engages the community through charitable events, but strive to offer modern solutions aimed at increasing efficiency, and reducing wait times. Since opening their doors in 2013, Fishtown Pharmacy has been working to eliminate the stigma associated with Big Box Retail Pharmacies. The small business is located, as the name suggests, in Fishtown, Philadelphia. They are actively bringing the community spirit to the customers they serve. The staff pride themselves on knowing each of their patients, and customizing individualized healthcare plans to suit each unique need. For Fishtown Pharmacy, this doesn’t just mean a friendly approach and a chat. They seek to fully aid each and every customer that walks in the door. They do so by providing custom compounding, holistic and dietary counseling, as well as vitamin and supplement advice. In describing the current healthcare shortcomings, owner and pharmacy manager, Kris Hunsicker said, “Unfortunately, patients often describe their retail pharmacy experience with phrases like, ‘I was rushed, ignored, and treated poorly.’ Pharmacy patients have sadly become conditioned to believe their pharmacy doesn’t have time to explain their medicines, answer their questions, or treat them as human.” In one of his favorite books, Small Giants, Hunsicker describes drawing inspiration from Danny Meyer’s desire to deliver what the restaurateur calls, ‘Enlightened Hospitality.’ Enlightened Hospitality goes beyond the standard of ‘good customer service,’ and seeks to let the patient know you are ‘on their side.’ Enlightened Hospitality values providing well informed clinical information, and prompt customer service. We firmly believe staff can be taught how to quickly fill a prescription accurately, or how to find a patient’s insurance when they’ve forgotten their card. Those are all teachable skills, and we pride ourselves on their timely execution. However, this isn’t where we seek to separate ourselves. Enlightened Hospitality is an emotional skill. It’s about the staff’s ability to let the patient know that we truly CARE about them, their family, and our shared community. Hunsicker further explained, “Healthcare is a binary word. Pharmacy has focused heavily over the past 10-20 years on educating pharmacists to make well informed ‘health’ decisions. Unfortunately, this process has resulted in the sacrifice of delivering patients genuine, individualized care. Most retail pharmacies are essentially dispensing ‘health,’ without any ‘care.’ Chain pharmacies focus on filling as many scripts as possible, and maximizing corporate profits. Lost in this equation, is the attention to patient care.” “We truly believe we can ‘out-care’ every other pharmacy, and that this is what separates us. Chain pharmacies are open 24/7, and offer an array of products, from Cadbury Eggs to Dr. Pepper. We don’t try to compete in that arena, as we believe it reduces ‘patients’ to ‘consumers.’ If you talk to our patients, or read our online reviews, patient’s sentiments toward our staff can be summed up in two words. We care. We empathize with their issues. We try to actively solve their problems. We strive to take the dread out of pharmacy, and instead make the experience a positive one. Our company slogan distills this mindset far more succinctly, ’Your Pharmacy Shouldn’t Suck’.” Fishtown Pharmacy believes customer service should also embrace technology, and make the process of filling a prescription as easy as possible. They allow patients to take pictures of their prescriptions, and text or email them in. This enables the team to get medicines ready, and handle any issues ahead of time, so patients don’t have to stand around and wait. This is especially helpful during the Pandemic, when social distancing is a necessity for every store. They call this feature ‘TextRx,’ and it has essentially eliminated wait times entirely. The approach is incredible to see from a family-owned, independent pharmacy. It combines technology, logistics, and customer care in a way that you would normally associate with much larger businesses. Kris Hunsicker added: “I believe too many pharmacists focus specifically on acquiring knowledge based almost exclusively within the field of pharmacy. While all professionals must stay abreast of developments within their own industry, it should not be at the expense of all other disciplines.” Smaller businesses with plenty of heart and caring help keep communities alive. Fishtown Pharmacy has done just that, pushing the boundaries of what a family-owned business is thought capable of. Contact Details: Contact: Kris Hunsicker Company: Fishtown Pharmacy Website: www.fishtownpharmacy.com