Veterinary medications have reached an estimated $13 billion in annual consumer spending, and retail pharmacies have an opportunity to take on a growing share of these margin-rich dispensing opportunities. But most pharmacies still treat pet prescriptions as an exception to usual operations, trusting the prescribing veterinarian or reaching for decision support outside the normal workflow.
Retail pharmacists can play a bigger role in pet medication safety
Only 64 of the roughly 18,000 practicing veterinarians in the U.S. are certified in clinical pharmacology, and studies show prescription errors account for more than one-third of veterinary safety issues. Pet owners may notice when pharmacy teams lack a consistent process, which can affect both consumer trust and outcomes for their pets.
From exception to standardized workflow
For most retail pharmacies, a veterinary prescription still means stepping outside the normal dispensing workflow: Manually looking up species-specific dosing information, using screening resources built for human physiology, or bypassing medication safety checks altogether. This poses a risk to quality outcomes, and it also strains the pharmacist, adding extra burden to their already heavy workloads.
Closing that gap responsibly means bringing veterinary-specific screening directly into the retail pharmacy's existing workflow. That shift is what turns veterinary dispensing from an occasional exception into a standardized, repeatable part of the business.
Get the full story in our eBook, “Don’t let veterinary prescriptions break the pharmacy workflow.”
