While the current issues surrounding today’s pharmacies seem sobering—and they are—there is hope on the horizon. Advancements in automation technology can free pharmacy teams from having to perform routine and redundant tasks—like cycle counting, inventory balancing, and medication dispensing—so they can focus more on patient care and counsel. After all, pharmacists are among the most trusted and accessible health care professionals we have, so prioritizing their time, motivation, and mental health will be key to sustainability.
Inventory is the single largest investment and ongoing expense every pharmacy has. Best practices for inventory management include maintaining accurate on-hand stock positions as well as establishing when and how much to replenish the stock to meet anticipated demand while avoiding overstock or out-of-stock situations. Both of which can negatively impact a pharmacy’s bottom line.
A pharmacy’s inventory management system is paramount to a successful operation, and pharmacy teams are the cornerstone of that system. Pharmacy automation technology like Datarithm®, which integrates directly into the PMS, can complete physical counts of inventory, make manual adjustments, calculate reorder points, and reduce future surpluses that may result from overstocking, expirations, and unexpected loss of demand. All ingredients that can quickly cripple a pharmacy’s cash flow.
With surplus inventory identified, Datarithm® makes daily, automated return to wholesaler recommendations and, for chains, intelligent store-to-storetransfer recommendations. This has resulted in an average inventory reduction of 20% for pharmacies we work with, and an average 4.6 point turn improvement.
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