Haller’s Pharmacy and Medical Supply in Fremont, California, has served the local community since 1957. Over the last 2 years, current owner Jasmine Basrai has shifted her focus from filling prescription to patient services and products that provide more profitable revenue.

Challenge

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Jasmine realized that her business was being negatively affected by the limited number of in-person customers. Clinical-minded Jasmine was quick to realize that there was a significant opportunity in COVID-19 point-of-care testing and vaccine administration and she wanted to get started as soon as possible. With the help of her Good Neighbor Pharmacy business coach and pharmacy staff, Jasmine began the process of preparing her pharmacy for the next level of patient care.

Solution

Jasmine and her business coach jumped into action, working closely with Farah, Director of Operations, and Sanjay, Director of Pharmacy. Together, they all reviewed the process around CLIA waivers, testing machines, marketing for point-of-care testing, pricing/billing strategies, and various other forms and logistics. To provide COVID-19 vaccines, the coach explained the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program and walked Jasmine and her team through the extensive enrollment process with the help of the Good Neighbor Pharmacy Implementation Guide. The coach also helped them develop a strategy to incorporate marketing messages into their conversations with patients during vaccinations and point-of-care testing.

Outcome

Because Haller’s Pharmacy immediately jumped to action to provide point-of-care testing and vaccines, they became the go-to pharmacy in their community. They were recognized by the Freemont City Council and Jasmine’s contacts with other agencies quickly expanded. Haller’s Pharmacy partnered with the Freemont Fire Department, local churches, and a variety of local businesses to provide vaccinations and testing. They successfully held multiple parking lot vaccine clinics, utilized local schools and recreation centers, and provided on-site COVID-19 testing for their community.

Haller’s Pharmacy and Medical Supply has administered over 25,000 vaccines, resulting in over $850,000 in revenue. In December 2020 alone, they provided more than 300 COVID-19 tests, which generated $38,000 in additional revenue. Their prescription business was also positively affected. In the first quarter of 2021, their prescription count doubled, their patient count increased by 70%, and prescription revenue increased by 30%.