In this episode of Pharmacy View, Scott sits down with guest Sarah Stoddart, from Vitality Law Australia. Sarah is passionate about equipping small business owners in the health care industry by providing legal knowledge and education. Sarah is a commercial lawyer who focuses on law education and needs within pharmacy. Not only is Sarah a lawyer, she’s also a Mom, and while she lives in Brisbane, she works with clients across Australia. Additionally, Sarah is a non-executive director with the Queensland Alliance of Mental Health.
Sarah begins by sharing the different ways she works with pharmacists, as she educates them on the legal and business side of pharmacy, to include leases, employment agreements, approvals and more. She also shares how her dad is the reason she ended up in the health sector of law, and how her passion for it has grown. Since Sarah has clients all across Australia, she has been working remotely all along. One result of working long distance or remotely is that contracts and notices are done via email, and this allows things to be done at lower cost and done quickly. Another technology system that saves time and money is using data rooms and Dropbox for the exchange of information.
Sarah also shares about the complexities involved with handling technology when buying or selling a pharmacy. She explains that even though social media is a large part of our lives and often the life of a business, it is not technically considered a business asset, so it has to be handled carefully. One of the challenges when transferring a social media account is separating it from the person who started the account, so that the new owner can have access to it. Also, another challenge in the technology aspect is that a buyer often wants to have programs and systems up and running the first day they own the business, but this would require the seller to give the buyer early access to the systems and therefore their information, and this can become complicated.
Next, Sarah discusses employment law and data protection within pharmacy. She explains the security issues with the fact the most pharmacies have password lists with employee passwords for various business reasons. Not only does this allow for the potential of a customer accessing this information if left visible, but it also makes it difficult to accurately track the movement of money transactions when people are using other’s or general passwords. An additional data protection issue is the printing of and leaving out of labels with customer’s personal information on it, which is then visible to other customers. At the end, Sarah makes sure the listeners are aware that you can now seek approvals via an online portal, and she explains the benefits of this new process.
Topics Covered:
- Sarah’s law work with pharmacies
- Systems and technologies used when working remotely
- Handling technology when buying or selling a pharmacy
- Employment law within pharmacy
- The effects of linking work and personal social media accounts
- The online portal for seeking approvals
Key Quotes:
- “I particularly enjoy educating pharmacists on the business side of their business, because I understand that’s not something they actually learn at university.” (6:08)
- “Data rooms and Dropbox have been a great resource for the exchange of information for due diligence.” (8:06)
- “Despite social media really being intrenched in our lives now, the definition of business assets, at least in the Queensland standard contract, isn’t actually inclusive of social media.” (12:43)
- “Technology’s changing so fast, you have to keep up with it and always think about what could happen, even if it hasn’t happened yet.” (15:18)
- “The other massive issue that I see in employment law, and it’s not just isolated to pharmacy businesses, but it’s common in pharmacy… is the expansion of what actually is the workplace.” (25:11)
- “My advice, very broadly, is don’t link your personal and your work together.” (26:25)
Social Media Clips:
- (6:52-8:45) Technology used when working remotely
- (12:41-15:25) Handling technology within the sale or purchase of a pharmacy
- (19:39-20:26) Third party entities and contracts, disclosure agreements, etc.
- (21:39-22:11) Medicare approval number activations
- (23:18-25:10) Employment law and data protection within pharmacy
- (25:11-26:33) The expansion of the workplace, regarding employees’ personal social media accounts
Connect with Sarah:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-stoddart-23b92240/
- Email: sarah@vitalitylawaustralia.com
- Website: http://vitalitylawaustralia.com/
- Social Media Accounts: https://www.facebook.com/VitalityLawAustralia
