Pharmacy will call needs a facelift

2008-05-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Suncrest Software Solutions has resolved will-call issues plaguing pharmacies and “revolutionized” customer satisfaction by automating the popular 'hanging bags' now used in most pharmacies.

For many pharmacies prescription will-call is a mess. Although the popular 'hanging bags' has given pharmacies a better way to retrieve will-call prescriptions over the traditional 'bins', there are still some real issues plaguing most pharmacy's prescription will-call area.

The will-call area is where pharmacies interface with their customers, and when a customer inquires about their prescription, the pharmacy needs to be ready.
Often times when a customer comes in to pickup their prescription, it may not be filled or may be in the process of being filled, or may just be misplaced. The pharmacist and two or three technicians search and wander the pharmacy numerous times throughout the day trying to locate these prescriptions. This costs time, interrupts workflow, and is an embarrassing experience for the pharmacy.

It’s no secret that a good will-call management system can improve the pharmacy workflow tremendously. But does it complete the professional look and feel that employees and customers get when they are in a smooth running pharmacy?

With a computerized or ‘automated’ will-call, pharmacies are able to customize and assign orders to specific bag or bin locations for fast and easy retrieval. No more misplaced orders and no more embarrassing moments with customers. But even more valuable than improving the pharmacy/customer interface through automating the prescription will-call is the reporting that comes with it.

Each week pharmacies must painstakingly look at the date on each prescription bottle in their will-call area to try and sort out prescriptions that have become ‘aged' or abandoned. Once located, they can either call the customer to ‘remind’ them of the prescription, or return the prescription to their inventory (known as Return-to-Stock). This ‘manual’ process consumes hours each week, and can be a challenge, as some pharmacies can have over 500 prescriptions waiting in their will-call at any one time!

By automating prescription will-call, pharmacies can generate "Return to Stock" and "Pickup Reminder” reports. These reports can be extremely valuable. Here’s why;

The "Pickup Reminder" report:

With the Pickup Reminder report the pharmacy knows in an instant all about the ‘aged’ prescriptions in their will-call without ever looking at a single date on a prescription bottle. Studies show 'Pickup Reminder' calls generate money for pharmacies for several reasons;

Prescriptions awaiting pickup have already cost the pharmacy time and money. When a prescription is not picked up, the pharmacy invests more time (money) to reverse the insurance claim and get the product back into inventory (Return to Stock).

Traditionally, it takes hours of time to locate these prescriptions manually. Once the prescription is located and pulled from will-call, the pharmacist or technician must then look up the customer's phone number and information before they can call to remind the customer about their 'aging' prescription. Once the call is made, they decide whether or not to put the aged prescription BACK into will-call or do a ‘Return to Stock’.

The traditional process can be very time consuming and needs to be repeated every week, or as often as the time-poor pharmacist can get to it. Often reminder calls are not made frequently enough because of the time the process takes each week. This causes some prescriptions to become TOO aged, so the pharmacy just returns the product to stock. This is not good for business, as one study shows up to 70% of customers that receive a simple “reminder” call come in and pickup their prescription.

With automation, the “Pickup Reminder” process is reduced to a fraction of the time, allowing the pharmacy to go through the process much more frequently.

Suncrest Software Solutions, has automated the popular hanging bags by using a bar code system to keep track of prescriptions in will-call. "HangRxTM" will-call automation software allows pharmacists to simply set a date range they want to create the report for, and then print a “Call Reminder Report”.

This report can be customized to fit the pharmacy's needs, and gives a list of the aged prescriptions, how old they are, who they are for, the customer's phone #, and the location of the prescription in the will-call area. It also interfaces with the pharmacy’s management software, allowing the pharmacist to simply ‘scan’ the prescription bottle to load all the information it needs, so there is no ‘double entry’. It can even print the customers co-pay and offers an optional signature capture at the point of sale.

Pharmacists and technicians can call their customers from the “Reminder” list and the prescription stays in will-call. The pharmacist or technician doesn't touch the prescription until they are ready to return it to stock. By simplifying this process, the pharmacy can afford to do the 'Call Reminder' process more frequently and with much less hassle, which in turn keeps prescriptions moving 'through' will-call and not stuck 'in' it. This process also saves the pharmacy money by reducing the amount of prescriptions “returned to stock”, and increases the amount of prescriptions sold. Good news for any pharmacy.

