CASE STUDY
www.surecost.com
HOW SMITH PHARMACY FINDS
BETTER PURCHASING OPTIONS
AND PASSES THE SAVINGS
ALONG TO PATIENTS
THE COMPANY: SMITH PHARMACY
Smith Pharmacy is an independent, full-service, family-owned and operated retail
pharmacy. Their mission is to provide a low-cost, service-oriented pharmacy to their
community. The team takes pride in providing excellent care in a complex healthcare
environment. They are dedicated to providing patients with quality service. Patients
single out Smith Pharmacy for their trusted guidance with medications while getting the
best prices.
THE CHALLENGE
The pharmacy purchasing ecosystem is not designed for transparency or ease.
The best purchasing options — which account for patient needs, low COGS, primary
vendor compliance, rebate potential and other factors — are usually hidden within a
mass of data spread across multiple catalogs from a variety of vendors using
different interfaces.
Smith Pharmacy experienced this challenge firsthand. As Founder and Owner Nic Smith
explained: “We used to get phone calls every day from all these vendors about specials
and sales, and we just didn’t have time to sit and compare. And we don’t want to switch
manufacturers all the time. We don’t want someone’s mother coming in, getting their
medication, and it looks different for the third time in a row.”
Managing up to four secondary wholesalers at once was also labor-intensive for the
team. Without an effective solution to compare products, they would rely on manual
processes (like physically sorting items on the shelves) to determine which vendor had
the best price.
“Even then,” Nic adds, “prices change all the time, so there wasn’t a great way to make
sure that was still the best price. And we didn’t have the time to sit back and verify a
source price versus a secondary price. Our original process was very labor-intensive,
and it wasn’t very accurate!”
Nic Smith
Founder and Owner
~ Smith Pharmacy
“
We needed to know if the
switch was worthwhile,
so we did an analysis. It
turned out SureCost was
saving us over $200,000
a year. And it’s probably
closer to $300,000 now.”
Nic Smith
Founder and Owner
~ Smith Pharmacy
CASE STUDY
www.surecost.com
HOW SURECOST HELPED
Smith Pharmacy uses an integrated purchasing solution to find the best option for their
patients and their business.
THE SOLUTION
SureCost is a unified purchasing and inventory management solution designed for
pharmacies to harness insights from their entire vendor and wholesaler catalog.
This software empowers pharmacy teams to identify the best purchasing options
while ensuring compliance and optimizing workflows. Over 5,000 pharmacy
professionals across the country use SureCost every day to save more, stay compliant
and work smarter.
Smith Pharmacy now uses SureCost to efficiently expand its purchasing portfolio
through multiple secondary vendors in addition to their primary wholesaler.
With SureCost, they can easily compare prices and purchasing options. Among other
benefits outlined below, using this solution has led to savings for Smith Pharmacy
and their patients.
See how much your pharmacy can save with SureCost. Calculate in Seconds.
https://info.surecost.com/roi-savings-calculator
THE BENEFITS OF USING SURECOST
Saving Time and Money
SureCost has eliminated the time and labor Smith Pharmacy previously spent just
comparing catalogs and fielding vendor offers. “SureCost helped us tremendously
streamline our purchasing. You don’t have to go on to the other third party websites to
order. You do it all on one platform. And vendors know not to bother calling us because if
their pricing is good, it’s going to be reflected in SureCost.”
SureCost’s pricing transparency has significantly lowered the COGS for Smith Pharmacy.
They can now quickly identify the best purchasing options. For example, a primary
wholesaler might keep the same price on a generic drug while secondaries drop the
price. Nic shares how he showed their primary wholesaler a dermatological drug listed
at $190 while six other vendors were selling it for just ten dollars.
SureCost identifies overpriced drugs and shows the better option — without you having
to keep checking and cross-referencing multiple catalogs. Nic points out how “you can
have hundreds of dollars of savings on just one drug.”
