Farmington Hills Pharmacy Awarded IPC "Most Earned" Pharmacy Star

Farmington Hills Pharmacy in Farmington Hills, Michigan recently won a "Most Earned" Independent Pharmacy Cooperative (IPC) pharmacy star award for their use of EQUIPP for 2024 at the McKesson ideaShare 2025 in Nashville.  Owner and pharmacist Tarek Haddo shares how proactive patient engagement in EQUIPP  fosters loyalty, as patients appreciate the personalized attention and care they receive, which sets Farmington Hills Pharmacy apart from larger chains. 

Host Brittany Boyd, Associate Director of Pharmacy Training and Support at PQS by Innovaccer asks Haddo how his team implements EQUIPP into their workflow and how EQUIPP Enhanced Services has impacted his revenue.

Chapters

• 0:56 Introduction
• 2:59 Farmington Hills Pharmacy Engagement
• 6:44 Incorporating EQUIPP into workflow
• 9:07 Earning Revenue in EQUIPP
• 11:36 Finding Success in EQUIPP
• 13:39 Closing Gaps in Care
• 15:30 Continuing EQUIPP use in 2025
• 17:30 Building Community
• 21:01 Closing

Transcript

00:00:01:00 - 00:00:04:23

Tarek Haddo

Sometimes, even if it's a refill that is past

00:00:04:23 - 00:00:26:08

Tarek Haddo

due, we wonder, is the patient okay? Are they, you know, doing fine. Anything change? Did you stop taking this medication? So for me, it's like a a comprehensive tool to actually engage with your patient to make sure, you know, they're on the right track. They're taking all the right medications. You know, they're actually compliant with their medications.

00:00:26:10 - 00:00:55:01

Tarek Haddo

So, for me, I feel like it is a great tool to not only, make some great money, but also engage with your patient. And this right there will keep the patients there with the pharmacy for the longest time. Because, you know, once you do that to them, once you treat them like you care about them, they'll never going to leave anywhere else.

00:00:56:03 - 00:01:00:01

Voice Over

Welcome to the Pharmacy Quality Solutions Quality Corner Show,

00:01:00:17 - 00:01:05:21

Voice Over

Buckle up and put your thinking cap on. The Quality Corner Show starts now.

00:01:06:09 - 00:01:33:03

Brittany Boyd

Hello and welcome to a special edition of the Quality Corner Podcast Show. Today I will be your host, Brittney Boyd, Associate Director of Pharmacy Training and Support. I have the privilege of interviewing Tarek Haddo, owner and pharmacist in charge at Farmington Hills Pharmacy located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The performance of Farmington Hills Pharmacy in the 2024 calendar year has identified them as the most earned pharmacy within the Independent Pharmacy Cooperative Group, or IPC.

00:01:33:05 - 00:01:39:08

Brittany Boyd

Under our new pharmacy Stars program, we are here to welcome Tarek to the show. Welcome.

00:01:39:08 - 00:01:40:22

Tarek Haddo

Hi, Britney, how are you?

00:01:41:01 - 00:01:42:13

Brittany Boyd

Doing well. How are you today?

00:01:42:16 - 00:01:44:07

Tarek Haddo

I'm well, I'm well, thank you.

00:01:44:18 - 00:02:05:10

Brittany Boyd

Awesome. Well, for our Quality Corner show listeners wondering what is a pharmacy star, I'm happy to announce that the Pharmacy Stars program is a recognition program designed to recognize the outstanding achievements of our community pharmacy partners. PQS by Innovaccer would like to celebrate the efforts of our end users, as they leverage the EQUIPP platform to best influence their actions in the pharmacy.

00:02:05:12 - 00:02:27:12

Brittany Boyd

During today's episode, we'll spend some time getting familiar with Tarek in the Farmington Hills Pharmacy ahead of the McKesson ideaShare Conference. The award will be physically presented during that time. So no matter if you're listening to this interview prior to the award, recognition or after. Please join me in congratulating Farmington Hills Pharmacy for their engagement with patient opportunities that provided an additional revenue stream for them through EQUIPP in 2024.

00:02:27:14 - 00:02:31:14

Brittany Boyd

Tarek, how does it feel to receive this award from EQUIPP?

00:02:31:20 - 00:02:56:23

Tarek Haddo

Honestly, it feels great. It feels always feels great to be recognized. We do work hard with our patients. We do, spent, a good amount of time on EQUIPP. We do utilize the platform, to the best of our knowledge. So, honestly, it on top of it being a good revenue for the pharmacy.

00:02:57:00 - 00:02:59:06

Tarek Haddo

It's great to be rewarded for that.

