Ways to Automate your Pharmacy Original Pack Dispensing Process

Looking at automating your original pack dispensing process for repeat prescriptions? Our Head of Marketing, Shelley Dyer, outlines the options currently available to you.

Technology is certainly on the increase in community pharmacy. It’s becoming common place for pharmacies to automate the production of their MDS trays or to have self service kiosks where patients can pick up their prescriptions out of hours. We’re also starting to see a rise in the number of robotic dispensing systems in community pharmacy – already a common fixture in hospital pharmacies. However you could argue that the automation of the dispensing workflow for original pack repeat prescriptions has been a lot slower. This is surprising when you consider that it is this element of pharmacy dispensing that can take up the most time in store.

It is no secret that pharmacy time is currently monopolised by the dispensing process. In fact dispensing accounts for 88% of a pharmacist’s time in an average store. The bulk of the dispensing process, 70% on average, is spent on repeat prescriptions for original pack medication. Embracing technology which automates or semi-automates the original pack dispensing process will be crucial if pharmacies are to free up time for patient-facing services like Pharmacy First.

So what are your options if you are looking to automate dispensing for the original pack medication process?

Fully Automated Pack to Patient Central Fill

The fully automated pack to patient central fill model (some time ago this was called traditional hub and spoke) which has been around for several years is the most costly choice. It’s the model that was, and still is, used by very large pharmacy groups. For this option a pharmacy will need several million pound budgets to build the hub and incredibly large volumes to ensure they achieve a return on investment. On top of budget they are also going to need space. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of square footage to accommodate the technology. Another thing to consider with this model is the time it takes to implement. A hub of this nature cannot just be implemented over night and there will often be a significant wait for the equipment – sometimes years. Finally with this model pharmacies should bear in mind that the providers of this hub technology don’t have a solution for pharmacy stores to enable visibility between the hub and the pharmacy spokes and ensure the spokes retain control so they can manage the relationship in store with patients. Our FLOWRx InStore solution can interface with these huge enterprise hubs to provide that level of visibility.

FLOWRx Suite of Solutions

FLOWRx is newer technology. This bespoke suite of hub and spoke solutions have been developed to be both affordable and scalable and it is currently the only solution in town that meets these needs. The beauty of FLOWRx is it allows pharmacies to start small and then scale up if required as their business grows. Our FLOWRx software fully integrates the prescription process with the supply chain, enabling the delivery of bagged and labelled patient medication to pharmacy spokes. Seamless integration with warehouse management systems allow for efficient inventory management, reordering and tracking and direct connection to PMR systems ensure accurate patient information and order tracking.

Pharmacies can start with a manual hub which will streamline the dispensing process through barcode scanning, RFID tracking and sort-to-light shelving which reduces errors and improves efficiency. For those with larger volumes there is the FLOWRx auto hub which provides enhanced robotic labelling, sorting and packaging capabilities for even faster and safer medication processing and productivity. Our FLOWRx Hub solution is connected to FLOWRx InStore which ensures pharmacy spokes have full visibility and control over patient orders as well as the ability to manage any exceptions.

FLOWRx provides pharmacies with the opportunity to scale and process up to 50% of the entire dispensing workload offsite, hugely increasing the capacity for services in pharmacy branches. It’s also relatively quick to implement, taking a few months as opposed to years.

Tote2Spoke

For those pharmacies not ready to create their own hub but looking to take dispensing out of their pharmacy store there is a Tote2Spoke solution. This option allows pharmacies to work in partnership with a wholesaler or warehouse. The wholesaler/warehouse has the capability to batch pick medication on the pharmacy’s behalf and deliver it back to store in patient specifc FLOW Totes. The innovative software then allows pharmacies to scan, label, and sort medications directly from the FLOW Tote into patient specific baskets with no need to unpack onto shelves. It’s a great option for single pharmacies who are looking to move a number of the time consuming tasks involved with dispensing off-site, creating time and space in store.

PMR Providers

Finally you have your PMR providers. Many of the PMR providers now offer a software only solution and this usually comes at little or no cost. These solutions allow for online checking at the start of the process as well as batch picking and barcode scanning in store. This solution is a great option for independent pharmacies or very small groups of pharmacies with low item volumes who are not looking to grow or expand. For those pharmacies who are slightly bigger, have larger volumes or who are looking to grow their operation, the PMR option won’t necessarily give you the full functionality or efficiencies you are looking for. Many PMR solutions only allow a pharmacy to process a small number of patients at once, it doesn’t allow for scaling to larger production rates.

With so many options now available to pharmacy it’s important for pharmacy owners to do their homework before opting for a solution so they can be sure they are investing in an option that will work for them both now and in the future.

Pharmacy Automation By Centred Solutions 

At Centred Solutions, we offer a range of pharmacy automation software to support your pharmacy. Whether you are a pharmacy looking to streamline your operations by receiving medications directly from wholesalers or  need support in setting up your own hub, we have the solution for you. 

Contact us today to arrange a demonstration of any of our products.