Offer your customers a flavor choice for their OTC allergy medication. Loratadine can be flavored ANY flavor in the FLAVORx line. Cetrizine can too! When a customer has their medication in a flavor they enjoy, medicine-time becomes less of a struggle and the patient is more likely to take the medicine they need to help them be healthy!

Here are some flavor recommendations for the most common allergy medications:

Many factors impact customer experience, ranging from the store layout to how customers are greeted. Customization is one of the most impactful ways to generate a positive customer experience. Customization gives the customer the feeling of control and personalization. How does flavoring fit in? Well, one of the easiest way for your pharmacy team to provide a custom experience in your pharmacy is through taste customization with FLAVORx.

FLAVORx gives you the ability to offer a wide variety of flavors to suit your customers your customers needs. One taste does not fit all. Moms will be satisfied with the number of options they have for customizing the taste of their child’s prescription and OTC medications. It is a powerful way to ensure customer loyalty.

Offering the flavoring service as a taste customization option, instead of just a ‘make the bad stuff taste better’ approach is also a refreshing new way to promote the flavoring service. Augmentin, Cleocin and Prednisolone are the awful tasting medications that people always remember to flavor. Don’t forget to offer custom flavoring for decent tasting medicine like Amoxicillin, Azithromycin and Cefdinir. Customers may still be interested in flavoring even if the medicine doesn’t have a gag-inducing reputation. Remember, not every child likes bubblegum or mixed berry flavor. Providing a choice of flavors regardless of the medication being dispensed, means you are providing excellent customer service. If the patient chooses a flavor they like, you are also increasing the likelihood of higher prescription compliance.

The table below shows the top dispensed liquid drugs:

Amoxicillin is by far the most popular liquid medicine dispensed. It does have a reputation of tasting good. We won’t argue. It isn’t bad. Since it tastes decent it is often not offered for custom flavoring. Many people think, “it tastes good, so why would it need more flavor?” It is not all about taste and flavor. Choice plays a strong role in improving a customer’s experience. If you are not providing a choice of flavors for Amoxicillin specifically, which is by far the top dispensed liquid medication, then you are cutting out a significant portion of customers from this service. Be sure to offer a flavoring choice with all liquid medications, especially Amoxicillin.

It seems Old Man Winter took a vacation this year, much to the chagrin of snow-day seeking schoolkids across the country. In fact, this winter turned out to be the warmest in 12 years and, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 4th warmest since 1895.

In addition to lower-than-expected sales of ski and snowboard wax, one of the consequences of such an unseasonably mild winter has been an early and particularly vicious start to the Spring allergy season. Cities across the East Coast are breaking pollen count records every day. Folks are sneezing and sniffling their way through eye-watery days, and it’s not even April! The worst part? It’s estimated that 40% of children in the U.S. suffer from seasonal allergies.

Luckily for most parents, there are some very effective non-sedating prescription and over-the-counter allergy medications available for children today. Medications like Allegra®, Claritin®, and Zyrtec® come in a children’s liquid form and can be purchased over-the-counter or with a prescription. The best part? Pharmacies that carry the FLAVORx system can now customize the taste of children’s liquid allergy medications (and any other liquid medications for that matter) to a child’s favorite flavor.

This simple act of choosing a favorite flavor goes a long way in making sure kids take their medicine. “Imagine when you were a kid, if your mom or dad would have asked you how you’d like your medicine to taste,” said Chad Baker, vice president of marketing at FLAVORx. “How much better would your medicine-taking experience have been if the medicine tasted like something you wanted to take, instead of something you had to take?”

FLAVORx flavors are sugar-free, dye-free, casein-free and gluten-free. 40,000 pharmacies across the U.S. offer the flavoring service for liquid medications, including liquid children’s allergy medicine. When parents request custom flavoring for their child’s medication, the pharmacist or pharmacy technician will provide them with a list of available flavors, including the top recommended ones for that specific medication. For example, the top three FLAVORx flavors for Claritin® are grape, banana, and cherry. For Allegra®, they are watermelon, bubblegum, and strawberry. The three best FLAVORx flavors for Zyrtec® are apple, bubblegum, and cherry. For a complete list of liquid medications and recommended flavors, use the interactive FLAVORx Wheel of Yuck.

