Why your pharmacy should be the go-to destination for travel health services. (Hint: it will boost pharmacy profit and make patients love you!)
I just finished planning and booking our family summer travel plans. Many people in your community are doing the same right now. To help make their travel the best it can be, they will need travel health preparation, and your local pharmacy can be the trusted, convenient destination they turn to before takeoff. Not only will this bring a lot of goodwill to your pharmacy, but it will also generate much-needed pharmacy profit.
With international travel nearing peak levels, there’s never been a better time to position your pharmacy as a hub for travel health services. Travelers often will need vaccinations, advice, and the right products to stay healthy while away. Offering these services not only diversifies your revenue streams but also establishes your pharmacy as an indispensable community resource.
Here’s how independent pharmacy owners can create, market, and dominate with a travel health program that will have families booking trips to your pharmacy before every vacation.
Why Offer Travel Health Services?
Travel health is a win-win for both your patients and your pharmacy. Here’s why:
- Convenience for Patients: Busy travelers prefer one-stop solutions that offer vaccines, medications, and advice all in one place.
- High-Demand Services: Travel vaccines and consultations are often cash-based, providing a reliable non-PBM revenue stream.
- Community Trust: By offering expert advice, you position your pharmacy as a trusted healthcare destination.
- Pharmacy Profit: Travel health services help grow high-margin, cash-based revenue streams that stabilize your bottom line.
Essential Travel Health Services to Offer
Start by offering core services and expand as demand grows. Here are the must-haves:
1. Offer Comprehensive Travel Health Consultations
Families don’t just need sunscreen and hand sanitizer; they need expert advice. Offering personalized travel health consultations helps build trust and ensures patients are well-prepared for both international and domestic travel.
What to Include:
- Required and recommended travel vaccines by destination
- OTC recommendations for altitude sickness, malaria prevention, or traveler’s diarrhea
- Advice on managing jet lag, motion sickness, and common travel ailments
- Referral to an easy telehealth platform for prescriptions (more on this below!)
Set up a simple appointment booking system online and offer consultations in person or via telehealth for ultimate convenience. Promote your ‘travel clinic services’ prominently on your website and social media.
2. Become a One-Stop Destination To Boost Convenience & Pharmacy Profit
Travel vaccines and medications aren’t typical prescriptions that most pharmacies stock. When you choose to specialize in this area, you gain an advantage over the competition in a market with few players.
High-Impact Travel Vaccines:
- Hepatitis A and B
- Typhoid
- Yellow Fever
- Rabies (for certain destinations)
- Meningococcal vaccine (for specific areas, like sub-Saharan Africa)
- Routine boosters like Tdap and MMR
Popular Prescription Medications:
- Azithromycin, Cephalexin, SMZ/TMP, and other antibiotics
- Anti-diarrheal or anti-constipation
- Eye drops
- Topical antibiotic & steroid creams
- Anti-nausea, motion sickness
Use marketing materials to educate families on which vaccines or medications are needed for popular destinations. Even traveling to ‘safe’ areas, such as Europe, can be made better by being medically prepared. Position your pharmacy as the travel vaccination center.
3. Stock Essential Travel Health Kits
Make it easy for travelers to grab what they need by creating ready-to-go travel health kits.
Kit Ideas:
- General Travel Kit: Pain relievers, antacids, motion sickness remedies, hand sanitizer, travel-sized first aid supplies
- Family Travel Kit: Pediatric-friendly medicines, insect repellent, kid-sized masks, electrolyte powders
- Adventure Travel Kit: Waterproof bandages, high-SPF sunscreen, blister treatments, water purification tablets
Offer tiered travel kits at different price points. Include a “Build Your Own Kit” option for a personalized experience, reinforcing your role as the best pharmacy for travelers.
4. Sell Travel Prescription Medications
Dispensing travel prescriptions is usually the easy part. Having a convenient and affordable way to generate those prescriptions is often the tough part. DiversifyRx has made this easy for ALL pharmacies. We have partnered with BriskMD to bring affordable and convenient telehealth that is accessible by every pharmacy.
