On this episode of the Pharmacy View podcast, Scott talks with Kavita Nadan and Surge Singh from the soon to be launched Locumate Pharmacy Support Business, an app that is working to connect Pharmacies and Locums.
Scott discusses with Kavita and Surge the origins of Locumate and how they came up with the idea. Kavita explains how after having to spend all of her Pharmacy’s wage budget on Locums when some of her Pharmacists had to be out for Covid testing, and especially after hiring a Locum who ended up not being able to perform the kind of Pharmacotherapy she needed done, she realized there was a huge lack of communication between Pharmacies and Locums in the hiring process and it gave her the idea to create a program to help fill this gap. Kavita and Surge explain their process of creating the prototype for the Locumate app and what their situation looks like for going live with the app.
Kavita and Surge explain what the data collection and job posting features of the Locumate app are like and how they have kept their processes simple and user-friendly. Kavita explains how Locumate not only helps Pharmacies find the right Locums to help meet their needs, but also, helps Locums by letting them choose the jobs that are right for them and have more control over their schedules. Surge and Kavita explain the feedback loop feature that Locumate will have in place and how being able to have this feedback helps the individual Locums grow, provides training opportunities, and generally helps the Pharmacy community overall. They finish by explaining the app’s ratings system and how it will help Pharmacies learn how to improve as well.
Topics Covered:
- How the idea of Locumate was born
- How Kavita and Surge built a prototype to get the idea for Locumate validated
- Locumate’s plans for going live
- How they keep the Locumate processes simple and user-friendly
- How Locumate can benefit both Pharmacies and Locums
- Locumate’s feedback feature and how this feedback helps the Pharmacy community
- Locumate’s ratings system for Pharmacies
Key Quotes:
- “When you think about so many other areas of our life these days, we really have gone from paper-based and analog systems to instant connectivity. The picture you’re painting here..is that there’s a need here that could be so easily streamlined.” (6:04)
- “When you innovate, and you lead the market in something, you get complacent and you stop innovating.” (6:52)
- “Sometimes Locums get a bad name, but actually, as part of the process, they are having just as bad of an experience as the Pharmacy.” (8:36)
- “We want to make sure that dealing with the app is as simple as possible, so we collect a lot of the data at the time of signup, so when you onboard the profile for the Locum, the profile for the Pharmacy is going to be complete, so when you go to post a job, it’s literally 3 clicks.” (12:09)
- “We realized when we were doing the market research around the Locums and talking to them, it’s the Locums who really do feel like a transaction out there in the community.” (13:34)
- “If we can get the Locums to improve their performance and improve their skills, you’re going to have a better experience at a store level regardless, and ultimately this will just be an ongoing loop effect of getting better Pharmacists and better Pharmacies, and then the experience will just keep getting better and better for everybody.” (22:00)
Social Media Clips:
- How Locumate came to be (4:01- 4:30), (5:06-5:56) (7:05-7:48)
- Innovation (6:52-7:04)
- How Locumate plans to stay innovative and continue improving (10:49-11:28)
- How Locumate is helpful to Locums (13:34-14:21)
- Locumate’s feedback feature and how it will help Pharmacies/Locums (21:07- 22:21)
Connect with Scott
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottcarpenter-evbc
Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/locumate/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kavita-nadan-87017a190/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/surgesingh/
This Episode’s Sponsor:
https://shopfrontsolutions.com.au/
