Swot Analysis Walgreens

My Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) was done at Walgreens. Founded in the year 1901 by Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Walgreens is one of the largest drugstore chains in the U.S., with more than 8,000 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Known for its “At the Corner of Happy and Healthy” motto, Walgreens maintains its leadership by offering its customers ultimate convenience, earned loyalty, as well as extraordinary customer and patient care. While there, customers can obtain free medical advice and receive special services that focus on prevention (i.e. flu shots), wellness, treatment, monitoring and management. Walgreens allows its customers to receive perks, known as “Balance Rewards,” for various things including prescriptions, immunizations, and auto-refills. In addition to these perks, Walgreens offers its customers discount cards to help reduce prescription prices. Walgreens also offers flu shots and diabetes testing supplies at a $0 co-pay. For those who have a hard time adjusting to the taste of certain powdered antibiotics, Walgreens carries medication “Flavorins” that comes in more than ten different flavors and is offered at a low price of $2.99 per prescription. Provision of such services allows Walgreens pharmacies to continue to run at an all-time daily high. Throughout the majority of my rotation at Walgreens, I was under the supervision of Dr. Nigel Hutchinson, who is the partner of Dr. Nick Lenfest (lead pharmacist). I had the privilege to work at all stations available. At drop off, I typed prescriptions as they came in. Here, I had the opportunity to use information that I learned in my Pharmaceutics Lab and Calculations courses. For example, I was given a prescription for a pediatric patient for Amoxicillin 250mg/5ml and the sig read: Give 300 mg p.o. bid for 10 days. I was able to decipher the sig codes and calculate the amount of milliliters given daily to the patient. My calculations were as followed: ∴ x = 6 milliliters ∴ (6) · (2) · (10) = 120 My total outcome was “Give 6 milliliters by mouth twice a day for 10 days with a total of 120 milliliters.” In production, I mainly counted pills. The production station allowed me to gain an overview of the pharmacy and helped me to distinguish the commonly used “fast-rack” drugs. In addition to filling prescriptions I assisted with phone calls; mostly in reference to the availability of a medication to be picked up or the amount of refills that were left for a patient. This type of information was not disclosed without the patient’s full first and last name and their date of birth. Due to the nature of the pharmacy, I was not confined to one station and my primary goal was to assist the staff pharmacist and technician in all areas that were within my limits. This included working the cash register, organizing shelves, and researching various drugs. Throughout my time at Walgreens, I noticed the clientele mainly consisted of elderly patients, as well as those who appeared to be in their mid-thirties to forties. The majority of the customers were either of African American or Caucasian descent. Occasionally, a few people of Hispanic decent came in but …show more content…
At all times, I was accompanied by a licensed staff pharmacist (Dr. Hutchinson or Dr. Lenfest), coupled with both pharmacy technicians (Stacy and Ashley). I can recall a time a shopper came in complaining about possible urinary tract infection symptoms. Upon listening to her concerns, Dr. Hutchinson and I discussed with the young lady her options, which involved going to the doctor or trying something over the counter. The young lady shared that she did not have insurance and preferred to try something that was over the counter. Under the direction of Dr. Hutchinson, I escorted the young lady to the isle where the AZO® Rapid Relief tablets belonged. Dr. Hutchinson then guided me on how to go about advising the customer about the proper dosage and that she must consult a physician if relief does not occur within two days. After providing counsel, Dr. Hutchinson and I walked the woman to the front counter, where Ashley was ready to complete the