Another way will-call automation saves time is by using the Return to Stock report.

The same scenario described with the ‘call reminder’ process goes for the 'return-to-stock' process. Traditionally, when the pharmacy does their “Return to Stock” process, they painstakingly search for each ‘aged’ prescription and "pull" them from their will-call. This is another very cumbersome and time consuming ordeal.

However, with will-call automation a 'return-to-stock' report can be quickly generated, and within minutes a pharmacist can know which prescriptions in their will-call need to be returned to inventory, and know the exact location of where to retrieve them, all without looking at a single prescription bottle in their will-call.

By computerizing or 'automating' their will-call area, pharmacies have total control over these and other issues that come with a large will-call area. One pharmacy using the HangRx automated will-call has said that the system has ‘revolutionized’ the way he interacts with his customers, and by his calculations, the system more than paid for itself within just a few short months.

This extra step enables pharmacies to immediately determine an order's location at any time. There are a number of benefits to the pharmacy” said Joel, owner of Suncrest Software Solutions and creator of the HangRx system. “The 'Call Reminder' and 'Return to Stock' reports alone saves a pharmacy literally hours of time each week, however, we’ve taken it this to the next level.”

And he’s right. The HangRx system will automatically call the pharmacy’s customer the moment the prescription is scanned into will-call to let them know their precription is "Ready for Pickup". It can also be setup to automatically call the customer, lets say, 3 days after the prescription is filled and not picked up, and will even send a “TEXT” message to customers when their prescription is ready. “There are so many benefits" Joel said. "Our customers love it. They are amazed how they got by without it once they realize how much our system can improve their workflow."

Improve workflow is right, and not only with managing will-call with HangRx. Suncrest has also developed a prescription display called DisplayRx. This is a flat screen monitor that can be mounted anywhere outside the prescription pickup window or anywhere in the store which not only displays the prescription when it has been scanned into will-call, but can also display advertising or any other type of media.

“This is the natural extension to prescription will-call and workflow automation taht allows pharmacy customers to browse the store and not disrupt the pharmacist unnecessarily” said Joel. “Customers love it, because they don’t need to stand in line to ask if their prescription is ready, and pharmacist love it, because they are not being constantly interrupted just to say that their prescription should be ready in a few minutes.” DisplayRx uses a combination of the customer’s last name and phone # in order to stay HIPPA compliant, yet still allows only the customer to identify themselves on the display screen.

“Some stores may see DisplayRx as a revenue generating opportunity” said Joel. “DisplayRx is actually a very sophisticated piece of software that allows all media that is displayed on the monitors to be maintained from one central or ‘corporate’ location. You can have one monitor or one thousand monitors, and each one can display all the same material or one thousand different pieces of media, and it can all be controlled from one location. All you need is access to the internet.”

Another interesting point made is the unique ‘draw’ that the DisplayRx system has with its in-store advertising. “Customers are ‘looking’ for their name on the monitors, they actually have a reason to look”, said Joel. “This gives DiplayRx an extra star on the score card over other advertising displays, which can be largely ignored.” And with vendors “foaming at the mouth” to get in front of those customers, in-store advertising has become the latest craze. For instance the “Wal-Mart Network”, which is a string of monitors throughout the Wal-Mart chain, offers advertising to vendors on their network. But be ready to pay, and at no small charge. Monthly ‘air time’ STARTS at around $300,000.00 for a 30 second spot, which only runs 6 times per day. “Granted”, said Joel, “Wal-Mart claims that they are in front of six million viewers every day, but really, how many times do you stop to actually ‘look’ at the monitor? I don’t. I don’t have any reason to. But let’s say I’m in a Walgreens, and I know that when my prescription is ready it will come up on one of the in-store displays, I’ll shop the store, and keep looking at the monitor while I’m waiting, because I have a reason to.”

This unique draw also gives vendors a reason to pay a premium for the ‘air time’ they are buying. “Kind of like you expect to pay a premium during an episode of “Seinfeld”, because you know people are watching. We are no Seinfeld, but you get the idea.”

pharmacy hangup bags

Pharmacy will call needs a facelift