Retail pharmacy has become a very competitive environment which is unduly exposed to high rentals and threatened by a continual ratcheting of the PBS. Where will prices of pharmacy head in the future?
Certainly there are unknowns that are difficult to factor in, but with the volume of loan delinquencies it will take banks sometime to allow money to flow more freely. Future governments will continue to look for ways to wind in the PBS, online shopping will increase and competition will continue.
It is important to remember that pharmacy remains an integral part of the health system and that pharmacists provide a key role in the detection and prevention of health issues. It is hoped that our system remains unchanged and that successive governments continue to realise that the retention of a regulated industry provides a strong and viable anchor of our health system.
Prices of pharmacies will remain stagnant or ease slightly over the next two years before a more measured assessment of price disclosure is completed. It is hoped that the next government stops the waning confidence in small business and, in line with an improved economy, we will see a much needed boost to the net profit of pharmacy.
by Peter Marshall, Managing Director Pharmacy Solutions Australia