How Independent Pharmacies Can Thrive with Virtual Care

The Simple, Powerful Alternative to Big Chains

Independent pharmacies are essential to their communities. Trusted, accessible, and personal, they became vital healthcare hubs during the pandemic. But shrinking margins, pressure from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and competition from mail-order giants create serious challenges.

How can local pharmacies compete in a market crowded with mail-order giants and national retailers?

The New Healthcare Providers

COVID-19 changed how patients see pharmacies. They are no longer just places to pick up prescriptions. They’re care centers. Patients now expect vaccines, screenings, and quick help when they're sick. This shift isn't temporary; it’s the new normal.

Big Chains Tried Going Bigger. It Backfired.

CVS and Walgreens invested heavily in clinical services. CVS opened over 1,100 MinuteClinics, and Walgreens poured billions into primary care via VillageMD. But running in-store clinics proved expensive, complex, and ultimately unsustainable. Walgreens closed 160 VillageMD locations due to heavy losses, while CVS scaled back MinuteClinics by nearly 25%.

Lesson learned: Bigger isn't always better. Complexity creates risk.

Independent Pharmacies Have the Advantage, But Not the Resources

Independents could offer direct clinical services, but most lack the massive capital and infrastructure needed for full-service in-store clinics. Collaborative Practice Agreements (CPAs) help pharmacists expand care, but they're hard to set up and manage, making them poor growth strategies.

Instead, independents can leverage their greatest strengths: proximity, speed, trust, and personal care.

Mail-Order Pharmacies: Convenient, But Not Immediate

Online pharmacy giants like Hims and Amazon Pharmacy have capitalized on convenience, capturing billions in revenue by offering fast, simple care. But they lack the immediacy, local presence, and personal relationships that community pharmacies provide.

Independents have a big advantage: same-day care without shipping delays and impersonal interactions. Consumers prefer immediacy and personal service, something online-only companies simply can’t match.

The missing link is clinical prescribing.

PBM Pressure is Real, But There’s a Way Forward

Every independent pharmacy struggles with PBM pressures: shrinking margins, clawbacks, and poor reimbursements. While reforms are needed, pharmacies can't afford to wait.

Virtual care provides a proactive alternative. It helps pharmacies build revenue free from PBM control, establishing direct patient relationships and clear, predictable income.

Consumers Want a "One-Stop Shop"

Consumers want convenient, affordable care without the hassle of appointments, delays, or multiple trips to different providers. Local pharmacies are perfectly placed to meet this need.

A single-stop model offering diagnosis, prescribing, and dispensing:

• Increases prescription volume and refill adherence
• Improves customer experience & loyalty
• Attracts new customers
• Boosts value per visit

Independent pharmacies already outperform chains in home delivery and personalized service. Adding clinical prescribing completes the package.

Virtual Clinics: Smart, Simple, Scalable

Instead of costly in-store clinics, independent pharmacies can adopt a virtual clinic model. With the right partner, a virtual model enables pharmacies to offer clinical services without additional overhead, staffing changes, or complicated regulations.

Benefits of the virtual clinic model:

• Low cost and operational risk
• No new staff or training needed
• Greater prescription control and patient retention
• A more active role in patient care from the start

It’s a powerful model when paired with the right partner. One in which independents can stop being the last step in healthcare and start being the first.

Choosing the Right Virtual Care Partner

Most telemedicine platforms aren’t built with pharmacies in mind. Some are too rigid. Others are too limited in scope or fail to integrate seamlessly into pharmacy workflows. To succeed, independents need a flexible, pharmacy-focused solution. One that’s simple, quick to implement, and directly meets pharmacist and patient needs.

Introducing Scripts by Well Revolution

Scripts by Well Revolution is built specifically for independent pharmacies, enabling real-time clinical care without cost and complexity.

Here’s how simple it is:

• Patients text a phone number with a store-specific code
  
• They instantly connect with a licensed provider
  
• Prescriptions are sent to your pharmacy in minutes

What Patients Pay

• First visit: Free
• Single visit: $50 with a treatment guarantee
• Unlimited Membership: $29/month for unlimited visits, prescriptions, refills, and referrals

What Pharmacies Get

• Branded landing pages and a unique SMS shortcode
• Marketing materials for in-store promotion
• Free first visits to attract new customers
• Local marketing support
• Free Unlimited Memberships for staff as a pharmacy-sponsored benefit
• No cost to the pharmacy with no financial risk

Why It Works

With Scripts by Well Revolution, pharmacies can:

• Provide clinical care without clinicians on staff
• Compete effectively with mail-order and virtual brands
• Boost prescription volume and customer loyalty
• Align prescribing with stock, compounds, and formularies
• Simplify test-and-treat workflows (strep, flu, UTIs)

All without complexity or cost.

Low Risk, High Reward

The Scripts model offers independents clinic-like benefits without the costs or risks:

• Zero fees
• Clear patient billing, avoiding reimbursement issues
• Immediate impact with increased volume and loyalty

A Practical Path to Growth

Big chains struggled with clinics due to high overhead and slow implementation. Independents don't need to repeat those mistakes. Virtual care helps pharmacies deliver more services, scale quickly, and build stronger community ties.

It's simple, scalable, and effective from day one.

Simple Wins

In a market dominated by mail-order giants and retail chains, the winners won’t be the biggest. They'll be the fastest, most accessible, and most trusted.

Independent pharmacies are ready. Patients are ready. The right tools are now here.

Ready to Get Started?

Scripts by Well Revolution is easy to start. No software, no training, no workflow changes. Just better, local care for your patients.

Add clinical prescribing to your pharmacy, today.