More than 5,000 pharmacies offer med sync programs, according to the American Pharmacists Association.
Medication synchronization, or med sync for short, is a program in which patients pick up all their medications on one day, not different days throughout the month.
In effect, med sync offers patients much-needed flexibility, ensures medication adherence, and improves health outcomes. On the pharmacist’s end, it streamlines workflow so you can spend less time dispensing and more time on clinical services.
If you don’t already have a med sync program in place, consider this your sign. Read on to find out how to start your med sync program and change your pharmacy for the better.
1. Assess Your Current Workflow
Before you start any new program, you should spend some time evaluating the ones you already have in place. Assess your workflow to understand how your team processes, fills, and dispenses prescriptions.
Are there any bottlenecks in your workflow? Inefficiencies in your dispensing process? Places where you’d like to speed up the process and save time for other areas?
As you assess, you should also consider your capacity for starting a new program.
Initially, med sync requires a big-time commitment — planning, scheduling, revamping workflows, and implementing a new system while maintaining your existing system.
As such, you should talk with your team to find out how much time they have, how you can allocate resources, and how to make the transition to a new workflow easier.
You should also consider physical space requirements and technology infrastructure — especially your pharmacy software system.
Finally, you should consider the demand for med sync. If you have a majority of multi-script or chronic care patients, med sync is probably a good fit for your pharmacy.
2. Establish Program Goals
Once you’ve determined a need for med sync, you’ve assessed your current workflow, and you’ve got your team on board, you should work together to establish clear, measurable goals for your new med sync program.
What percentage of your patient base do you want on med sync — and in what window of time?
How will you switch chronic care patients to the program, and how will you market it to new patients?
Who will you put in charge of the program, and how will you allocate staff, time, and resources for its development? How will you handle hiccups along the way ?
By taking the time to establish clear goals for your program, you can ensure your program accomplishes its objectives and fits in with your overall vision for the pharmacy.
3. Develop Operational Processes
After you’ve established goals, you can think about the best way to meet those goals.
Most importantly, you’ll need to create a new workflow for med sync. More than likely, your workflow will involve the following stages:
- Initial patient assessment
- Enrollment procedure
- Synchronization schedule (monthly vs. quarterly)
- Communication protocol
- Documentation and record-keeping
In addition, you’ll need to assign roles for your pharmacists, techs, and support staff.
Pharmacists can conduct patient assessments, plan sync schedules, and use the pharmacy software system to streamline the process.
Techs can be an excellent asset for processing prescriptions and preparing medication packages.
Support staff can help with administrative tasks, like scheduling appointments, maintaining records, and communicating with patients about upcoming refills.
In other words, make your new program a team effort — and provide training, support, and resources for them along the way.
4. Use Your Pharmacy Software System
As you develop your new program, don’t underestimate the power of technology — specifically, your pharmacy software system.
Many pharmacy software systems offer med sync features so you can assess eligibility, automate schedules, send refill reminders, and streamline patient communication with ease.
Your pharmacy software system may also integrate with automated packaging systems (blister packs, adherence packaging, etc.) to speed up the packaging process.
Finally, some systems integrate with telehealth platforms to provide virtual consultations and medication management for patients in and out of the pharmacy.
If you’re in the market for a new pharmacy software system to assist you in your med sync program, visit our Compare Software page.
Here, you can compare top software systems and find the right functionalities for your new program.
5. Enroll Eligible Patients
When you’re ready to start your program, do a trial run with existing eligible patients rather than immediately marketing the service to new patients.
Use your pharmacy software system to determine eligible patients (high-risk, chronic care, or multi-risk patients) and begin the enrollment process with a select few patients.
When these patients come to pick up their scripts, explain the med sync program and how it can benefit them — namely, flexibility, convenience, and better medication adherence.
With a small sample of patients, you can test out your new workflow, find areas you need to reassess, and work out any challenges that come up.
In this time, work on enrollment, medication reviews, reconciliations, date coordination and sync scheduling, following up, and gathering feedback.
6. Advertise Your Program to New Patients
Whether it takes several weeks or several months, once you find that you’re ready to expand, take the opportunity to market your program to new patients.
Tell new patients about the program, hang flyers in the pharmacy, advertise online, use social media, and spread the service with word of mouth.
As you expand the program, regularly check in with your staff to identify any challenges or changes that should be made. Take their feedback and adapt the program accordingly.
7. Evaluate Effectiveness
A new med sync program can take months — or even years — to fully implement.
That’s why it’s best to start small and grow your program from there.
Over time, you’ll find the right workflow for your team and start to see the benefits: more time, more resources, and greater capacity for clinical services, community outreach, and industry involvement.
Be patient and, along the way, regularly check in with your team, your patients, and your metrics to find out how well the program is working for you.
If you plan to make med sync a long-term program in your pharmacy, you’ll always be growing, adapting, and changing the program.
Be open to making those changes — and always assess, evaluate, and implement accordingly.
Conclusion
Med sync is a staple for many pharmacies. It offers flexibility for patients, efficiency for pharmacies, and better health outcomes for the entire patient population.
While a new med sync program takes time, energy, and resources, it pays off over time.
As you work to implement a new med sync program, be creative, adaptable, and most importantly, a team player.
Your team, patients, and especially your new program will thank you.
