Full scope is not a clinical shift, it is a business model transformation

From primary care access to commercial reality

In our first APP 2026 analysis, What APP 2026 taught us about where primary care in Australia is heading, the Veri Health team explored how pharmacy is emerging as a frontline access point for care.

Sitting in a TerryWhite Chemmart session on growth and competitiveness, the next layer of that shift became clear. This is no longer just a clinical conversation. It is a commercial one.

Kate Gunthorpe, Pharmacist Implementation & Change Specialist at TerryWhite Chemmart, opened the session by explaining that full scope is already a financially viable service.

For years, full scope has been positioned as a way to improve access and relieve system pressure. At APP 2026, it was presented as something more fundamental to how pharmacies grow.

The consult is not where the value sits

One of the clearest insights from the session was how often the economics of full scope are misunderstood. Many operators still assess services based on the consultation itself, focusing on the fee, the time, and the immediate return.

As Molly McGuire, pharmacist at TerryWhite Chemmart Wilsonton and the 2026 National Community Pharmacist of the Year, explained, that framing is incomplete.

“It’s a great question, but it’s incomplete… it’s not just consult volume, it’s consult volume, cost, and behaviour.”

That shift in thinking reframes the consult from being the point of value to being the starting point of a longer patient relationship. Throughout the session, this idea was reinforced repeatedly, with a clear emphasis on what happens after the consultation rather than the consult itself.

Gunthorpe supported this by walking through practical examples from pharmacy, illustrating how a single clinical interaction often leads to multiple follow-up visits and broader engagement over time.

The data aligns with this pattern, with roughly one third of patients presenting for consultations being new to the pharmacy, reinforcing the role of services as an acquisition channel rather than simply an extension of existing demand.

The risk of standing still

There was a noticeable shift in tone throughout the session, particularly in how full scope was positioned.

Rather than being discussed as optional or experimental, the conversation reflected a view that pharmacies not yet implementing these models are at risk of falling behind as patient expectations continue to evolve.

As more pharmacies embed these services, faster access, immediate care and integrated experiences are becoming standard, shifting what patients expect from primary care providers.

What leading pharmacies are doing differently

What separated the operators seeing results was not simply the presence of services, but how those services were embedded into the structure of the business.

Across the panel, there was a strong emphasis on consistency, ensuring appointments are always available, structuring teams to support consultations, and avoiding cancellations that disrupt patient trust.

There was also a clear shift in how pharmacists are prioritising care in practice. As discussed during the session, consultations are no longer treated as secondary to dispensing, but as an equally important part of delivering care to patients.

This reflects a broader operational shift, where the business is designed around patient care interactions rather than being built solely around dispensing volume.

While these insights are grounded in pharmacy, their implications extend across healthcare, where similar pressures around demand, workforce and patient expectations are being felt.

Takeaway

What became clear to the Veri Health team sitting in that session is that full scope is not simply expanding what pharmacists can do clinically.

It is changing how pharmacy creates value. The consultation is not the transaction. It is the starting point.

The real value is built over time, through repeat visits, stronger patient relationships and ongoing engagement.

That is why this is not simply a clinical evolution.It is a business model transformation.

Part of the APP 2026 series

This article is part of Veri Health’s on-the-ground coverage of APP 2026, where our team spent three days analysing the shifts shaping primary care, business models and the future of healthcare delivery in Australia.

In our first article, we explored how pharmacy is emerging as a frontline access point for care.

What APP 2026 taught us about where primary care in Australia is heading

In the next article, we examine why many pharmacies will struggle to implement full scope in practice, and what the top-performing operators are doing differently.

Why most pharmacies will struggle with full scope, and what the top performers are doing differently