...REV: OCTOBER 20, 2006 Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A) Flum looked at Betses. “You told us it was bad, but this bad?” “I told you there were service issues in our pharmacies. But I have to admit, even I didn’t know the whole story.” “So what do we do about it?” “Well, we can’t have 67 solutions for the 67 problems we identified,” Roberts said. “Definitely not,” Grossi agreed. “But do you have an idea what we should do? If you erased that whiteboard and grabbed a pen, could you draw the ‘right’ flow chart for pharmacy operations?” “Actually, I think I could come pretty close. And I think my flow chart would look a lot like both of yours. I’m just not sure which parts of it would be easy to implement and which would be tricky. Mitch, you know these places better than anyone—what kinds of changes would make them really unhappy?” “Anything affecting safety. Everyone—not just the pharmacists—is a fanatic about making sure we fill prescriptions accurately and watch out for the health of our customers. So for example if we said, ‘In the interests of efficiency we want to have the system spit out fewer alerts about drug-drug interactions,’ we would get killed. The pharmacists would march us right out the front door of their stores and tell us never to come back. And I wouldn’t blame them.” Do “Got it. What else?” ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Andrew F. McAfee prepared...
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...Case Write-up #1: Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS After reading the two articles by Ramias and Wilkins on Performance Metrics, what metrics, if any would you identify that are essential to managing the prescription fulfillment process at CVS. Ramias and Wilkens’ state that the starting point in developing metrics is to understand the expectation of the customer. Upon review of the data compiled by the PSI team, customers expect accuracy and timeliness. Therefore, most of the metrics developed below focus on measuring the two expectations and, I believe, are essential to managing the prescription fulfillment process at CVS. 1. Processing time – prescriptions filled per unit of time. A major customer complaint was time – either waiting too long in line, waiting for their prescription after the pick-up time, etc. 2. Number of prescriptions filled per day and median processing time. Again, this metric will help identify peak time periods, staffing needs, and eliminate waiting times by customers. This would also help to measure accuracy. If prescriptions are constantly wrong and the customer has to wait to correct them, the processing time will be higher than expected. 3. Hourly volume and median processing time. This metric would measure the volume of prescriptions filled per hour, the percentage of prescriptions filled in under the target number of minutes, and the median time to fill them per hour. Because heavy users cited service as their number...
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...I. Case Introduction In 2002, CVS was the one of America’s largest retail drugstores with over 4,000 stores and $24.2 billion in revenue. Over two-thirds of the company’s revenue was generated by their pharmacies. Despite the company’s size and success, the company was facing a serious issue regarding the service at their pharmacies as they had many customers who were unhappy with the service they received. To combat these problems, CVS developed a Pharmacy Service Improvement (PSI) team to evaluate and redesign pharmacy operations at CVS retail locations. II. PSI Opportunity In 2000, 7.2 million regular pharmacy customers left CVS taking with them 55 million annual prescriptions that could have increased revenue by $2.5 billion. It is estimated that if the PSI team can develop a better fulfillment operations system they could prevent 60-90% of customer defections. Additionally, through the PSI’s preliminary research they have found that 44% of heavy users switch due to the poor service they receive. The loss of heavy users is significant because they bring in continuous revenue streams In addition to simple customer happiness, through the PSI program the CVS team has the opportunity to make the people working at the CVS pharmacies happier, especially those working at the pickup window. These groups of employees must handle the continuously angry customers who are dissatisfied with their service. It is known that this job is so difficult that many of these techs...
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...Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Business Seminar Case Study Bethany Odom, Katie Tewell, Kelly Snider, Brad Lowe Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………….3 Day-to-Day Operations Diagram……………………………….4 Drop Off………………………………………………………..5 Data Entry………………………………………………………7 Production………………………………………………………10 Quality Assurance………………………………………………12 Pick-Up…………………………………………………………12 Pharmacy Additions……………………………………………14 Our Future………………………………………………………15 Works Cited…………………………………………………….16 2 Introduction The current system in a CVS pharmacy allows customers to quickly drop off their prescriptions whenever convenient for them, the pharmacists and technicians to fill the scripts near the time the customer would like to pick them up, and customers to return to the store to pick up their medications at the specified time. However, this system creates long lines and angry customers during busy pick-up times, such as around the evening meal, when the typical work day concludes. We would like to implement a system that focuses on the day’s procedures and alters the drop-off, data entry, and production steps, therefore ideally reducing the number of problems that occur and must be resolved during the pick-up stage. With some additional changes made to the pick-up procedure, we feel CVS will be able to better their customer service and increase customer satisfaction while keeping the safety of its shoppers the company’s number one priority. The following page presents a data...
