Damian Świeczkowski, Piotr Merks, Kordian Dryka, Miłosz Jarosław Jaguszewski

Wpływ etykietowania piktogramami na konkurencyjność aptek ogólnodostępnych – retrospektywna analiza pilotażowa
2018-01-23

The impact of pharmaceutical pictograms on the competitiveness of community pharmacy – retrospective pilot analysis · Background: Community pharmacy is defined by Polish pharmaceutical law as a center dedicated to promoting public health. However, we should remember that community pharmacy is also the entity engaged in market competitiveness. Selecting new services which can enhance the position of particular community pharmacy on the market seems to be an important problem in a discussion about the future of pharmacy practice in Poland. Among others, pictograms might be considered as an innovative service which can optimize the pharmacotherapy as well as improve the income from the drug distribution. The aim of the study was to compare the value of the pharmacy’s revenue in term of turnover before and after introducing pharmaceutical pictograms.

Methods: Our study is a retrospective analysis based on the income obtained from selected community pharmacies. We compared the following periods: i) from September to December 2011 and from January to February 2012 without using pharmaceutical pictograms and ii) from September to December 2012 and from January to February 2013 in which pictograms were applied. Results: In the first period (September - December 2011 versus September - December 2012), the value of the pharmacy’s turnover increased by PLN 81,770. For the second of the analyzed periods (January - February 2012 versus January - February 2013), the results were more profitable and the difference in income was estimated at 78 794.75.

Conclusions: The study confirmed that the use of pictograms increased the turnover of the community pharmacy. However, research should be addressed carefully, having in mind all limitations, among others those associated with changing in reimbursed policy. Further, more representative studies are warranted.

Keywords: community pharmacy; pharmaceutical pictograms; income; cognitive services; marketing; promotion

© Farm Pol, 2017, 73(12): 711-715