Your role as an independent community pharmacist continues to evolve. Gone are the days of simply filling scripts and answering patients’ questions about their medications. You are in charge of more duties now than ever before.
As a pharmacist, you now have the ability to administer vaccinations, provide health screenings to patients, and in some states, even prescribe medications. You may have so many tasks that it can seem like a challenge to complete them all.
As your role expands, you may need more help than what your other pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and non-pharmacy staff can provide.
Here are six reasons you should consider adding automation to your pharmacy.
1. More efficient workflow
Investing in robotics at your pharmacy can clear up your time, and your talent, leading to a more efficient workflow.
With a machine to count pills and fill scripts, you can free up your time or your pharmacists’ time, to provide clinical services, such as immunizations or diabetes counseling. It can also give you more time to complete other tasks, such as training a new employee and working on your business.
2. Improved interactions
Reallocating your time and your staff’s time can also allow you to better focus on your patients, a quality that makes your independent community pharmacy stand out from big box pharmacies and national chain pharmacies. You’ll have more time to go into the aisles and help patients who have questions, and provide additional services, such as diabetic shoe fittings.
3. Minimized dispensing errors
Humans make errors; robots make next to none. Every once in awhile you may not be able to read a doctor’s handwriting, or you may give one too many pills. These types of human dispensing errors are an opportunity for disaster.
Automation can ensure a higher success rate of correctly filled prescriptions, and it also fills prescriptions at a faster rate than counting pills by hand. This saves time and can save you money (and your patients’ health) by minimizing errors.
4. Reduced employee stress
Automation can give your pharmacy a more efficient workflow, which can lead to less employee stress. Your pharmacists and techs may find that they feel caught up instead of constantly behind. And, if your prescription volume increases, you can utilize the robot more often, instead of increasing employees’ workloads.
5. Invest in innovations
Utilizing the latest advancements in technology can keep your independent pharmacy competitive. Automation isn’t a one-size-fits-all model. There are all types of automation solutions to fit every size and type of pharmacy—from simple counting machines to robots. If you’re not investing in the types of technologies that can move your business forward, then you may get left behind.
6. Boosting adherence
If you add a robot or automatic dispensing system to your pharmacy, you have many different packaging options to help improve patients’ medication adherence, such as blister packaging and pouches.
Improve your pharmacy workflow with these six steps.
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