Berlin – Digital business processes, artificial intelligence, social media and Co.: According to a recent survey by aposcope, pharmacists and PTA still see a need to catch up in the digitization of the pharmacy system. The teams want to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digitization of processes and hope that this will make their work easier. Due to a lack of staff and overwork, necessary further training is often neglected.
While the debate about e-prescriptions continues, digitization has long since found its way into German pharmacies on many levels. Around 82% of the pharmacy owners surveyed stated that they use a website for their pharmacy; many also offer an online shop or are present via a pharmacy app. 38% of pharmacies already use social media platforms to advertise to customers. However, it becomes clear that these are only the first steps on a longer digital path when you take a look at the other requirements that pharmacies are confronted with in this area. The owners rely on digital solutions, especially for digital business processes, such as the management of recipes, documents and order picking. Online service portals and e-mail contact are the most popular digital contact channels with manufacturers.
“Pharmacy teams are almost traditionally open to technical innovations. Because advising and supporting patients and customers in the pharmacy is made easier in the long term, especially against the background of scarce human resources,” says Thomas Bellartz, Managing Director of EL PATO Medien GmbH and publisher of aposcope.
Digitization potential lies dormant in many areas of everyday pharmacy life: According to 78% of those surveyed, invoices are still mainly issued on paper, but the situation is similar with couponing. In the courier service, too, almost half do without digital aids such as tour planning software, EC hardware or temperature monitoring. For these reasons, the pharmacists and PTA only give the status quo in the pharmacies a school grade of 3.6 – digitization is not only an opportunity, but also a challenge.
Most digital applications are expected to provide support and make work easier in pharmacies. However, more digitization often means more work for the pharmacy teams, especially in the initial phase. Only a quarter of those surveyed currently see sufficient personnel competence for further digitization. For this reason, pharmacies depend on external support from IT companies for many issues. Regular further training of their own employees is hoped for, but in times of staff shortages and already high workloads it is difficult to implement.
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Note on the methodology
A total of 501 verified pharmacists and PTAs were surveyed online from February 23 to March 2, 2023 for the aposcope study “Status Quo 2023: Digitization in pharmacies”. The participants answered more than 50 questions on various topics. All information about the study is available here.
aposcope. understand pharmacy.
We collect and analyze data from pharmacists and PTAs. A dedicated online panel enables companies and organizations interested in the pharmacy market to take the perspective of pharmaceutical staff. aposcope deepens the understanding of the target market and helps to make efficient decisions. aposcope is a market research service from EL PATO Medien GmbH, which operates media and other formats for the German-speaking healthcare market with more than 70 employees in Berlin.