A Victoria pharmacist believes there’s a better, more economical means of dispensing drugs and advice, and he’s launched a new company intent on proving it.
Scott Monette, who formerly operated IDA-branded pharmacies in Victoria, has just started Mypharmacyonline.ca, hoping to win over clients by promising reduced costs and an increased focus on client consultation.
“This will separate the traditional roles of the pharmacist,” said Monette.
He noted that by taking orders online and filling prescriptions by mail, his time is freed up to do more consulting work with clients.
By eliminating the traditional bricks-and-mortar pharmacy, Monette said the cost of prescriptions will be significantly reduced.
His marketing material suggests he can save clients on average of between 30 and 50 per cent on prescription drugs.
Monette has a small administration office in North Saanich, not open to the public, and he contracts out some of the prescription filling to a registered pharmacy technician.
He claims his new business model will save thousands each month by eliminating overhead costs such as rent, staffing and inventory. When he gets a prescription, Monette orders from a wholesaler. Once he receives the order, he mails out the drugs the next day.
“It’s superfluous and it’s all built into the price of a prescription,” Monette said. He intends to return the savings to clients through lower drug costs and by giving them a gift certificate for a local retailer with each prescription filled.
But Monette has a battle on his hands. There’s a stigma attached to online pharmacy, given the prevalence of scams pervaded in the name of cheap prescription drugs, and he has to deal with the powerful marketing of established bricks-and-mortar chain pharmacies.
“We are not an Internet pharmacy. We are a legitimate pharmacy that serves people, like every other pharmacy, but through a mobile platform online,” Monette said.
He likes to consider himself a “disrupter” in the pharmacy industry. He also acknowledged he has a mountain to climb to get over people’s reaction to the idea of online pharmacy.
Monette said he is working full-time on getting the name established and networking to get word-of-mouth referrals. “What we need to do locally, by building relationships at a grassroots level, is create champions for our cause and our company,” he said.
However, through his first three weeks he does not yet have a client.
Rasool Rayani, chief executive of Victoria-based Heart Pharmacy Group, said the challenge faced by an online delivery model in a city such as Victoria could be going up against a large supply of pharmacies.
“The accessibility of pharmacies is very high,” Rayani said. His customers tend to want immediate attention and prescriptions filled on the spot.
Rayani also noted there have been several attempts to do online pharmacy in Canada, primarily to service the U.S. audience, but “they’ve largely disappeared.”
As for the issue of quick prescription filling, Monette admitted his service is not ideal for patients who need immediate medication, but he said those with chronic conditions who need a continual supply of medication could save money.
“This is more for medications that are predictable. That makes up 80 to 90 per cent of drug use in Canada,” he said.
Derek Desrosiers, director of practice support at the B.C. Pharmacy Association, said there’s a chance ventures such as Monette’s could become more prevalent. But there are issues involved in an online-only pharmacy, such as meeting the requirement to counsel each patient with each prescription.
Desrosiers said people continue to demand more convenience, while the lone university offering a pharmacy program is about to start churning out pharmacists who will want to do more than simply count out drugs. “This fall, UBC is moving to a new degree program, a doctor of pharmacy degree, and that improves the level of education,” he said. Over the six-year term, there will be much more clinical work than in the past. “They will be better trained and that will leave a lot of them wanting to do more clinical work.”
That was Monette’s intent with Mypharmacyonline.ca — less time dispensing drugs and more time dealing with patients. He has started by suggesting his services to care businesses and retirement homes, offering to work with them to meet with their clients both to review medication regimens and perhaps save them money.
