In-office dispensing is becoming more popular as physicians recognize the benefits for both the practice and patients. You may be considering installing an in office dispensary system for your practice. If you aren’t quite sure if a dispense in office program for filling prescriptions is worth the effort, keep reading.
Listed below are seven reasons an in-office dispensing program is good for you, your staff and your patients.
Reason 1: New Source of Income
Although your business is thriving, it is not the time to get too comfortable. There is always room for growth. It is wise for anyone, even physicians, to have multiple streams of revenue. Choosing to dispense in office can provide this additional revenue.
Having a second source of revenue eases the pressures of the many expenses you have. Most people do not realize the numerous expenses a physician can be required to obtain.
Expenses can go towards employee salaries, supplies, rent, and any debt you may have. Other expenses that are required and can be very large include liability insurance, malpractice insurance, and health insurances for full-time staff.
An in-office dispensary will quickly pay for itself, allowing future profits to be applied elsewhere.
Reason 2: Convenience for Patients
Wouldn’t it be nice to provide your patients with a convenient way to obtain the medicines they need?
It takes your patients effort to make it to an appointment with you. Some must find transportation. Others must leave work. No longer can people quickly visit the doctor during their lunch hour.
Your case load is large and too many life events take place each day to slow you down. You barely get time to eat lunch each day.
One thing that can truly help your patients is an in-office dispensing system. This may seem like a small addition to you, but it is a huge convenience for your patients. You are saving them a minimum of one hour by eliminating the drive and wait time at the pharmacy if you dispense in office.
When your patients must obtain a ride to an appointment with you, they can feel satisfied knowing they do not have to chauffeur her from office to office.
Because this system is so easy to use, patients are more likely to follow through in getting their prescription filled, making them more compliant.
Reason 3: Compliance by Patients When you Dispense In Office
Compliance is when your patient follows through with the recommended treatment plan you created. If they are recommended to take prescription medicines, then they will most likely follow your orders.
When you send a patient to a pharmacy to pick up their prescription, you do not really know if they followed through with that action. You don’t even really know if they went to the pharmacy at all. You are left to rely on the word of your patients.
If you dispense in office, you know for sure that your patients leave with their prescriptions. This means you can better monitor if your patients are in compliance with your recommendations.
Reason 4: Improved Outcomes
When you know your patients are in compliant, or non-compliant, with their treatments, you can measure their outcomes to see if they have improved over time or if their health has gotten worse.
For example, if your patient needs medicine to help lower their cholesterol, and they pick up their medicine at your office, you can measure their cholesterol levels over time. It is extremely likely their cholesterol levels will decrease because your patients are more consistent with taking their prescribed medications.
This gives you solid evidence to show your patients that the treatments you have prescribed do work. It gives you credibility and your patients will trust your diagnoses even more.
Trust is a big issue with patients. Your patients want to know that you care for them and respect them before they give you their full trust.
There are many ways you can earn the trust of your patients, including respecting their confidentiality rights.
Reason 5: Confidentiality Respected
Patients do not enjoy traveling to a pharmacy, dropping off a prescription, and waiting for over an hour only to have the pharmacy technician yell out your name in front of all the other customers.
It can be embarrassing.
Confidentiality is important to your patients. By choosing to dispense in office, you are showing your patients you take their privacy serious and will not violate their rights in any way.
Building this trust will give you loyal patients.
Reason 6: Give You More Time
Think back to the many return calls you have made to a pharmacy regarding a prescription. Think about the many times you have had to fax over prescriptions and wonder if the pharmacy received it or not.
In-office dispensing gives you more time to focus on important aspects of your practice. You are there to provide care to those in need, not shuffle paperwork and answer phone calls.
In-office dispensaries also help your employees and provide a better workflow. Your staff are freed up from secretarial tasks and can assist you in providing great service to your patients. They can answer your requests immediately because they are not spending time answering the needs of a pharmacy.
Reason 7: Saves Money for Your Patients
When you are in control of prescribing and filling medications on-site since you dispense in office, you can also work to find your patients a lower cost. You will be able to offer generic and prescriptions brands, whichever will be most affordable for the patient.
You can work with insurance companies directly to find a low cost option to treat your patient and reduce overall healthcare costs.
Too often, a prescription is given and the patient takes it to a pharmacy. It is at the pharmacy they learn their insurance will not cover the costs of their prescription. Some insurances require patients to try a generic brand first.
Some insurance companies just don’t cover the costs.
Your patients then wait on the pharmacy to connect with you. Hopefully you are still accessible for the day.
Some pharmacists refuse to help the patient get a prescription changed. Instead, they send the patient right back to you, wasting more of their already limited time. choosing to dispense in office eliminates all these types of issues.
If you are still wondering if an in-office dispensing program is right for your practice, take a survey. Ask your patients, nurses and your staff for their feedback. Patients and staff will feel valued by your asking for their input. It makes them feel important.
Likely, their answers will be the similar to results of other surveys taken, in favor of establishing prescription filling systems at the point of care so you can dispense in office.