Seasonal allergies are nothing to sneeze at. Oh wait, yes they are. Especially this year. And even more so for kids. So when it comes time to get liquid allergy medicine for their children, parents would be wise to do their kids a flavor, and request FLAVORx.

FLAVORx, the company behind the pediatric medication flavoring service found in most U.S. retail pharmacies, recently donated it’s 100th pediatric medication flavoring system to a pharmacy school in the United States. Pharmacy schools that now incorporate a flavoring lab into their curriculum include the likes of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Harding University College of Pharmacy, Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy.

“We have students break into small groups and discuss mock scenarios where they might have to flavor, discuss flavor choices and discuss ideal flavor decision-making,” said Bob Shrewsbury, Associate Professor, Division of Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. “Many students also work in pharmacies that use FLAVORx and are able to share their experiences with the group. I believe it is a nice introduction from the education standpoint, to familiarize our students with medication flavoring and prepare them for real world scenarios.”

In addition to a thorough curriculum on the physiology of taste and taste masking, the schools receive a carbon copy of the medication flavoring system found in over 40,000 retail pharmacies today. This includes access to the company’s proprietary flavoring formulary, which provides the custom flavoring instructions for hundreds of different liquid medications.

FLAVORx first began donating their pediatric medication flavoring systems to pharmacy schools in August of 2010. Prior to this, the first exposure a new retail pharmacist had to pediatric medication flavoring typically came on the job. Recognizing there was an opportunity to provide these pharmacists with better training in the controlled environment of their pharmacy school, FLAVORx began reaching out to a few colleges to gauge their interest. Less than two years later, FLAVORx flavoring systems are currently used in 100 schools of pharmacy. The company has a goal of providing a flavoring system to every pharmacy school in the country by the end of 2012.

“Today’s pharmacy students are tomorrow’s healthcare leaders,” said Ursula Chizhik, Director of Pharmacy Programs at FLAVORx. “Through these donations, we are thrilled to know our country’s future pharmacists will possess a better understanding of the value of medication flavoring to improve compliance and the important role they play in the process.”

FLAVORx, a leading supplier of medication compliance solutions for people and pets, today announced a major enhancement to their veterinary line. The new Digital Flavorist software gives veterinarians and pharmacists complete veterinary compounding and flavoring instructions with just a few quick keystrokes. Following the recipes generated by the Digital Flavorist, veterinarians and pharmacists can easily turn solid-form medications into flavored liquids, which most pets are more likely to take without a fight.

“The Digital Flavorist is a major improvement to the FLAVORx Veterinary System,” said Chad Baker, vice president of marketing at FLAVORx. “For pet owners who struggle to give pills to their cat or dog, a flavored liquid form of the medication can be a godsend. The Digital Flavorist makes it easy for vets and pharmacists to provide this invaluable service to their patients.”

Since the FLAVORx Veterinary system was first introduced in 1997, millions of prescriptions have been compounded and flavored for pet owners. Grilled Tuna, Chicken Pot Pie, Crispy Bacon and Red Angus Beef are just a few of the FLAVORx flavor options available for nearly all veterinary medications. Based on the species of pet, the veterinarian or pharmacist can make recommendations on which flavors will work best for each medication. Pet owners can also look up the top flavors for their pet on the web-based Favorable Flavors Guide.

When a veterinary hospital or pharmacy decides to offer the FLAVORx service to their customers, they receive all the tools, flavors, and guidance needed to turn pills into flavored liquids and make a positive impact on pet medication compliance. With the Digital Flavorist, formulating the compounding and flavoring recipes, once considered a labor-intensive process, has been reduced to a few quick and easy steps.

Not many pharmacies give a lot of thought to growing their pediatric business. That’s a shame. Because when you take a step back and think about it, while kids will never match up against older adults in terms of script volume, the benefits of a robust pediatric business are enormous.

For starters, helping a child get well when he or she is sick can be tremendously gratifying. It’s the kind of stuff that helps you sleep well at night. Beyond that, parents – especially moms – are great customers. If you provide them with stellar service for their child, they’ll probably end up bringing all their families script business your way. And they’ll most certainly tell family and friends that your pharmacy is THE place to go for health products. Here’s another secret. Moms spend money. So if you have a front-end in your pharmacy, these are the kinds of customers you need in your store.