We have pre-built popular travel kits that contain both prescription and OTCs (of your choice), which your patients can purchase.
BriskMD’s telehealth services are easy to use:
- FREE for pharmacies
- No sign-up by the pharmacy is required.
- Appointments are typically paid for by the patient. You can also choose to set them up and charge the patient under your complete service.
- $35 for async and $59 for sync visits. (states that require sync: DC, IL, KS, NM, NV, OR, SD, & VT)
We’ve made it easy by creating a telehealth website that you can use as is, completely free for the pharmacy. Alternatively, you can grab the links and add them to your own website if you prefer.
Resources Available To All Pharmacies To Boost Pharmacy Profit:
- Sync website: https://gsd.diversifyrx.com/telehealth-home-sync
- Async website: https://gsd.diversifyrx.com/telehealth-home-async
- These websites are continually updated as new protocols are added
- Use the CDC website to research what is needed for each destination
- NON-MEMBERS – we are making a few travel kit marketing templates available to you. To ensure you get the correct one for your state, please email Dr. Lisa Faast at in**@*********rx.com to request your copy!
Resources Available To Pharmacy Badass University Members:
- A ton of marketing materials from flyers to social media posts, and more
- Training on how to grow with these services
- Customized protocol requests
5. Bundle Services for Easier Decisions
Reduce decision fatigue for busy travelers by offering bundled services or products. Include your consultation, recommendations, telehealth visit, prescriptions, and OTCs all together. While most of your consultations will be very similar, it is essential to distinguish them with specific names and target markets.
Examples:
- Honeymoon Travel Bundle: Consultation + Required Vaccines + Prescriptions + OTCs
- Family Vacation Bundle: Family consult + Pediatric Rx/OTCs + Adult Rx/OTCs
- Adventurer Bundle: Vaccines + First-aid Kit + Water Purification Supplies + Rxs + OTCs
Bundling increases perceived value and helps patients feel confident they’re fully prepared.
How to Market Your Travel Health Services To Boost Pharmacy Profit & Help Patients
Even the best services won’t succeed if no one knows about them. Here’s how to get the word out:
1. Use Social Media
Post destination-specific vaccine tips, “What to Pack” lists, and reminders about upcoming seasons like Spring Break or Holiday travel. Join local travel groups and provide education and tips.
2. Partner with Travel Agencies and Employers
Collaborate with:
- Local travel agencies
- Study abroad programs
- HR departments for corporate travel needs
Host joint events, such as “Travel Prep Nights,” or webinars about travel safety, to showcase your travel immunization services.
3. Create In-Store Displays
Dedicate a travel health corner year-round with maps, guides, and sample kits.
4. Leverage Email Marketing
Segment your list by seasonal trends and send reminders like “Heading to South America? Don’t Forget Your Yellow Fever Vaccine!”
5. Offer Easy Booking and Transparent Pricing
Offer online scheduling, publish your pricing, and provide after-hours vaccine appointments to accommodate busy families.
Boosting Pharmacy Profits With Travel Health Services Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated
Too many times, pharmacy owners don’t implement an idea because they get bogged down in details. Don’t let that be YOU! You can always add complexity later, but start with simple to gain quick momentum.
- Set up a Calendly calendar with a fee for an initial appointment. This initial fee can be small, say $40, and can be applied to the whole bundle if they choose to go forward with your services.
- Use our BriskMD websites so you don’t have to pay for telehealth or change your website.
- Build simple kits that address most patients’ needs and customize when needed.
- Market your services with social media posts and in-store signage.
You can get fancy later, once you have some cash revenue flowing in.
Reminder for Pharmacy Badass University members, we have full resources to support you in developing this new pharmacy profit stream.
For pharmacy owners who want a proven path to increased pharmacy profits, I invite you to check out Pharmacy Badass University membership. We have a level to meet every pharmacy owner’s needs.
