Physicians are beginning to recognize the benefits of having medication in office. They are realizing they can make more money with little extra work and provide better care to patients. Physician dispensing is seeing a huge increase in the number of doctors implementing these practices.
Having medication in office to dispense to patients is the future of dispensing. Keep reading to discover some of these reasons, all of which benefit you, staff, and the patient.
Doctors Want Ancillary Income
Everyone thinks doctors are immediately wealthy. You know this is not the truth. Some doctors have student loan debt, while others are supporting a family. Some physicians are both paying off debt and have a family.
On top of that, doctors have additional bills that many citizens do not consider when they generalize that all doctors are wealthy. You have employees to pay, insurance costs, and mortgage fees. And those are just for your office.
Physician dispensing and having medication in office is a way for all doctors to bring in more money without having to do more work. In fact, most of the services can be done by your staff. It costs little money to set up but has a great return on your investment.
Doctors Want Better Outcomes Measurement
Somewhere along the way, the ability to track your patients’ health outcomes has become more difficult. Not because you haven’t tried, but some of your patients aren’t the best at maintaining the treatment plan you created with them.
Some patients visit several different doctors for the same medical concerns. Yet they fail to tell you they are doing so. Other patients feel they know the best way to take their medications, which may not be as prescribed by you.
With medication in office you see just how well your patients are doing when it comes to following their care plan. You can track their progress and learn exactly why they are or are not meeting positive health goals.
Doctors Don’t Want to Have to Deal with The Pharmacy
It seems like pharmacists have prescription issues when you are at your busiest time of the day. They don’t know this, of course, and they certainly don’t want to bother you. But it happens.
When you have medication in office, you will no longer need to communicate with a pharmacy because all your prescriptions can be filled right there in your office, by you and your staff.
With in-office dispensing software, your staff can fill a prescription with medication in office in less than ten minutes, accurately and safely. You can consult your patient in-person to ensure they receive education on their medicine. And refills are prepared with a few simple clicks on the computer.
Medication In Office Can Help Avoid Medication Errors
You can read your own hand writing so there won’t be any pharmacy related errors when you keep medication in office. It’s true that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have made errors when filling prescriptions. They have mistaken one drug for another simply because they are similarly spelled.
They have accidentally cause cross-contamination due to unclean sorting practices. They have even given the wrong dose, and the wrong prescription to the wrong patient. Errors such as these can be fatal, can set you up for a lawsuit, or both.
You can avoid all these errors by filling your own prescriptions.
Doctors Want to Better Manage Controlled Substance Prescriptions
Controlled substances are heavily regulated. Due to the widespread patient abuse of these drugs, physicians are hesitant to prescribe controlled substances, even to the patients who need them and can benefit from them.
With in-office dispensing, you can have complete control over how your patients use the controlled substances you prescribe. You can prescribe one dose a day, or enough for two weeks. It will be up to you to determine the best way for your patient to receive a controlled substance.
Too often, patients get a thirty-day supply. Some abuse this by taking too many in less than thirty days. This creates a cycle where the patient calls for early refills and you are faced with allowing your patient to experience pain or prescribing more.
Medication in office makes these decisions easier. It also lets you check national databases, giving you information as to whether your patient has established negative patterns in trying to obtain controlled substances.
Doctors Want Their Patients to Be Happy and Loyal
Dispensing at the point of care saves your patient a great deal of time and effort. They can obtain their medication in office before they leave. Meaning, they can receive immediate relief for their pain.
If they need a cane or walker, you can provide that to them on site. If you are prescribing a medication for relief of negative symptoms, your patients no longer must wait hours for the pharmacist to fill their prescription. They can get their first dose at your office, and possibly administered by you, so you can educate them on how to properly take a dose.
Happy patients are those who are shown respect, especially when it comes to their confidentiality. At the pharmacy, there is little effort made to protect the confidentiality of your patients. Even at the bigger chain pharmacies, only a small window is provided for communicating with the pharmacist.
Everyone else waiting in line can still see and hear what your patients are discussing with the pharmacist. Most of the time, patients refuse communications with pharmacists to avoid embarrassment.
When your patients are happy, they are loyal. They tell all their family and friends how great you are, allowing your practice to never need patients. The more patients you gain, the more money-making opportunities will come your way.
With more patients, you can hire nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Additional staff like this means your office can see twice the number of patients, at a higher fee, giving you more profits.
In-office dispensing is becoming popular due to the many advantages it offers physicians. It is easy to see why having medication in-office is the future of dispensing.