By Megan Moyer, senior marketing communications specialist, for the Home Health Care Opportunity blog series
Determining how much space you will need to devote to a home health care (HHC) department in your store is equal parts science and art. Below we have provided guidelines (the “science”) for the space you should consider setting aside to merchandise HHC items based solely upon pharmacy size.
| Pharmacy Size | HHC Department Size |
| 2,000 square feet or less | Your pharmacy can support 12 feet of home health care. This would accommodate a minimal assortment with very basic home health offerings. |
| 2,000-3,500 square feet | Your store has the capacity for 32 feet of home health care. You have enough room for a larger assortment of HHC products in a variety of categories. Revisit my previous blog post which helped you determine which categories will perform best for your pharmacy. |
| 3,500+ square feet | You have the space for 48 feet of HHC. With this kind of space your store can become a community destination for home health care products. |
Note with the suggestions above, that depending upon what categories you elect to offer, you may or may not be able to create a comprehensive department on one continuous shelving unit. That is, if your pharmacy is 3,000 square feet, you may not have 32 running feet available to display products. Instead, find an area where you can create “sub-departments” that are adjacent to one another. For example, a corner of your pharmacy may have 8 feet available on two walls, plus an additional 16 feet of free-standing shelving. Be creative and consider a patient’s perspective to simplify your home health merchandising.
What is the “art” to determining how much space to devote to home health care? Consider your overall vision for your pharmacy in terms of the degree to which you’d like to become involved in HHC. Let’s start by assuming you’ve been following this series and completing the worksheets to help inform your decision about home health in your pharmacy. For the sake of example, let’s say based on the information in this post, you’ve discovered your pharmacy could accommodate 32 feet of home health care offerings based upon its size, however, you’ve previously determined that there is well-established competition in your area, and the needs of your current patient base will not support a 32 foot HHC department. Thus, relying on the “science” alone would not garner success. (If you’re in a scenario like this, and feel there is a demand your pharmacy can fill, contact us for a consultation to assess your pharmacy’s specific characteristics, position within the community, area demographics, and other factors that will determine your best plan to be a resource for home health care in your community.)
Take Action
Creating or adding to a home health department will involve making important decisions about the rest of your assortment. Consider how much space you devote to items such as greeting cards, gifts, candy, and other non-pharmacy products. Evaluate your overall use of space. Compare that use against your desire to preserve and promote patient health. Then plan accordingly how to re-purpose your space to incorporate a home health care department.
Simple calculations can help you make these decisions. Fill in the table on this worksheet with the information relative to your pharmacy’s front-end.