00:02:59:10 - 00:03:15:17

Brittany Boyd

Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. And again, congratulations. Now, for my listeners, as I mentioned to you, we'll take this time to learn more about Farmington Hills Pharmacy. So we're going to jump right in. Tarek, how many team members do you all have on staff and on average, how many patients are you typically engaging with on a weekly basis?

00:03:16:09 - 00:03:42:07

Tarek Haddo

So we do have two full time technicians. I do have, a part time pharmacist that does, help me with I do work, most of the time. So I'm here almost like six days a week. But, we also, do have a part time technician. We do have pharmacy students that actually join our pharmacy from, time to time.

00:03:42:09 - 00:04:04:23

Tarek Haddo

We do probably engage with about 20 to 30 patients a day. As far as phone calls, customers showing up at the pharmacy. You know, some of them, actually, we do, email. So, yeah, I would say roughly between 20 to 30 patients a day.

00:04:05:08 - 00:04:26:03

Brittany Boyd

It's amazing. Thank you for sharing that information. It's really fantastic to hear that you're emailing the patients. That's, definitely, a new way for outreach that I, I don't think we are typically hearing on a regular basis as typically phone calls and some text messaging. Right. Great to hear you guys are emailing them as well. Yes, really fantastic to hear the technicians you guys have on staff and utilizing them.

00:04:26:03 - 00:04:46:18

Brittany Boyd

I am a technician by trade, so that's really great. And so we hear from pharmacies often that it can be challenging, right, to utilize EQUIPP at the store level, knowing the number of other software platforms that you may be utilizing or other competing priorities that may be going on. Why is it all important? Why is it important for you there in the Farmington Hills Pharmacy and your staff to utilize the EQUIPP platform?

00:04:47:08 - 00:05:17:09

Tarek Haddo

For me, besides the revenue part, which is obviously great, that's a that's a that's a very great incentive. Also, I use it as a tool for, like, refill reminders, for patient adherence, for compliance. So, you know, a lot of the time, with your busy day with, you know, the, the amount of patients you see, you know, you forget to some people do want their medications automatically refilled, every month without them calling, without them reaching out.

00:05:17:09 - 00:05:31:11

Tarek Haddo

So sometimes if you slip here and there so that for me, EQUIPP is a great tool for that matter. You know, we log in sometimes. Oh, we forgot to do her refill. We forgot to do his refill. Then we call them, you know, we

00:05:31:11 - 00:05:33:09

Tarek Haddo

reach out to them, you know,

00:05:33:09 - 00:05:37:07

Tarek Haddo

sometimes, even if it's a refill that is past

00:05:37:07 - 00:05:58:17

Tarek Haddo

due, we wonder, is the patient okay? Are they, you know, doing fine. Anything change? Did you stop taking this medication? So for me, it's like a a comprehensive tool to actually engage with your patient to make sure, you know, they're on the right track. They're taking all the right medications. You know, they're actually compliant with their medications.

00:05:58:19 - 00:06:27:10

Tarek Haddo

So, for me, I feel like it is a great tool to not only, make some great money, but also engage with your patient. And this right there will keep the patients there with the pharmacy for the longest time. Because, you know, once you do that to them, once you treat them like you care about them, they'll never going to leave anywhere else.

00:06:27:18 - 00:06:45:15

Brittany Boyd

That is amazing insights here. And I really love to hear that. All of your reasonings are really great. And clearly it sounds like you guys take the data out of EQUIPP and you're incorporating that into workflow. So where do you keep the information from EQUIPP like at the counter. Are you giving it to your staff directly into the reaching out.

00:06:45:15 - 00:06:48:02

Brittany Boyd

Like what does that look like to incorporate it into a workflow?

00:06:48:15 - 00:07:12:08

Tarek Haddo

So we have like specific days. So I mean, some days are busier than others. So, you know, normally like the busy days, we don't like, go in every day of the week. So I have, you know, specific days on, like, slower days on downtime. Or if I have an extra staff member, especially if I have students, pharmacy students.

00:07:12:08 - 00:07:43:14

Tarek Haddo

That's actually a great learning experience for them. You know, they're looking at different medications, they're looking at interaction. They're looking at, you know, therapy, change or, you know, an addition of a therapy to a patient. So most of my pharmacy students love that is just a great learning experience for them. So I try to incorporate that during my week, you know, so I normally have like a general idea of how many cases of how many patients I need to contact, you know, for the month or for the week.

