While a point-of-care, in-office dispensing system offers many benefits for both patients and practitioners, in order to ensure the highest return on investment while also maintaining patient satisfaction, you need to make sure it is well managed. Here are the best strategies to set your program up for success:
1. Organization
When you establish an on-site dispensary, you will place orders for pre-packaged medications which will be shipped directly to your clinic. How you receive your inventory of medications and ultimately store them in your dispensing cabinet can play a big role in the reduction of medication errors.
Medication dispensing errors, via a typical retail pharmacy environment, account for the death of 7,000 to 9,000 individuals in the United States per year, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Many times these errors are caused by medications being stored in the wrong place, not properly separating controlled medications from non-controlled medications, incorrectly reading a prescription, or confusion between similar medications.
By being able to dispense directly to the patient from your own clinic, using clearly labeled, pre-counted and packaged medications, you can drastically reduce the error ratio and virtually eliminate any need to perform pharmacy call backs and verifications. Having a thoroughly documented dispensing procedure also leaves little room for error.
2. Automation
The more you automate a system, the less chance there is for human error. Before you settle on a company offering in-office dispensing solutions, be sure that they have the capability to automate processes that would otherwise take up valuable time. DirectRx provides access to a state-of-the-art, custom-built software that improves the workflow and drug dispensing safety of your clinic, whilst giving you full control of the system.
Profitability reports, system analytics, state required PDMP (prescription drug monitoring program) reports, inventory counting, online ordering & re-stocking, and so on, are just a few of the types of things you should make sure are automated, so you can focus on providing care for your patients.
3. Training
Understand that it takes training and knowledge to execute an efficient in-office dispensing system. Those who participate directly with the dispensing of medications must be thoroughly trained regarding the purpose and goal of the point-of-care program. After all, in many clinics, the discharge staff are usually the final touch-point for your patients. If the staff are uninformed, or unmotivated about the service you are trying to offer, your patients will also not see the benefit or reason to participate in the program, and your end-of-day revenue for dispensing will not be where it should.
A staff member who has had years of education and training can also provide appropriate patient counseling. Studies reveal that 83% of medication errors are actually discovered and corrected before the patient has to leave the pharmacy if there is a trained staff member attending to his needs.
In-office drug dispensing facilities, therefore, are more efficient and helpful if the trained staff members also educate the patients on how to take the medication and adhere to the treatment, alongside making them aware of the side effects and outcomes. This final, but crucial part of an in-office drug dispensing system can greatly minimize dispensing errors and can improve the patients’ outcome.
4. Consistency
Part of the patient convenience factor of an in-office dispensing system lies in ensuring that you have a ready supply of the medications you are consistently prescribing. One of the many complaints patients have regarding trips to the pharmacy is that they never know if their medication is going to be in stock when they go to pick up a prescription. This in turn means the patient has to waste even more time on a second or third trip until they can actually fill their prescription.
When you opt to implement a dispensing system, or if you currently have one in place, you should ask your selected vendor whether or not they experience stock issues. If you cannot consistently provide medications and medication refills to your patients due to frequent backorders, price hikes or shipping errors, the program will not be successful.
DirectRx prides itself in having many established, long-term relationships with some of the top medication vendors and wholesalers out there and have redundancies in place to help prevent the chances for long-term stock issues. DirectRx is also prepared to compete with anyone and offers full pricing transparency when quoting prospective client formularies.
5. Resources
Let’s face it – the thought of implementing anything, whether it’s a new software program, a new office supply provider, or a point-of-care dispensing system can be daunting. That is why having the most knowledgeable, best equipped and practically priced solution can make all the difference in the success of your program.
Your dispensing system provider, should be a readily available resource for you to utilize. Whether it is knowledge, support, advice, compliance, etc., the answers you receive should leave you feeling confident you are on the right track with your program.
DirectRx is comprised of a team that has been in the healthcare, dispensing and billing management spectrum for over 25 years. Whatever service your clinic specializes in, the team at DirectRx has solutions designed to enhance revenues, streamline efficiencies and increase patient satisfaction and medication adherence.
Learn more about DirectRx medication dispensing system services
DirectRx is a DEA- and FDA-approved pharmaceutical repackaging facility that makes point-of-care medication and dispensing programs possible for licensed healthcare providers.
Our medication dispensing includes the prepackaging, labeling, and distribution of dispense-ready, FDA-approved medications in unit-of-use quantities requested by the physician.
We follow a rigorous 20-step quality control process to ensure the purity, quality, safety, and traceability of over 2,000 commonly prescribed medicines in various medication classes. For more information and inquiries, contact us or call us at 678-619-5510.
The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE, and is not intended to be a substitute for independent professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.
