Digital transformation: The pharmaceutical industry is lagging behind...

In the 2000s, the pharmaceutical sector began its digital transformation. The launch of PharmaML, a data exchange protocol between pharmacies and their suppliers, launched the transformation of a sector once thought to be standing still. Twenty years on, what has become of the digitalization of commercial processes between pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies? Virtually unchanged.

A group-initiated transformation

And yet, the need is there. Pharmacists, who spend 30% of their time in the office managing laboratory partnerships, don't spend it at the counter with their patients.

The pharmacy groups have structured themselves and done a remarkable job of defining the pharmacist's needs. They have developed useful in-house tools to help pharmacists manage their purchases in the dispensary, and save time in the process. However, the need to upgrade these solutions is constant, and development costs are difficult to sustain over the long term.

How do laboratories differentiate themselves?

On the one hand, laboratories want to improve their purchasing experience, and on the other, they want to make pharmacists autonomous in their administrative tasks. Their answer: the espace pro. A solution that perfectly meets the laboratory's specifications, but generates little activity on the pharmacist's side. Why is this? Pharmacists want to find 100% of their laboratories on a single interface.

The digitization of customer service, one example of the sector's transformation

Numerous start-ups are striving to transform the sector and simplify the pharmacist's daily life. Digipharmacie, Yoobic and B2B marketplaces are transforming the sector in different verticals. By aligning itself with the needs of pharmacies and their groups, Faks centralizes the customer services of pharmaceutical companies, enabling pharmacies to send and track their complaints in real time.

Isabelle Cottenye, from Pharmacie Bizet, Villeneuve d'ascq, tells us all about it:

• How often do you use Faks? If so, which features?

"I've been using faks every day since it first came out, excluding vacations and weekends! I use it for supplier disputes with laboratories, and this for 3 different entities, so I use your application a lot".

• How did you do it before? What were the difficulties?

"Before Faks, I did it by e-mail and telephone. The problem was follow-up and feedback. Indeed, since I'm the only one managing this function, there's a lot of work involved. So I couldn't follow up and follow up quickly enough. So Faks saves me a lot of time in this area, when it comes to refreshing current disputes, or at least issuing a reminder. It makes the task quicker and easier."

• The advantages of a digital application like Faks?

"The advantages are tracking, the fact that everything is archived, calls, conversations and so on. It keeps you on track. As far as I'm concerned, having a paper trail is essential, especially in our sector, where we have to be irreproachable and have answers for everything. So when I have a dispute, I follow it from A to Z. With the reminders it's great too, as well as the new Faks computer version."

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