Pharmacy Business Plan: Managing Healthcare Change
This paper presents a business plan for transforming a pharmacy's pricing structure and technology adoption within a healthcare organization. It examines the need for change, including reducing prescription medication costs for out-of-pocket patients and investing in advanced pharmaceutical technology. The paper identifies organizational and individual barriers to change, such as staff resistance, resource limitations, and conflicting professional guidance. It also analyzes factors influencing readiness for change — including change valence, change efficacy, and contextual organizational culture — using the Congruence Model of Organizational Change by Nadler and Tushman. Finally, it discusses internal and external resources, including senior leadership coalitions, needed to support the change initiative.
- Introduction: The Case for Pharmacy Change: Rationale for reducing prescription costs and upgrading technology
- Organizational and Individual Barriers to Change: Staff resistance, resource gaps, and conflicting guidance
- Factors Influencing the Proposed Change: Consumer demand, professional goals, and commercial interest
- Factors Influencing Organizational Readiness for Change: Change valence, efficacy, and organizational culture factors
- The Theoretical Model: The Congruence Model: Nadler and Tushman's model applied to pharmacy reform
- Internal and External Resources for the Change Initiative: Leadership coalitions and stakeholder engagement strategies
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its reform argument in a concrete operational problem — high prescription costs — and systematically traces how that problem connects to broader organizational change theory.
- Each section builds logically on the last, moving from the problem identification, to barriers, to enabling factors, to theoretical grounding, and finally to implementation resources.
- The application of the Nadler and Tushman Congruence Model gives the practical business plan an academic anchor, demonstrating that the student can connect real-world healthcare management decisions to established organizational theory.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied theory integration: the student identifies a workplace problem and uses an established organizational change model (the Congruence Model) to explain why certain elements — formal structures, people, work, and informal processes — must align for the proposed change to succeed. This technique shows the ability to move between abstract frameworks and practical healthcare administration contexts.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a problem-driven rationale for pharmacy change, then systematically addresses resistance through a barriers section. Two middle sections examine external influences and internal readiness factors using theory-supported categories (valence, efficacy, contextual factors). The theoretical model section provides academic grounding, and the final section pivots to implementation by identifying leadership roles and coalition-building as key resources.
Introduction: The Case for Pharmacy Change
The proposed change aims to transform the organization's pharmacy by making prescription medications available to clients at reduced costs compared to existing rates, while also investing in the latest technology-based medicines. Complaints have been widespread regarding the high pricing of medicines relative to rates offered at other healthcare centers, making price control a pressing priority.
This objective can be realized through careful maintenance of operational efficiencies by targeting specific market segments — particularly patients who pay for their prescription medicines out of pocket. For instance, streamlining cash flow disruptions caused by delays in insurance compensation would reduce overhead. The organization can also discontinue unnecessary services for repeat customers who are already knowledgeable and on maintenance medications. Furthermore, ensuring that drugs are produced using the best available pharmaceutical technology helps justify any marginally higher prices by guaranteeing quality (Pharmacy business plan sample, 2016).
Organizational and Individual Barriers to Change
The main barriers to this proposed change include a lack of conscious effort to introduce productive change, time limitations, fear of failure, and exposure to change against a backdrop of recent historical failures. Resistance to change often stems from the fact that change disrupts the clarity people have about familiar operational processes and is perceived as a sign of instability. Changes can appear as threats to already-achieved successes, and they require current staff to work differently from what they are accustomed to. However, such a scenario may be an opportunity to learn new skills, develop innovative techniques, and build new efficiencies (Kwit & Kister, 2013). Being aware of the areas that need change and understanding why such change is necessary are critical first steps in facilitating it.
Evidence shows that most healthcare personnel lack familiarity with the latest developments in evidence-based healthcare practices. Although they may have encountered hints that new guidance is in circulation, they often have no clear rationale for why their current ways of operating need to change (How to change practice, 2007).
Beliefs and acceptance also play a role: what affected stakeholders believe will be the gains of the proposed change — versus the accompanying costs — can be decisive. Social influence similarly shapes the dynamics of change. When new guidance conflicts with guidance issued by other professional bodies, it becomes difficult for some healthcare personnel to adopt it. Additionally, personal convictions about one's ability to adapt to change will influence how receptive individuals are (How to change practice, 2007).
Practical barriers are equally significant. A lack of staff or resources to implement change, or challenges in establishing new service delivery structures, can present real obstacles. New equipment may be required, and the organization's infrastructure may need to be altered to accommodate new guidance. Sustaining change over the long term is yet another practical challenge. One key risk in this regard is the departure of staff members who were directly involved in implementing the change (How to change practice, 2007).
Factors Influencing the Proposed Change
The demand for better healthcare services is an important consideration. Available data demonstrate that use of healthcare services increases as people's incomes rise. Wealthier societies provide a more conducive environment for fresh medical innovations. Patients desire medical care that helps them attain better health outcomes, and new medical care technologies are widely seen as an important means of achieving those aims. Increased awareness of medical technology through the internet, traditional media, and direct consumer contact further drives consumer demand (Snapshots, 2007).
The desire among professionals to improve healthcare services — and the volume of resources invested in research — are also critical factors. Direct healthcare providers may advocate for the adoption of new technologies because they wish to improve the services they offer. Competition for patients can similarly inspire providers to offer the best available medical technologies and treatment approaches. Like workers in other sectors, healthcare workers may also be motivated by professional goals to initiate change (Snapshots, 2007).
Commercial interest is another longstanding driver of change. Designers of medical equipment and devices, along with commercial pharmaceutical companies, invest significant sums in research when they identify strong consumer interest in a product line, motivated by the promise of financial return. Investment in basic science research by both public and private sectors also leads to advancement in medical care practice, often driven not by a desire to create new products but by the pursuit of new knowledge and understanding (Snapshots, 2007).
The price of prescription medicine has a direct impact on the patients who use them and the physicians who prescribe them. A common example is the cost variance between brand-name drugs and their generic equivalents. It is essential for administrators to understand the implications of these differences and how they influence treatment choices. Administrators must monitor costs closely and respond to changes as the situation demands (Murillo, 2010).
References
Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation Science, 4(1), 1.
Murillo, M. (2010). Trends affecting healthcare. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://www.healthadministrationdegrees.com/articles/trends-affecting-healthcare/
Snapshots: How changes in medical technology affect health care costs. (2007, March 2). Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/snapshots-how-changes-in-medical-technology-affect/
How to change practice. (2007). Retrieved October 27, 2016, from
Ramanujam, R., Keyser, D. J., & Sirio, C. A. (2005). Making a case for organizational change in patient safety initiatives.
Kwit, T., & Kister, A. (2013). Proposals for organizational changes in hospitals based on diagnosis of medical staff knowledge.
Pharmacy business plan sample. (2016). Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://www.bplans.com/pharmacy_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php
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