Supporting Patients
Smith Pharmacy passes these savings along to their customers. Patients consistently
note the low prices at Smith Pharmacy, and Nic says that SureCost is an important part
of staying competitive in this area. SureCost also supports Smith Pharmacy in meeting
their patients’ health needs by reducing out-of-stocks.
As Nic explains, that means patients get the medications they need: “If a vendor doesn’t
have that drug, we can look and find somebody that does. We’re a large-volume store.
“
It’s a godsend.
Honestly, the
best thing
that we’ve
ever done in
our pharmacy
is setting up
SureCost.”
Nic Smith
Founder and Owner
~ Smith Pharmacy
CASE STUDY
www.surecost.com
We do over 1,500 prescriptions a day, and we get a lot of unusual requests. A patient
may have an infection and need that medicine today. If it wasn’t for SureCost, I’d have
to log in to ten different wholesalers, sit there, and look individually at each one to see if
they have it.”
Increasing Business Intelligence
Nic and his team rely on SureCost’s flexible reporting to enhance several areas of their
operations. As just one example, by using the purchase history, when Nic has to return
something, he doesn’t have to search through all his vendors to find where he last
ordered it. If he notices a drug price trending high, he can also easily look back to see
when he got a better price and from which vendor. And SureCost’s flexible reporting
allows the pharmacy to ensure compliance with their primary wholesaler, even as they
expand their purchasing options.
Achieving Immediate ROI With a Reliable Partner
Smith Pharmacy began seeing ROI with SureCost within a week of implementation.
Nic points out that it took two weeks to configure SureCost with his catalog of vendors,
internal systems and processes. Nic and his team worked closely with SureCost’s team,
whom he found “very responsive, and we bothered them a lot!”
In terms of how much SureCost has saved Smith Pharmacy, Nic has already done the
math: “About three years ago, we were debating switching to a different buying group.
It had better pricing than our current group but was more rigid in allowing us to buy
outside. We needed to know if the switch was worthwhile, so we did an analysis. It
turned out SureCost was saving us over $200,000 a year. And it’s probably closer to
$300,000 now.”
Join over 5,000 pharmacy professionals across the country who use SureCost every day
to save more, stay compliant and work smarter.
Book a Purchase Manager™ demo today to learn more about what smarter purchasing
can do for your pharmacy.
https://info.surecost.com/talk-to-a-purchasing-and-inventory-expert?utm_
campaign=RX%20Insider&utm_source=RX%20Insider%20Case%20Study%20Print%20
Ad&utm_medium=Smith%20Pharmacy
“
Basically, the
savings from
SureCost allow
us to have
another two
pharmacists on
staff. It more than
pays for itself.”
Nick Smith
Founder and Owner
~ Smith Pharmacy
on the cost of
goods annually
using SureCost.
On average,
pharmacies save
MORE THAN
2-5%
https://hubs.la/Q02lSs5v0
https://hubs.la/Q02lSs5v0
https://hubs.la/Q02lSs5v0
“We needed to know if the switch was
worthwhile, so we did an analysis. It
turned out SureCost was saving us
over $200,000 a year. And it’s
probably closer to $300,000 now.”
Nic Smith, Founder and Owner, Smith
Pharmacy
Simplify Buying, Amplify
Savings with SureCost
On average, pharmacies save more than 2–5% on the cost of goods
annually using SureCost and 50% off the time they used to spend
managing purchasing and inventory without SureCost.
SureCost Is the Smarter
Purchasing Solution…
Harness insights from your entire vendor and wholesaler catalog.
Empower teams to identify the best purchasing options.
Easily compare prices and purchasing options.
Effectively expand your purchasing portfolio through multiple
secondary vendors in addition to your primary wholesaler.
Smith Pharmacy recognized that SureCost was
essential to improving operational efficiency,
reducing costs and ultimately enhancing patient
care. Let SureCost do the same for your Pharmacy.
How?
Talk to a Purchasing Expert
Join over 5,000 pharmacy professionals across the country who use SureCost
every day to save more, stay compliant, and work smarter.
Book a Demo. See SureCost In Person.
https://info.surecost.com/talk-to-a-purchasing-and-inventory-expert