Investing in Pharmacy Technology in 2009

[Pharmacy Technology Resource, LLC]

Which technology upgrades make sense for your pharmacy?

It’s a new year and we are facing unprecedented and difficult times in
our economy. The independent pharmacy owners who survive the next 3 –
18 months will be stronger and prepared for the inevitable growth in
the need for their services. What preparations can be taken to be
ready for the economical recovery? What choices can be made today to
maintain or prosper in 2009?

Lowering Expenses

First – your inventory is probably the most expensive over-head of
your pharmacy business with staffing / employee support and services
coming in second. Are there any adjustments you can make to your
current inventory – or buying methods to shorten the time the
medications sit on your shelves? Are there changes you can make to
your inventory system – within your pharmacy software to create
savings over the next 30 -90 days? What about your pharmacy staff?
Have you considered part-time staffing strategies, outsourcing Rx data
entry, or utilizing a professional pharmacy staffing firm to get you
through leaner times?

Technology Factors

Many current legacy systems and pharmacy software systems are
outdated, using old code, and have been patched together with bolted
on enhancements that can create data management nightmares.
There are newer and less expensive systems out there today that can
provide your pharmacy with a greater ROI on your technology dollar
outlay. Speeding processes by using bar codes/scanning and robotics is
a great way to increase productivity – but some automation can be
costly. Investigate several systems and ask the technology vendor to
submit a pricing analysis – on the status-quo and implementing a new
system – via leasing. Pharmacy capital resources are available and can
be a creative way to benefit from newer technology and tax savings.
(Read more about the tax benefits here.)

Think of other systems that could automate and increase productivity –
without decreasing customer service – like an Interactive Voice
Recognition System, Automated product dispensing machine, or an
updated pharmacy software application that can handle multiple
pharmacy operations/ settings.

With further struggles with insurance plans private and commercial,
the decrease in pharmacy profits, and mail-order service competition –
independents need to be innovative. There is an ongoing pharmacist
shortage and increasing pharmacist salary rates make it difficult to
navigate the road to business expansion, market coverage, and
competition on every corner. However – there is and will be a
continued increase in Rx volume and new automation options to
integrate with next generation Rx dispensing systems will help
improved workflow and ultimately increase revenue.

For the pharmacy with more than 1 location – the concept of central
fill is not out of the realm of a great opportunity to increase and
productivity with condensing staff efforts. Central processing is a
great way to have billing, filling, and other data entry tasks
controlled by one location or a division of your subject matter
experts which can create consistent processes and time savings. Load
balancing your stores / locations – is another part of the process
improvement drawing board – you may want to consider. If one store
becomes busy – shifting prescription checking, data entry, and final
verification is all possible through a load balancing strategy. These
processes are not for the Walgreens, Wal-Marts, and Rite Aids – of the
world. The independent can implement these strategies on a smaller
scale.
There are more pharmacy software vendors working on new/enhanced
pharmacy practice management systems and other marketing aspects of
the applications that are a must have for your business if you want to
grow and keep your customers from finding another care provider. These
systems and software packages must be scalable without a lot of added
expense and must offer workflow options to match your fluctuating Rx
volumes. Many pharmacy software systems cannot interface easily with
other automation and technology or are very expensive to create these
interfaces.

A dynamic pharmacy software system must maximize the use of
technicians in non-clinical tasks and the support from your vendor
must understand how to help you implement their system into your
processes. A pharmacy software vendor – head programmer once told me
that helping to design processes that maximize the new pharmacy
systems functionality wasn’t their job or focus. This vendor told me
that their business was designing pharmacy software systems and not
being a consultant or a partner in their customer’s overall planning
for success.

What a bone head.

The pharmacy software – is important but the process and merging of
the system into your pharmacy operations is just as important. It
would be like purchasing a new car – but no one showing you how the
car works. Therefore – you have just spent thousands of dollars on a
new automobile but you can’t drive it – or end up wrecking because you
couldn’t find the mirror adjustment switch. All pharmacy technology
vendors MUST BE as customer-centric to you and your success as you are
to your patients and customers. Your customers/ patient’s health is
your business and there is more to your customer’s health than the
prescription your filled /provided.

Integrating new technology includes creating or improving your
pharmacy dispensing processes and back office operations. Remember
that green considerations-less paper, more digital storage (Rx,
signatures, patient records) can create better efficiency inside your
business. Financial- studies show that there are lower costs to
dispense when processes and procedures within your store/ business are
properly deployed.

Maximizing Generic Profitability

When is the last time you or a chosen member of your staff proactively
called your patients upon new generic availability and what about
refill reminders on generic products? There might be therapeutic
interchange opportunities to generics in the same category and you may
ask the PBM to help pay for conversion costs.

Make Time for an Assessment of Your Pharmacy Business

This assessment should include – your staff, your inventory, the
processes in place, and the technology spending outlay you have
invested along with assessing its current ROI on your bottom line. Ask
your pharmacy software vendor to help you assess the value of their
system and any changes they can suggest to make it better. Be sure to
make an informed decision about new technology and be absolutely sure
you have a documented plan to implement the technology into your live
operation with a time table to help you make an assessment of how fast
you should see results of your investment.

For more information on these and other pharmacy technology and
process improvement ideas – please contact me:
part...@pharmacytechnology.net or (866) 582-8721
Make it happen in 2009 to prepare for a much better 2010, 2011!!