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...Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Business Seminar Case Study Bethany Odom, Katie Tewell, Kelly Snider, Brad Lowe Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………….3 Day-to-Day Operations Diagram……………………………….4 Drop Off………………………………………………………..5 Data Entry………………………………………………………7 Production………………………………………………………10 Quality Assurance………………………………………………12 Pick-Up…………………………………………………………12 Pharmacy Additions……………………………………………14 Our Future………………………………………………………15 Works Cited…………………………………………………….16 2 Introduction The current system in a CVS pharmacy allows customers to quickly drop off their prescriptions whenever convenient for them, the pharmacists and technicians to fill the scripts near the time the customer would like to pick them up, and customers to return to the store to pick up their medications at the specified time. However, this system creates long lines and angry customers during busy pick-up times, such as around the evening meal, when the typical work day concludes. We would like to implement a system that focuses on the day’s procedures and alters the drop-off, data entry, and production steps, therefore ideally reducing the number of problems that occur and must be resolved during the pick-up stage. With some additional changes made to the pick-up procedure, we feel CVS will be able to better their customer service and increase customer satisfaction while keeping the safety of its shoppers the company’s number one priority. The following page presents a data...
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...UNIVERSIDAD RAFAEL LANDÍVAR FACULTAD DE INGENIERÍA INGENIERÍA INDUSTRIAL SEMINARIO DE CASOS DE GESTIÓN Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Precaso Guatemala, 26 de septiembre de 2015 Grupo 16 Sandoval Huertas, María Ximena 1139911 PRECASO: Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Elementos del problema ¿Qué está pasando? Customer Value Store (CVS) fue una de las mayores farmacias minoritas de Estados Unidos, con más de dos tercios de los ingresos que se generaban por todas las farmacias en ese país. Las operaciones están funcionando mal y no satisfacen a los clientes. Muchos de ellos están desertando como resultado a este mal servicio. Un equipo de la mejora del servicio de farmacias ha documentado el proceso actual de recepción, llenado y entrega de recetas, sus excepciones, y los problemas generados por las excepciones. Ahora la compañía debe decidir cómo cambiar este proceso, y qué cambios a los sistemas de información se deben hacer para apoyar el proceso de rediseño. ¿A quién? ACTOR | FUNCIÓN | Jon Roberts | Vicepresidente de Operaciones de Tiendas | Josh Flum | Director de Tecnología de Tiendas | Tom Grossi | Consultor del Boston Consulting Group | Mitch Betses | Director de Operaciones de Farmacias | ¿Debido a qué? Se llegó a esta situación pues en las tiendas de CVS, los clientes percibían una mala experiencia en el servicio al cliente que se les brindaba. Esto generaba descontento y reacciones negativas hacia los trabajadores de las...
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...Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS MQM 227 – Operations Management 1. Background information & Main Problem Background information The first “Consumer Value Store”, or CVS opened in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1963 with rapid growth naturally and with acquisitions. By 2002 CVS had $24.2 billion in revenue, increasing revenue by 37 percent in just 4 years. This increase in revenue can be attributed to the increase of pharmacy members, which reached 29.5 million pharmacy members by the start of 2000. This has put them as one of America’s largest retail stores with 4,000 stores. Along with the rapid expansion, CVS established Pharmacy Service Initiative (PSI) to comprehend customer service issues. The PSI had spent months in July of 2002 to discover problems that were occurring in their stores. The team identified 67 problems, with 67 solutions. PSI established what would make their customers unhappy for example, anything affecting customer waiting periods and anything affecting safety. PSI also found that many customers find it difficult to switch pharmacies and customer defections were hampering growth, but in 2000 when the customers switched it contributed to $2.5 billion in lost revenue. Defining the main problem or issue The main problems and issues that the Pharmacy Service Initiative, PSI, was able to find in their CVS pharmacy’s occurred in their five step prescription fulfillment process. The five steps include: Drop-off, Data Entry, Production, Quality...