00:07:43:20 - 00:08:17:21

Tarek Haddo

And then we kind of like divide it, you know, for two days a week, mostly. Saturdays is a slower day for me. So, I'm open shorter hours. But again, I do have the time to actually, you know, make a few phone calls, document, you know, a few things on a EQUIPP. So normally, you know, the weekend is, it's the time for, getting that task done for, you know, EQUIPP, or other platforms or, you know, if we have to do stuff other than counting pills and dispensing medications.

00:08:18:01 - 00:08:35:14

Tarek Haddo

So, yeah, the best way to do it for me, honestly, is just to specify, a task to a person or assign, you know, a specific day for it and get it done that way. Because if you just, you know, trying to get everything done in one day, sometimes it's just it depends on the pharmacy volume.

00:08:35:14 - 00:08:45:14

Tarek Haddo

But there's a lot of them there. There's a lot of cases and there's no way you can get through them. Like, you know, with 1 or 2 days you have to make it a weekly task.

00:08:45:22 - 00:09:07:18

Brittany Boyd

I love that. So it sounds like what you guys are doing clearly is working. Yeah. Those actionable takeaways, you know, your pharmacy staff and what you guys are capable of. And that's always really, important when you're making sure you're demonstrating the best practices to utilizing EQUIPP. And so I'm really interested to continue to talk through, you know, how you guys are engaging with that data and that success you've had in the platform.

00:09:07:20 - 00:09:34:03

Brittany Boyd

So we continue to heavily promote, our enhanced services and in our also our, my program's features that are the leverage really for the revenue generating opportunities for our pharmacies. So I want to ask you a two part question in reference to this. 1. How has a quote made an impact on your pharmacy revenue? And does the Enhance Services page within EQUIPP clearly identify your action steps that you need to take to provide these specific services to your patients.

00:09:34:19 - 00:10:05:12

Tarek Haddo

Yes. So, again, I, we do use it as a tool for refill reminders and, you know, therapy, additional therapy to the patient. So it does add revenue in that sense because, I mean, obviously if you're refilling prescriptions that you completely forgot about or something that you weren't going to do, that's an extra revenue for you. And then in addition, you know, completing those cases will, you know, get your revenue from EQUIPP, and the platform layout is great.

00:10:05:14 - 00:10:26:24

Tarek Haddo

It was kind of confusing in the beginning because they did change the platform. But, you know, it's set up very nicely now where you can actually easily navigate. You know, you can look at the dashboard, you can see you have a general idea on how your pharmacy is performing, where your patients stand. And then you obviously you can go to the enhanced tab.

00:10:26:24 - 00:11:02:07

Tarek Haddo

And then everything is right there very easily, accessible because I have been using EQUIPP for like six years now ever since I opened. So I've seen the older version of it and then I've seen it transform. So I think it was very, very positive transformation. It is, a really nice set up portal. I feel like is really easily accessible and, you know, it's layout great, where everything is right there, you know, with, with clicks away to, to actually get where you to where you want to be.

00:11:02:09 - 00:11:14:13

Brittany Boyd

Absolutely. Yeah. It was fall of 2022 when we had made that like right for you. And so I've I've been with PQS the team here with the EQUIPP for seven years. So yes, I remember the, the blue kind

00:11:14:13 - 00:11:15:04

Tarek Haddo

Of exactly.

00:11:15:04 - 00:11:17:03

Brittany Boyd

Like grayish tone that we had worked with.

00:11:17:03 - 00:11:17:09

Tarek Haddo

Yeah.

00:11:17:15 - 00:11:36:06

Brittany Boyd

Their data. And so we're doing a lot more, targeting towards those patient opportunities that you have right at the store level and giving you even more patient information. Some opportunities are even updated to you guys weekly. So you let me know that you guys are utilizing the dashboard, you know, and taking the data. Saturday's is typically the way that you're working through that.

00:11:36:08 - 00:11:49:01

Brittany Boyd

And those opportunities and making sure that you kind of have take a targeted approach in your time with the top rated, are there any other special techniques or strategies that you think, led to the success, for these programs last year?

00:11:50:20 - 00:12:12:21

Tarek Haddo

Honestly, I, I normally, log in, get a general idea of what's on there sometimes, you know, it's organized by patients. So, you know, I take a look because I see a lot of my patients at the pharmacy. So a lot of them do come in. I talk to them on the phone almost on, like, daily basis.

00:12:13:02 - 00:12:30:17

Tarek Haddo

So, you know, in that sense, you know, I, I when I'm speaking to them, I remember you know, okay, there is, you know, a case for this patient here or a case. So sometimes you kind of like multitask, in the sense of, okay, you're already on the phone with them, so, you know, might as well get that out of the way.