Alright, so we’ve sold you on why you need to get more moms and kids in your pharmacy. How are you going to do it? It just so happens, we talked with some of the best pediatric-friendly pharmacies in the country. Here’s what they’ve done to build their pediatric pharmacy business:

• Give ‘Em a Gift – A kid-friendly gift bag for every new pediatric customer and/or a birthday present from the pharmacy can make a lasting impression and will generate buzz for your pharmacy.

• Parent Referral Bonus – Give moms a discount off future services if they refer someone to your pharmacy. No one can spread the word like a mom can!

• Use Facebook – Moms love to hang out on Facebook. So create a Facebook page for your pharmacy and promote it heavily in your store. You should also try targeted ads to moms in your community. For a good primer on how to start a Facebook page for your business and make it grow, this is a good read.

• Make it fun – We’ve seen quite a few pharmacies have success giving out compliance trackers that kids can color in every time they take their medicine. When they’re finished taking all their medicine, they bring the completed tracker back to the pharmacy. In exchange for taking all their medicine, you give them a prize – stickers, sugar-free gum, a dollar, anything really. This really leaves an impression on kids and gives mom a ‘Wow!’ experience too. We offer compliance coloring sheets. Email us at info@flavorx.com to find out more.

• Pediatricians – Talk to the pediatricians in your neighborhood about the great services you provide. Ask the Office Manager if you can put some posters up in the office. We offer Doctor Detailing kits to help drive traffic to your pharmacy. Of course you have to be a FLAVORx customer to get these detailing materials. Which leads us to tip #6…

• Flavoring – Offering mom a choice of flavors for her child’s medicine can be a real customer-service win. This is the type of thing that really get’s mom talking. A lot of pharmacists and technicians will tell their customers that medicines are already flavored. Heck, this happens at pharmacies that carry FLAVORx all the time. So imagine being the pharmacy that tells mom, or even the child, that the medicine can come flavored any way they like it. That’s a ‘Wow!’ Check out our product catalog for info on what’s new, including the Fillmaster Plus.
  

Hopefully a few of these tips make it into your pharmacy’s everyday practice. Based on what we’ve seen out in the field, you’ll be very happy you took the time to build your pediatric pharmacy business.

1) Set a monthly team flavoring goal. If the goal is achieved, provide a pizza lunch to your team. Setting a goal for the entire team is a great way to foster teamwork and drive flavoring sales forward.

2) Choose a “Flavor of the Month”. This is great way to keep things fresh and exciting for your Pharmacy team and your customers. With your team, vote in a new focus Flavor of the Month. You may choose to slightly discount your focus flavor for a limited time. Set a team sales goal for the focus flavor. If the goal is achieved, provide bagels, juice, and coffee to the team to say “Well done”! We’re happy to supply you with pre-made Flavor of the Month artwork for you to print in-house. Just email

3) Host a March Madness style contest. Everybody loves brackets this time of year, right? Well why not try FLAVORx Madness. We can supply you with an easy to use template to monitor the flavoring tournament. Just send an email to info@flavorx.com for the template. Then track everyone’s performance by developing a poster board with each person’s name. Have your team members put a mark next to their name each time they make a flavoring sale. The person with the most flavoring sales moves on to the next week of competition until the final head-to-head matchup. A plaque or trophy for the winner is a great reward!

4) Give them $$$! Offer a financial reward (25 cents for example) on each sale made. You can again track this by creating a poster board with everyone’s names and have them make a mark with each sale. Who doesn’t love a little extra cash? The staff will be happy as will all of those happy families who are receiving superior customer service and personalized service in your Pharmacy! You can also offer to donate the money to a local charity, if you feel that could be more of a motivation for your pharmacy.
With just a little bit of extra motivation, your pharmacy can achieve phenomenal results with the flavoring service. Remember, when it’s all said and done, the big winners are the kids, who will have a much easier time taking their medicine and are more compliant.

P.S. – If your pharmacy has some real ‘blow away’ strategies that you use, please share them in the comments field below or send them to us at info@flavorx.com.

United Supermarkets, LLC, the Texas-based operator of 43 pharmacies under the United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos United banners, and FLAVORx, makers of medication flavor choice and taste improvement systems, have agreed to terms on a chainwide rollout of the new Fillmaster Plus dispensing technology.

