Winner
Flomax Relief Pharmacy Training Programme
Boehringer Ingelheim in association with eBee
Summary of work
In 2009 Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) was granted a pharmacy licence for the sale of tamsulosin 0.4mg marketed as Flomax Relief MR. As part of the licence requirements and in line with BI’s goal of a gold standard product launch, a full and varied training programme was offered to pharmacy. However, there were a number of challenges facing delivery.
From conversations with pharmacists and pharmacy assistants BI understood that the launch of Flomax Relief, while an opportunity for pharmacy, was daunting to many too. Diagnosis, long-term management, counselling, guidance, a new therapeutic area … all words that, to a greater or lesser degree, created nervousness.
It was clear that, in addition to providing engaging training materials that would equip pharmacy staff with the knowledge to manage supply appropriately, BI would also have to support these professionals in developing the softer-skill set that would be so important. BI set out to develop a suite of training materials specifically designed to do just this with the overarching objective being to up-skill the pharmacy team effectively and enable it to develop customer-centred relationships.
Effectiveness of the training programme was clearly demonstrated; training reached the wider audience with 93 per cent of pharmacists having completed some training on Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and Flomax Relief by six months post-launch and 99 per cent of those trained pharmacists describing the training as adequate or somewhat adequate.
Judges’ comments
“This was a tough challenge – the first chronic use medicine to go over-the-counter. A great campaign focused on real customer-driven insight that lead to a solid well-thought-out approach. The programme was excellently executed through a range of digital resources.”