00:12:30:17 - 00:12:49:11

Tarek Haddo

Ask your questions. You know, get some answers. And that way, you kind of kill two birds with one stone. So, you know, I feel like that helps a lot. You just, you know, take the pressure away from the rest of the team, and then they feel like, okay, they don't have to make 20 phone calls in one day.

00:12:49:13 - 00:13:10:11

Tarek Haddo

So, so far it has worked for me. So I don't know if it's if it's, a good model for everybody, but I feel like, you know, you if you know your patients, it's a great idea to kind of, like, skim through EQUIPP. Login. You don't have to do the cases. Log in every day. Just see what's, you know, what's what's what's there.

00:13:10:12 - 00:13:27:24

Tarek Haddo

You know what's who, what cases has dropped. You know what what, what patients are there that way, you know, when you're talking to them. Because I know I'm going to talk to at least, like I said, 20 or 30 patients a day. So one of them has got to be, you know, at least 1 or 2 of them got to be one of those patients on the platform.

00:13:27:24 - 00:13:38:23

Tarek Haddo

So and that way I'm saving myself, you know, time and actually, you know, again, earning money from completing those cases.

00:13:39:00 - 00:14:03:24

Brittany Boyd

Yeah. That is fantastic to hear. It sounds like you are maximizing your time, your efforts, the way you can engage with your patients and everything. So that is amazing. You guys are definitely taking a keen approach there on engaging with the data and your patients at Farmington Hills. And so my last question related to enhanced services is wanting to understand your patient's response when you did approach them with the gap closure programs, those clinical service opportunities, how was that received by the patients in your community?

00:14:04:09 - 00:14:20:15

Tarek Haddo

Again, that's it's they really appreciate that. Like I mentioned before, they feel like you, you know, you're calling because you do care about them. You you want to check up on them, you want to make sure they're on the right track. You know, they're, you know, taking the right medications. Nothing has changed. So it does mean a lot to them.

00:14:20:15 - 00:14:45:12

Tarek Haddo

They most of them do really appreciate the phone call. Because, you know, at most big box stores, you never call the patient. The patient always calls you. So, you know, when you get that phone call from your pharmacist or from your, you know, your pharmacy asking, you know, if you're doing okay, if your medications are, up to date or, you know, if you need any refills, it really does make them happy.

00:14:45:14 - 00:15:08:00

Tarek Haddo

So, for me, I, I do it because I want to have that connection with my patients. I want them to feel like we're family. I want them to feel like we do care about them. And, you know, that's exactly, why we have been successful, throughout these years. And that's exactly why EQUIPP is very important tool for our pharmacy

00:15:09:09 - 00:15:30:05

Brittany Boyd

Really glad to hear all that, Tarek. So as we continue to maintain engagement with EQUIPP in 2025, we will continue hosting these fantastic programs for your pharmacies to again advance the revenue opportunities that you have, but also to continue that patient engagement. So what you guys have been doing seems to work and be extremely successful based on what you were able to earn.

00:15:30:07 - 00:15:52:24

Brittany Boyd

You know, in addition to your standard pharmacy earnings from EQUIPP last year. So amazing job on that again. But do you and your pharmacy staff have any plans to further advance your use of EQUIPP this year by creating any new strategies or any new techniques that you were willing to share, or you know what you were or is what you've been doing being so successful, that you guys will kind of continue that same strategy here this year.

00:15:53:04 - 00:16:17:17

Tarek Haddo

I normally go by, if it's working, why change it? So but it, you know, we've been doing great with it. So, for me, I feel like the way we tackle it, the way we, approach the cases has been working very good. So we're going to continue to do what we do. We're going to continue caring for our patients, are going to continue utilizing EQUIPP to help us do that.

00:16:17:19 - 00:16:43:02

Tarek Haddo

So, hopefully for many more years. But again, you know, it's there's always room to expand and do other things with, with a quip. I'm sure you guys are always trying to add new features and always trying to make it more customizable to be able to provide, you know, the best patient care from a pharmacy perspective.

00:16:43:12 - 00:17:07:11

Brittany Boyd

Amazing. Yeah, Tarek, we are always, trying to add new things. And so like you mentioned, the patient opportunities that we continue to host in EQUIPP, we do update those weekly, weekly, but our health plan partners that we continue to work and partner with, do allow for a lot of those opportunities to continue to expand. That then allows us to put new features within EQUIPP, hosting new, performance programs and giving you more gap closure opportunities.

