Madison Pharmacy Associates

Madison Pharmacy Associates’ Marla Ahlgrimm remembers life before premenstrual syndrome was a household term. In the late 70s, Marla Ahlgrimm and her associates were working at a pharmacy when they encountered a patient suffering from PMS. Along with her associates, Madison Pharmacy Associates’ Ahlgrimm began treating the patient and soon were working to help others with premenstrual symptoms.

After encountering resistance from pharmacy management, Marla Ahlgrimm and a colleague founded Madison Pharmacy Associates, a pharmacy with an emphasis on women’s health. In the early days, Madison Pharmacy Associates pioneered the field of PMS treatment, compounding specialized prescriptions and consulting with doctors and patients throughout the country. Since Marla Ahlgrimm founded Madison Pharmacy Associates in the early 1980s, she estimates it has helped more than 300,000 women and 7,000 physicians understand, diagnose, and treat PMS symptoms.

With a focus on quality, service, and innovation, Madison Pharmacy Associates believes in involving its full staff in every aspect of daily operations. “We encourage ideas, creativity, and change,” Madison Pharmacy Associates’ Marla Ahlgrimm explains. “In a small company, we have the luxury to dispense with formal meetings—we all discuss ideas and quickly implement them to simply see what the results are.”

Madison Pharmacy Associates was among the first group of medical professionals to sit in on the FDA advisory board which met to discuss the relevancy and magnitude of PMS in America. Since Madison Pharmacy Associates was at the forefront of PMS research and treatment, many of the educational materials the practice used had to be developed from scratch. Madison Pharmacy Associates has always placed importance in providing one-on-one consultation to patients and their physicians, helping both to understand PMS in order to more quickly come to a treatment plan.

“Too often, management makes the mistake or is forced to separate themselves from the day to day operations of their business under the guise of tending to more important things,” Madison Pharmacy Associates’ Ahlgrimm believes. “That connection is the whole point of being in business and successfully staying in business.”

One of the things that has helped Madison Pharmacy Associates succeed is Marla Ahlgrimm’s devotion to her patients. Madison Pharmacy Associates’ Ahlgrimm grew up in a family that owned a small business. This helped her understand the importance of thinking outside the box, focusing on Madison Pharmacy Associates’ mission, rather than trying to outdo the competition.

“You can’t quantify the degree to which your business reflects your passion, vision, trust, and optimism,” Madison Pharmacy Associates’ Marla Ahlgrimm says. “Yet these values reveal themselves in each transaction you and your employees are involved in.”

The information in this article has been previously published and is provided as a reference resource by Marla Ahlgrimm, R.Ph. Madison Pharmacy Associates was sold in 2011. Marla Ahlgrimm is also the co-founder and President of Cyclin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company sells proprietary products for the women’s health market as well as ProCycle PMS and ProCycle Gold products. For more information, go online to http://www.cyclinpharma.com