Pharmacy work goes beyond the pharmacy. As a healthcare professional, you know a patient’s health journey is neverending. Likewise, helping your patients achieve a clean bill of health can be a lifelong endeavor.
Your patients lead busy lives, where picking up their medications can be too time-consuming. Repeat visits further exacerbate this.
Your patients hold convenience in high regard. The more convenient you make their pharmacy visit, the more likely they will return. That’s what building a robust and loyal customer base is all about.
On the topic of convenience, maximize your pharmacy’s efficiency and timeliness through the power of med sync. Though it’s a tried and tested element of many independent pharmacies, it never hurts to take a refresher course.
Here’s how you can take your independent pharmacy to the next level with med sync.
What is Med Sync?
Formally known as medication synchronization, the NCPA defines med sync as a way for “patients to pick up all of their ongoing prescription refills at the pharmacy on a single, convenient day each month…”
In essence, med sync is all about making sure your patients can get all their medications at a convenient time and date. Repeat visits to the pharmacy can be a hassle during a busy work week.
Though your pharmacy dispenses life-improving and life-saving medications, convenience plays a huge role in whether or not they pick them up in a timely manner.
The concept of med sync functions to alleviate this. It works with the idea of convenience and ensures your patient can pick their medications up with the ease of starting a car.
The easier you make it, the more likely they’ll come.
The Benefits of Med Sync
If the mere idea of med sync isn’t compelling enough, the proven benefits of med sync speak for themselves.
A study by the National Library of Medicine found that med sync programs are an effective way to prevent medication nonadherence. Furthermore, it can help prevent overspending in the pharmacy industry — more than $100 billion to be exact.
We mentioned in our blog about ACOs that over 30% of healthcare spending can be considered wasteful.
Overspending is a burden for your patients and can give your independent pharmacy a false sense of security. Implementing med sync programs ensure that you’re running a financially steady ship.
A statistic from the APhA Foundation said that med sync services made patients 3 to 6 times more likely to follow their medication regimens.
This leads to your patients progressing on their health journey while staying at your independent pharmacy.
Get Your Pharmacy on the Right Track
Med sync helps your patients beyond patient care. It improves and streamlines your independent pharmacy’s productivity. Having your patients come once a month can help you and your staff focus on that order.
Once you’re done filling and processing those prescriptions, you can attend to other pharmaceutical matters.
Med sync lets you focus on the task at hand, not having to worry about any lingering prescriptions or the headaches of partial fills.
Med sync leaves room for your independent pharmacy to focus on more pressing matters with your undivided attention.
In theory, this level of efficiency will let you handle a greater workload without feeling stretched too thin. It’s like buying a running shoe that’s a few ounces lighter than your usual joggers: the same amount of effort will get you farther.
Keep Up with Your Inventory
Med sync is all about consistency. It promotes patient adherence and lets them depend on your independent pharmacy for all their health needs.
That’s a lot of power, and with it comes a lot of responsibility. Fulfill your end of the med sync bargain by streamlining your independent pharmacy’s inventory system.
Every pharmacy has different medication priorities. It all depends on your community’s demographics, so adjust accordingly.
Though your demographics differ, the approach remains the same: stock up on your medications however you can.
It helps especially when you have a pharmacy software system that automatically orders your most-dispensed medications.
Having an intuitive and reliable pharmacy software system will make your med sync journey easier. In fact, several software systems have med sync capabilities.
If you haven’t already, check if your software system has med sync capabilities. Otherwise, it might be time to look toward greener pastures.
Get in (Med) Sync with Roadblocks
Pharmacy work is never definitive. It is a perpetual work in progress with no tangible end in sight. This leaves the door always open for innovation and problem-solving. At the very least, it’s never boring.
Practicing med sync has its fair share of roadblocks. A big example is the patient’s insurance plan denying a prescription claim because it’s too soon.
The dreaded “Refill Too Soon” message is a common occurrence. As you may know, there are a few ways to bypass the rejection and still have the insurance cover the prescription.
Submission codes are your best friend here, allowing you to go around the rejection. Granted, things become a little different when it comes to controlled medications. The best way to avoid pharmacy traffic is to contact their doctor.
Coordinate with your patient’s doctor how they’re prescribing medications: the day supply and amount of refills to be more specific.
Lastly, you can give your patients a say when it comes to med sync. Your pharmacy software system should send text messages to your patients about upcoming refills. All they need to do is reply yes or no — simple as that.
Conclusion
It’s all about convenience. Traversing through one’s own health journey is difficult enough, so picking up medications shouldn’t be a hassle.
Eliminate the red tape with med sync services. Med sync will make your pharmacy run a little smoother and make your patients’ lives a little easier. A more efficient pharmacy can make all the difference in a patient’s health journey.
Make things easier (but no less better) with the help of med sync services.
