The growing number of pharmacies meant that they began to compete with each other in the fight for customers, at the same time moving further away from their basic function. Therefore, in 2012, a complete ban on advertising of pharmacies was introduced.
What made theban on advertising of pharmacies appear in Polish law ? The image of Polish pharmacies has changed beyond recognition over the last 20 years. Liberalization of the regulations regulating the functioning of this type of institutions at the beginning of the 90s meant that free-market practices settled in them for good.
Pharmacies are no longer associated only with dispensing drugs and pharmacists' advice. And all because the law allows anyone to become the owner of a pharmacy - regardless of their education. The number of facilities increased rapidly, but instead of competing with each other with the knowledge and experience of pharmacists, they began to attract patients with promotions, discounts, advertisements and loy alty programs. Marketing models, so far known from other areas of trade, have entered the pharmacy market for good.
Unfortunately, the liberalization of the pharmacy market has led to the appearance of many pathologies on it. Not only the consumption of drugs began to grow at an alarming rate, but also the amount of pharmaceutical preparations thrown into the garbage. The NHF expenditure on the reimbursement of drugs, the sale of which was artificially driven by pharmacies offering them at symbolic prices (e.g. insulin for PLN 0.01), also increased dramatically.
For these reasons, the Ministry of He alth introduced drastic changes to the pharmaceutical law. The most important was the ban on advertising pharmacies. From January 1, 2012, such outlets cannot advertise in any way - only information about the address and opening hours has become allowed.
Loy alty for points is also an advertisement
Loy alty programs have also been recognized as a type of advertising for pharmacies. Patients know them in the form of various points, stars, suns and stamps collected on special cards. Collecting enough of them made it possible to receive prizes. The aim of the loy alty programs was to "tie" the patient to a given pharmacy. The moment he received a loy alty card of one of such facilities, he intuitively or intentionally returned to it in order to continue collecting points in the hope of an additional benefit in the form of a reward. LittleAs a consequence of the loy alty programs, many patients were sometimes persuaded to make unreasonably larger purchases in a pharmacy just to gain an additional "point". With the entry into force of the new regulations, all loy alty programs in pharmacies were banned.
Costly discounts
Another regulation introduced at that time was the stiffening of the official prices of reimbursed drugs. Until now, their price could be set individually by each pharmacy, but it could not exceed the maximum set by the Ministry of He alth. As a result, some pharmacies undercut the prices of reimbursed drugs and advertised it in the media only to attract more patients. The effect of this was the aforementioned insulin for PLN 0.01, which could attract patients even from another poviat to a specific pharmacy. This led to the creation of the so-called drug tourism - patients often traveled tens of kilometers in search of a pharmacy offering reimbursed drugs at the lowest prices.
One price of reimbursed drugs
Unfortunately, it also led to a huge waste of drugs - they were often bought in advance, and then thrown away because they expired. And all of this was co-financed from the budget of the National He alth Fund - that is, our contributions. The regulations in force today do not allow pharmacies to lower the prices of reimbursed drugs. In all facilities of this type throughout Poland, they must be the same. This move quickly regulated the pharmacy market and eliminated the problem of drug waste. The NHF's expenditure on drug reimbursement has also decreased, and this has made it possible to invest the saved funds in co-financing more modern preparations and therapies. "Drug tourism" has also been limited, because from that moment on, refunded drugs cost the same in every pharmacy.
Worth knowingCompetition is still
The changes in the regulations did not completely end the price competition on the pharmacy market. Reimbursed drugs are only part of the assortment of a modern pharmacy. The rest are non-refundable drugs, OTC, dietary supplements, medical devices, cosmetics and other products. The Ministry of He alth and any other act have no control over their prices. As a result, their amount has become an element of competition between pharmacies. However, it is so difficult that any attempt by the pharmacy to inform the local community about its price list is treated as advertising, i.e. prohibited by law.
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