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...Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS Rhiannon Graham PID: 3634552 Redesign the Pharmacy Service Process at CVS Customer Value Store (CVS) is one of the largest retail drugstores in the United States. CVS has over 4,000 stores and generated revenue of 24.2 billion dollars in 2002. CVS grew at the same rate as other major pharmacy chains, but continued to lose millions of customers due to service issues. These problems led to the implementation of the Pharmacy Service Initiative (PSI). In observations of various stores, as well as interviews with employees, 67 major problems were identified. The steps in the service process include drop-off, data entry, production (prescription fulfillment), quality assurance, waiting for pickup, and the pickup. Each of these areas contain possibilities for improvement. The first step of the process is the drop off. This is the first interaction between the customer and the CVS employee. The problem that occurred at this step was the drop off window was sometimes unstaffed by the employee. This problem arose because the only work station available for employees to use was located near the pickup window. A potential solution to this issue is to put another work station at the drop off window. This would also allow for employees to verify all customer information at the drop off instead of at pick up which would shorten customer wait times at the pickup window and allow those transactions to run more smoothly. When the customers drop off...
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...Goldstein, Sid Goldstein, and Mark Steven in Lowell, Massachusetts, Consumer Value Store (CVS), has quickly grown to be the second largest pharmacy and convenience store with over 7,600 pharmacies and drugstores nationwide. Since the beginning, CVS has always strived to be the largest retail pharmacy-which led to the development of their growth strategy. Furthermore, CVS continually strives to “reinvent” the pharmacy and make healthy living a fundamental part of their customers’ lives. (Biesada, 2014) Initially, these strategies were influenced by the company’s mission statement and purpose. According to the CVS website, the company’s mission is to “provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and health care that are effective and easy for our customers” (CVS caremark corporation: History, 2014). Clearly, CVS is in business to provide expert care, although it would appear that not all of their individual pharmacists share the same feelings. Based on research conducted, it would appear that there is a general lack of customer service training as some pharmacists have allegedly been behaving rudely towards customers. Throughout the course of this initiative, we will be discussing the gaps that have been found and we will develop a training program that we hope will help alleviate these problems and allow CVS to fully realize their mission. Part II: Needs Assessment Pharmacy Prescription Practices As a result of organizational research, we have determined that...
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...I. Introduction and Overview CVS Pharmacy is considered one of the top pharmacy nationwide chains in the country. There are more than 7,100 stores total, located in nearly every state. The stores retail medication, toiletries and sundry merchandise that is purchased by consumers such as snacks, beverages, skin care and personal care items, holiday merchandise and convenience goods. There is also an online site where products can be ordered and shipped directly to consumers. Some of the CVS pharmacies have medical services that operate out of the retail stores. A. Identify the Organization CVS recognizes the importance of establishing a culture that will have an affect on its people and their performance. The organizational development functional management at CVS realized that sharing a common vision would assist each individual in understanding what the company stands for, commit to the same vision, and then work toward supporting the mission each and every day. The vision at CVS is simple “to strive to improve the quality of human life” (CVScaremark.com, 2010). Taking a look at two of the organization’s functional goals in the Technology and Human Resource business areas, it is easy to see how CVS is an industry leader. The organizational structure or team at CVS involved in working on this issue from the HR area include the Senior Vice President of HR, Training Specialist, nd local HR managers. From organizational operations there is the technology manager, and procurement...
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...CVS Caremark Organizational Analysis James P Miller Strayer University BUS 310 Professor Frevert Abstract CVS Caremark established 1963, has been expanding every year since their inception. With over 7,000 retail locations they face many human resources challenges. It essential for CVS to understand what HR challenges they face to make informed decisions; beneficial to the company stakeholders and employees. Hr decisions affect not only the employee’s but the company’s social opt squat. These resolutions include recruitment of highly skilled workers, company policies, labor relations, training and diversity, management of multiple locations, global business environments, employee compensation and benefits, and legal compliance. In addition, CVS human resources have to align optisquat with the mission and values of the company. CVS Caremark Organizational Analysis CVS Caremark is a pharmacy health care provider in the U.S. They provide pharmacy services, which includes mail order pharmacy services, specialty pharmacy services, plan design and administration, formulary management and claims processing; and Retail Pharmacy, which sells prescription drugs and a range of general merchandise, including over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, photo finishing, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards and convenience foods. As of Dec. 31, 2011, CVS has approximately 7,300 CVS/pharmacy retail stores. (CVS Care mark, 2011) CVS...
