While past flu seasons have had pharmacy professionals scrambling to dispense Tamiflu, 2020-2021 looks a little different. The seasonal flu has been out of the spotlight as COVID-19 has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths across our nation. Has this actually been a more mild flu season or is COVID-19 just garnering more of the public's attention? The CDC continuously collects data that can be used to answer these questions, as well as help speculate as to what makes this flu season so different. Read on to learn what's changed:

What does the 2020-2021 flu season look like?

After a demanding and difficult 2020, it’s time to get ready for a fresh start. While we’re looking forward to a new year, 2021 will surely present challenges of its own, especially in healthcare fields. The coming months will see pharmacy professionals slammed with immunizations and vaccinations, so set your pharmacy up for success by getting your FLAVORx service ready now. That way, you’re already prepared to help kids take their medicine, despite the many other things you will have going on. Here are our tips for getting your FLAVORx materials ready for the new year!

Check flavor stock and reorder if necessary

Look over your flavor inventory and make sure you are fully stocked and ready to flavor. Double-check that you have plenty of kid favorites like Bubblegum and Grape. Don’t forget about essentials like Sweetening Enhancer and Bitterness Suppressor; you can’t flavor without them! To reorder any
supplies, you can order from your wholesaler, contact us at 800-884-5771 or shoot an email to reorders@flavorx.com.

Full list of FLAVORx flavors: Apple, Banana, Bubblegum, Cherry, Grape, Lemon, Mango, Orange Raspberry, Strawberry, Watermelon, Sweetening Enhancer, Bitterness Suppressor, Vitamin/Iron Masking Agent

Fillmaster Auto flavors: Apple, Banana, Bubblegum, Cherry, Grape, Lemon, Mango, Raspberry, Strawberry, Watermelon, Sweetening Enhancer, Bitterness Suppressor

In the midst of a global health crisis, pharmacies have an essential role to play in their communities. Even though people might be staying home more according to social distancing guidelines, your pharmacy’s marketing strategy doesn’t need to grind to a halt. With a little creativity, you can continue to effectively market your pharmacy and help customers get the most out of their pharmacy

experience.

1. Make social media a priority

Since the pandemic first took hold around the world, maintaining good hygiene has been one of the enduring guidelines for staying healthy. We’ve all made practices like frequent handwashing, wearing a mask, and maintaining a six-foot distance and limiting contact from others part of our everyday lifestyle with the hope that they will prevent COVID-19 from spreading. As businesses that are essential to their communities’ health, pharmacies have had to take extra precaution to keep their patients and
employees safe.

The CDC has advised pharmacies to minimize time customers spend on the premises and limit contact between and staff and patients as much as possible. With the high business volume that pharmacies see, it can be difficult to get customers in and out of the pharmacy quickly with their questions answered and everything they need. During a time when safety and hygiene are the top priority, pharmacy automation can be a key factor towards maintaining a healthy environment in the pharmacy.

Time Saving 

Of the many guidelines that have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, keeping a safe distance from others may be one of the most important and most difficult to maintain. If a pharmacy is busy, it’s difficult to get people in and out quickly and efficiently while still providing them with good service. Pharmacy automation can save pharmacy staff time, allowing customers to spend less time in public in contact with others.

Reconstituting medications is a unique task in the pharmacy workflow that often leads to customers standing around waiting. Unlike prescriptions for pills and tablets, reconstituted medications can’t be filled ahead of time. They must be reconstituted when the customer arrives to pick them up. During a pandemic when people are being encouraged to spend less time in businesses, automating reconstitution can help reduce customers’ wait time. A pharmacy water dispenser can reduce the time needed to reconstitute a medication from minutes to mere seconds. That’s less time a customer must spend waiting in the pharmacy in contact with pharmacy employees and other customers.

Reduced contact

Pharmacy, like the rest of the world, has been turned upside down since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With all of the changes that have come about over the past few months and fewer kids getting normal illnesses that come with being together in school, maybe your flavoring program hasn’t been a priority. Now that we’re heading into cough, cold, and flu and season, it’s time to dust off those bottles of Bubblegum and Sweetening Enhancer and get back to helping kids take their medicine.