00:17:07:11 - 00:17:30:00

Brittany Boyd

And so we're really excited to continue to advance, those insights for you all. So , Tarek, it's been really great, getting a chance to chat with you today. And, it's hoping that the work that you're doing is, is helping to inspire other pharmacy users, those listening to this interview. So as we round out today's episode and as our most earn pharmacy star, I'm interested to know that from the Farmington Hills Pharmacy,

00:17:30:00 - 00:17:48:21

Brittany Boyd

What makes you all unique in your community? Is there anything special that you guys are doing outside of, again, that customized approach, that one on one with the patients that is very valuable to them? But interested to know if there's anything else that you care to share, about your community there at the pharmacy and how you guys interact with, with others there.

00:17:49:07 - 00:18:15:15

Tarek Haddo

Honestly, the that my main goal from day one was to treat everybody like family. I treat everybody like my mom, dad, sister, brother. So that's that's my approach. You know, I took an oath as a pharmacist to care for my patients, and I do care for them as family. And that's what keeps them here. So, you know, I, I try to give them the best care I can.

00:18:15:15 - 00:18:40:09

Tarek Haddo

I try to give them the time they deserve. So, most of those patients appreciate that. Most of those patients, can't find that easily at a different pharmacy. It's at the end of the day, medication is the same everywhere. So, what matters is, you know, your customer service. What matters is what you give those patients.

00:18:40:11 - 00:19:11:19

Tarek Haddo

That's what they that's what they come for. So you know that, thank God. You know, we took over this pharmacy in 2019. And we have probably quadrupled or, you know, five times the business since, since inception. So, you know, and that was zero. Advertisement. So people do come, for the pharmacy staff, people come for the pharmacist, people come for the genuine care that you provide.

00:19:12:00 - 00:19:36:12

Tarek Haddo

So these things do matter to me because I take it personally. I take the patient health, the patient satisfaction, personally. And I do care for them, like I do care for my family. So that's been my model since day one. And we're going to continue working that way. And I think that's what separates us from everybody else.

00:19:36:14 - 00:20:17:05

Tarek Haddo

You know, most of the pharmacies now are offering the same services, very similar services, especially in the independent pharmacy world. You know, everybody is kind of competing with each other, offering the same services. But I do have, faith in my team. I do have faith in myself that we can provide an exceptional service that will keep our patients with us no matter what, and I, I do have, like, some two stories where I do have a lot of patients that, you know, their nephew or their niece or their, you know, cousin has opened the pharmacy, but they continue to use us because they don't want to give up that service.

00:20:17:07 - 00:20:36:13

Tarek Haddo

And I have a true story of another person that we are not contracted with is insurance, because he has a commercial insurance that only allows them to use like, you know, big box stores. But he does come to our pharmacy and pays with a discount card because he just wants the service. You know, he they don't care for the copay.

00:20:36:13 - 00:21:01:11

Tarek Haddo

They don't care. You know what's coming out of their pocket. They want to come to a pharmacy where they feel like they're welcome. They feel like their family. They feel like they're cared for. So, you know, this is the biggest thing for us is just to provide that genuine care, provide that friendly service, to provide, you know, everything we can to help those patients on their way to better health.

00:21:01:16 - 00:21:18:09

Brittany Boyd

That is amazing. Thank you for that tag. I love to hear that you take the the family approach there in the pharmacy. We hear quite often. We've had we've heard from our pharmacy stars here this year that that family approach definitely has an impact. And so, kudos to you all for what you have been doing and what you continue to do.

00:21:18:09 - 00:21:42:22

Brittany Boyd

And thank you for sharing, those stories with really appreciate it. So, Tarek, I want to thank you for joining the PQS team today. For us to have this special edition of the Quality Corner Show and allowing us to get to know you. And again, just want to continue to applaud you for the work that you're doing there in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and continuing to push for patient care, to continue to advocate for EQUIPP.

00:21:42:24 - 00:21:45:17

Brittany Boyd

I will see you in Nashville in just a couple of weeks.

00:21:45:22 - 00:21:46:11

Tarek Haddo

So yes.

00:21:46:11 - 00:21:46:22

Brittany Boyd

I'm really

00:21:46:22 - 00:21:53:12

Brittany Boyd

excited to see you then. And we'll give you your award at that time. We'll take some photos. So excited to be able to hand that over to you.

00:21:53:15 - 00:21:56:07

Tarek Haddo

Perfect. The pleasure's mine. Thank you for having me.

00:21:56:07 - 00:22:01:09

Brittany Boyd

Absolutely. We thank you all for tuning in today. We look forward to being in your ears on the next episode.

00:22:01:09 - 00:22:05:10

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00:22:05:12 - 00:22:28:22

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00:22:28:24 - 00:22:44:21

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00:22:44:21 - 00:22:45:04

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