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...Rite Aid ------------------------------------------------- Company Statistics ------------------------------------------------- Company Rite Aid ------------------------------------------------- Exchange NYSE ------------------------------------------------- Ticker RAD ------------------------------------------------- Sector Consumer Staples ------------------------------------------------- Industry Retail Staples ------------------------------------------------- Recommendation Buy ------------------------------------------------- Current Price $5.68 ------------------------------------------------- Target Price $6.00 ------------------------------------------------- Market capitalization 5.268 B ------------------------------------------------- Shares outstanding 9.16 M ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Company Statistics ------------------------------------------------- Company Rite Aid ------------------------------------------------- Exchange NYSE ------------------------------------------------- Ticker RAD ------------------------------------------------- Sector Consumer Staples ------------------------------------------------- Industry Retail Staples ------------------------------------------------- Recommendation Buy ------------------------------------------------- Current Price $5.68 ------------------------------------------------- ...
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...Walgreens Overview Walgreens Co., America’s premier pharmacy is what Charles R. Walgreen called his neighborhood drugstore that has grown into a nationally recognized fortune 500 company. Charles R Walgreen was born in Galesburg, a small town in Illinois, but shortly relocated to a town sixty miles away named, Dixon, Illinois. Dixon is where the dream of Walgreens Co. began. At the age of sixteen years old, working in a factory, Charles cut off the top of his middle finger and ended his athletic career. This led him to take a job at Horton’s Drug Store in Dixon, Illinois. Charles absolutely despised this job but needed to do something to get him through school. Once school was out, in 1893 Walgreen relocated to Chicago, Illinois where he discovered that the drugstore industry wasn’t so bad after all. Walgreen gained knowledge from some of the best pharmacist known to man, Samuel Resenfield, Max Grieben, William G Valentine, and Isaac W Blood. While working with pharmacist he discovered that maybe working for Horton’s Drug Store all of those years ago was going to pay off. Charles realized that in the Chicago area the pharmacy/drugstore was very prominent and that he needed to do something to stand out. When it came to a drugstore/pharmacy consumers had many choices in the Chicago area. In 1901, he had saved up enough money to put a down payment of his own pharmacy. “Walgreen’s drugstore was located in Barrett’s Hotel at Cottage Grove ad Bowen Avenue on Chicago’s...
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...S Villanova School of Business VSB 1002- Business Dynamics II Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A) Harvard Business School Case 9-605-015 (Rev. October 20, 2006) Case Study Assignment Problems arose in almost every part of the fulfillment process, as explained below: [pic] Drop Off Staff asked for name, address, birth date, time of pick-up; then put script in slotted box (sectioned by hours of the day) in slot for one hour earlier than pick-up time Potential Drop Off Problem: No one manning drop-off station [pic] Data Entry At each hour, tech took scripts from that hour’s slot and entered all required data into pharmacy info system (so no one looked at script until 1 hour before pickup) Info logged in: Patient contact info Doctor contact info Third party payor info – insurance companies, employers Drug name Dosage Number of doses Number of refills System performed an automated Drug Utilization Review: Automated check of script against all other prescriptions in CVS database for patient; looking for harmful drug interactions and appropriateness of drug for patient given age, weight, gender, etc. Hard Stop = fulfillment process cannot proceed until DUR reviewed by pharmacist if automated review reveals any potential problems Hard Stop Good for patient safety Hard Stop Bad for slowing down process, lowering efficiency Insurance check was done after DUR. Checking to make sure insurance still valid, script matches drugs on formulary...
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...Villanova School of Business VSB 1002- Business Dynamics II Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A) Harvard Business School Case 9-605-015 (Rev. October 20, 2006) Case Study Assignment Problems arose in almost every part of the fulfillment process, as explained below: [pic] Drop Off Staff asked for name, address, birth date, time of pick-up; then put script in slotted box (sectioned by hours of the day) in slot for one hour earlier than pick-up time Potential Drop Off Problem: No one manning drop-off station [pic] Data Entry At each hour, tech took scripts from that hour’s slot and entered all required data into pharmacy info system (so no one looked at script until 1 hour before pickup) Info logged in: Patient contact info Doctor contact info Third party payor info – insurance companies, employers Drug name Dosage Number of doses Number of refills System performed an automated Drug Utilization Review: Automated check of script against all other prescriptions in CVS database for patient; looking for harmful drug interactions and appropriateness of drug for patient given age, weight, gender, etc. Hard Stop = fulfillment process cannot proceed until DUR reviewed by pharmacist if automated review reveals any potential problems Hard Stop Good for patient safety Hard Stop Bad for slowing down process, lowering efficiency Insurance check was done after DUR. Checking to make sure insurance still valid, script matches drugs on formulary...
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