“United Supermarkets is making a strong statement with its investment in the Fillmaster Plus”, said Stuart R. Amos, President & CEO of FLAVORx. “It says a lot about the company’s commitment to improving not only the lives of its customers, but of its employees behind the counter as well.”

The Fillmaster PLUS combines the unique aspects of what Fillmaster Systems and FLAVORx offer into a leading-edge piece of pharmacy equipment. With the new device, pharmaceutical reconstitution, which in many cases is a manual process, is now accomplished by United Supermarket pharmacy staff at the push of a button. When a prescription bottle is scanned using the Fillmaster PLUS, the unit instantly displays the medication’s name, volume, strength and the amount of purified water it needs for reconstitution. This process reduces the risk of dispensing errors. At the same time, reconstitution is accomplished in a matter of seconds, for extremely efficient workflow.

In addition, the Fillmaster Plus technology gives pharmacy team members the ability to customize the taste of liquid medication quickly and easily. Children and parents can choose the taste of any liquid prescription or OTC medications they are picking up at United Supermarkets. This has a very positive impact on prescription compliance, or how well a person, in this case a child, sticks with the medication directions as prescribed by the doctor.

Improving the Palatibiltiy of Medications to Help Children Be More Compliant

First study of its kind reveals which pediatric medications are common candidates for taste improvement and the flavor options parents and children choose most often.

FLAVORx, the U.S.-based medication compliance and adherence company, recently unveiled a groundbreaking study at the 3rd annual European Paediatric Formulation Initiative (EuPFi) Conference held in Strasbourg, France. The study, based on millions of data points generated from use of the proprietary FLAVORx Online Formulary, examined the real-world demand for taste improvement of pediatric liquid medications. In addition to identifying which pediatric medications receive the most requests for taste improvement in U.S. pharmacies, the study also shed light on the flavor options that parents and children choose for their medicine.

“We were honored to have our poster accepted for display at this year’s EuPFi conference”, said Stuart R. Amos, President and CEO of FLAVORx. “It validates our long-held belief that a parent’s ability to choose how their child’s medicine will taste plays an important role in increasing pediatric compliance.”

The study, titled “Improving the Palatability of Medications to Help Children be More Compliant”, shows, for example, that amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and azithromycin are common candidates for flavor choice and taste improvement. Grape, bubblegum, and strawberry are three of the more popular flavor options in the U.S. market. The poster also includes information related to physicians perception of taste as a barrier to higher pediatric compliance and reiterated the positive findings from compliance studies previously performed using the FLAVORx Pediatric system.

The EuPFi is a consortium of 14 institutions working to improve pediatric drug formulations from a safety and compliance standpoint. Its members hail from academia, hospital pharmacy, and the pharmaceutical industry. Founded in 2007, the groups aim is to resolve scientific, regulatory and technological issues associated with pediatric formulation development.

Technology is Making Medications Tastier to Swallow For Children
Just a spoon full of flavor makes the medicine go down easier for kids.
By Sarah Lieu

CHARLESTON — When it comes to antibiotics, pharmacists at Loop Pharmarcy are mixing up tastier medicine the high-tech way. Technology is making it more interactive for parents and their kids to pick the flavor. A new machine at Loop Pharmacy’s location in Kanawha City in Charleston lets the pharmacist scan the bar code from the prescription bottle. Information about the prescription flashes on the screen with the exact amount of flavoring that should go into the medication. “With this new tool, everything is done visually. In fact, it’s so fast that it takes five minutes instead of 30 minutes these days,” said pharmacy owner Bill McFarland.

For the discerning kid, the system dispenses popular flavors like apple, bubblegum, grape, strawberry and watermelon. Flavoring medicine has been around for years. This makes it more interactive, allowing families to feel more in charge of their health care. “They’re involved in it and they see how easy it is. They see that their children actually get choices. They see that their children will absolutely take their medication and if you get a child that helps in that decision-making process, it’s much easier for them to take their medication,” McFarland said.

Loop Pharmacy flavors mostly antibiotics for children, which McFarland says doesn’t really pose a danger if the child accidentally gets into the child-proof bottle. “The truth is though, if they took this entire bottle of antibiotic, the worst thing that would happen to them is that they would get a real good case of diarrhea,” McFarland said. At least it tastes good going down. This system also can flavor many over-the-counter medicines, like your antihistamines, Tylenol or Motrin.