Case answers for Pharmacy Service
Improvement at CVS (A)
Problem Statement:
CVS had grown to become one of the largest retail drugstores with
$24.2B in revenue of which $16.1B was generated by their pharmacies.
Despite the growth in revenue along with 8.5 million new customers,
CVS lost 7.2M customers during the same year. Growth potential was
being held back by unhappy customers leaving CVS for another
pharmacy. Compounding the issue was the fact that switching
pharmacy services were relatively easy, but most customers did not
realize this yet. This only added to the urgency of addressing the
problem as soon as possible.
Executives at CVS formed the Pharmacy Services Initiative (PSI)
which uncovered 67 different process-related issues and observed that
staff would encounter issues with 40% of all customers they worked
with during their shifts. Service-related issues affected 44% of heavy
users who left while also affecting 13% of light users. Most of the
customer’s complaints revolved around wait time, which was often a
result of various issues that occurred before they reached the pick-up
window. The PSI team looked at each of the 5-steps in the fulfillment
process and uncovered many inconsistencies and inefficiencies at the
drop-off window, the data-entry process, and the pick-up window.
During fulfillment, 27% of all prescriptions encountered a “substantial
problem” either with Doctor approval, drug interaction safety checks,
or third-party payment verification. Most of these issues were resolved
by the technician or pharmacist during the fulfillment process, but
this didn’t mean that the customer would be satisfied when they came
to pick-up their order. 16% of the customers at observed locations did
not get what they expected when they arrived at the pick-up counter.
Problems ranged from uninsured prescriptions at unreasonable prices
to unfilled orders along with long wait times at the pick-up window
line. Customers typically requested pick-up times after work between
the hours of 5-7 PM which made it a stressful time for staff. A
bottleneck formed at the pick-up window which resulted in longer
lines and longer wait times for customers arriving during these hours.
Improvement at CVS (A)
Problem Statement:
CVS had grown to become one of the largest retail drugstores with
$24.2B in revenue of which $16.1B was generated by their pharmacies.
Despite the growth in revenue along with 8.5 million new customers,
CVS lost 7.2M customers during the same year. Growth potential was
being held back by unhappy customers leaving CVS for another
pharmacy. Compounding the issue was the fact that switching
pharmacy services were relatively easy, but most customers did not
realize this yet. This only added to the urgency of addressing the
problem as soon as possible.
Executives at CVS formed the Pharmacy Services Initiative (PSI)
which uncovered 67 different process-related issues and observed that
staff would encounter issues with 40% of all customers they worked
with during their shifts. Service-related issues affected 44% of heavy
users who left while also affecting 13% of light users. Most of the
customer’s complaints revolved around wait time, which was often a
result of various issues that occurred before they reached the pick-up
window. The PSI team looked at each of the 5-steps in the fulfillment
process and uncovered many inconsistencies and inefficiencies at the
drop-off window, the data-entry process, and the pick-up window.
During fulfillment, 27% of all prescriptions encountered a “substantial
problem” either with Doctor approval, drug interaction safety checks,
or third-party payment verification. Most of these issues were resolved
by the technician or pharmacist during the fulfillment process, but
this didn’t mean that the customer would be satisfied when they came
to pick-up their order. 16% of the customers at observed locations did
not get what they expected when they arrived at the pick-up counter.
Problems ranged from uninsured prescriptions at unreasonable prices
to unfilled orders along with long wait times at the pick-up window
line. Customers typically requested pick-up times after work between
the hours of 5-7 PM which made it a stressful time for staff. A
bottleneck formed at the pick-up window which resulted in longer
lines and longer wait times for customers arriving during these hours.
