Pharmacy Service

Improvement at CVS
1. What changes do you recommend to CVS's existing pharmacy fulfilment
process? 

While the Pickup deals with most variety of issues and dissatisfied customers, the problem starts right form Drop off. A
proper screening method at drop off and Data Entry would help in dealing with most of the problems at CVS.

 Drop off and Data Entry could be merged and performed in presence of customer as it hardly takes time. This
can help them to realise any potential problem beforehand and also customer will be informed.

 All the issues related to Refill, Insurance, and Hard Stop can be dealt upfront and customers can have a clear idea
if resolution is going to take time.

 A well defined standard operating Procedure should be drafted and followed at each step. This will optimize the
process and reduce errors and delays.

 Optimization of Inventory Management

 Better interaction and engagement with Third Parties for quicker response.
1. What IT changes, if any, are required to implement your changes?

 Improvement in Data Entry and Customer Verification –Prior intimation to customers based on checks related
to Refill, Inventory, and Insurance will reduce unpleasant surprises at pickup.

 Better Inventory Management – Optimization is required to cater issues related to stock-outs.

 Automation in DUR – to resolve less complicated issue without intervention of Pharmacist.

 Integrated platform to resolve Third Party Issues.

 Automated Notifications to customer – Order status and estimated Pickup Time.

2. How can you be sure that the new process you propose will be an
improvement over the existing one? 
 Each problem should be weighed with proposed solution and value addition should be measured in terms of
incremental customer’s satisfaction.

 Every changes are to be evaluated from perspective of all the stakeholders and focus should be on how the
proposed solution is beneficial to all.

How can you be sure that it won't make things worse?

 Changes should be implemented in a phased manner. It can be started at few specific location on trial basis with
proper monitoring.

 Based on the feedbacks, modifications should be done.

 Changing pattern of Customer’s complains should be reviewed to understand the effectiveness of proposed
solutions.
 03. What groups, if any, are likely to have problems with your proposed solution? 
How will you deal with their objections?

1. 1. Pharmacists:
2. Our recommendation of “Automation in DUR” might make them hesitant to have IT assistance in
hard stop process of DUR as their autonomy gets scrapped off when the system doesn’t let them
interfere because of the unnecessary impression, customer might be less likely to take that reviewed
drug and which will create problems for them.

3. To Deal with this hesitation of theirs, we need to make them understand that the customer safety is
utmost important and company looks at it as an essential part of the good pharmacy operations and is
going to be very conservative about following this as “Quality Control Improvement” and as a part
of the excellent customer service.

4. 2. Technicians:
5. Our recommendation of “Merging Drop Off and Data Entry” with customer’s presence will
definitely ease the work which happens later in the process but it will look like added burden to
Technicians at the counter to spend so much time with the customers to deal with the issues related
to re-fill, insurance, hard-stop of DUR.
03. What groups, if any, are likely to have problems with your proposed solution? 
How will you deal with their objections? – Continuation….

1. Technicians might feel that they are not responsible to spend so much time with customers to resolve
the given issues as it wasn’t the part of their job but rather the pick-up counter’s job but we need to
make them understand that to smoothen the entire process, this step will reduce the issues at the
pick-up drastically and they will give their buy-in.

2. 3. Customers:
3. Customers also would be very reluctant to spend time at the time of drop-off because for them, the
process is to just drop the prescription off and go about their day but our suggested step will
definitely add to their substantial time consumption.

4. Customers need to be made aware that following this very crucial step will save them from any
future issues which they usually face and spending some extra time here at this step will help them
save days worth of problems which could arise at the later stage.
04. How will you ensure there's no backsliding-that there won't still be wooden boxes in use
six months from now?  How can technology be used to prevent or inhibit backsliding?
1. To ensure that there’s no backsliding and technology preventing the same, following things could be done:

2. 1. Buy-in from all relevant parties need to be taken from the very beginning as this is the most crucial step to make
sure people don’t go back

3. 2. Just informing relevant affected parties about the change they are supposed to make is not enough, they need to
see the improvement themselves, hence the transition period need to be dealt very carefully by the change
management team – this is one of the most crucial step in the process improvement

4. 3. Only few here and there changes will not ensure the effectiveness, the entire series of all changes need to be
implemented to make sure the complete 180 degree shift.

5. 4. We know that things cannot be guaranteed absolutely while dealing with people and mind-set shift due to process
improvements but as for the boxes, where the prescription keeps moving manually from one box to another, we can
remove them from the system completely as we can take all transactions and the requisition on the system to be
performed with an automated process and implementation of a tool like ERP throughout in CVS.

6. 5. Train the employees thoroughly on the new processes, system and tools
04. How will you ensure there's no backsliding-that there won't still be wooden boxes in use
six months from now?  How can technology be used to prevent or inhibit backsliding?
1. To ensure that there’s no backsliding and technology preventing the same, following things could be done:

2. 6. Integration of all CVS locations throughout the central System, it could be ERP implementation as well to synch
the functions.

3. 7. Central system will help the customers as well as all the CSV locations would be centrally connected via single
system which will provide the same information about the customer on the any of the outlet, this will help with the
customer attrition rate as well.

4. To make sure that the technology helps with preventing the backsliding is to make the integration of processes and
the tools watertight. For example, integrating the script filling with payment process, as you cannot proceed for the
payment unless until the script is filled as it should be.

5. Fully integrated system helps with necessary checks and audits time to time which in turn helps preventing
backsliding.
5. Does PSI represent a significant opportunity for CVS? Would improving
customer service be of significant financial benefit to the company?

Number of light users who defected 6,657,000  Total loss in Revenue due to poor services is
Number of heavy users who defected 543,000
more than $631 Million for 2000
% of light users who switched due to poor
service 13%  This number will increase in subsequent
% of heavy users who switched due to poor years due to increase in total number of
service 44%
Total users who switched due to poor patients
services 1,104,330  More new customers could be attracted each

Total prescriptions loss due to poor services 13,883,850 year with increase in customer service quality
 Thus, PSI is a great opportunity for CVS
Total Revenue loss due to poor services 631,084,091
Revenue lost as a percentage of total
revenue of 2000 3.147%
6. What per cent of pharmacy defectors from CVS in 2000 were light versus heavy
users?

 Total number of defectors in 2000 = 7.2 Million

 Total loss of prescriptions per year from defectors in 2000 = 55
Million
 Let the number of light users be x million.
 Then No. of heavy users is 7.2-x million
 Average Scripts per year by light user = 5
 Average Scripts per year by heavy user = 40
 55 = {40 * (7.2 - x)} + {5 * x}
 x = 6.657 Million = Light users who defected
 So, 92.46% of all defectors were light users while just 7.54% were
heavy users.
Thank You!