Going to the pharmacy is one of the errands most people dread, especially when they are not feeling well. Pharmacies have a number of problems they face each day and direct dispensing can help save time.
The last thing your patients want to do when they leave your office is to go stand in line with other people, some of which have illnesses that are contagious, waiting on a prescription.
While waiting at the pharmacy, they shop. Once they get home they regret their impulse buys and wish they would have just gotten their prescription and went home. Why do pharmacies need to look more like super centers?
You can buy everything you don’t need at a pharmacy, from groceries to magazines to electronic devices.
Direct dispensing is much better. It saves people money, time and is just a terrific convenience for both the patient and the doctor. Direct dispensing eliminates an entire step and allows people to begin healing sooner.
Below are some comparisons between the pharmacy and direct dispensing, showing you, several ways of how direct dispensing is far more valuable.
Pharmacies Cost More Than Direct Dispensing
Pharmacies do not have the time to search for the cheapest, most affordable prices for each of their customers. They are serving hundreds of customers each day. Pharmacists and their technicians are doing their best to keep up with these orders.
Even if they could find you the cheapest, would they? Some reports say pharmacists hide information from patients.
As mentioned earlier, pharmacies capitalize on the customer’s desire to buy products impulsively. While they may say they are making convenience a priority for the customer. Let’s get real. They are trying to make more money from your patient.
They provide multiple items, anything from diapers to cigarettes to groceries. Some unhealthy items are sold in a pharmacy. The prices for these items are sometimes twice as high as what they would be elsewhere. Are they really helping the customer? No.
Customers end up spending more money on things they do not need while waiting for their prescription to be filled.
Pharmacies Cost Time
It is not the intention of the pharmacy to take a long time to fill an order. They are simply overwhelmed with orders. Patients can often expect to wait a minimum of an hour or longer. This is time the patient wants to be at home, healing, or back to work where they can begin earning money again.
Even though it is not intentional, wait times and service at pharmacies have gotten worse.
Direct Dispensing allows patients to leave your office with their prescription. This can save some patients two or more hours, depending on how far away from the pharmacy they live or work.
This is quality time a patient can spend with family, completing job tasks, or simply resting.
Pharmacies Cost Confidentiality
When your patient goes to the pharmacy, they wait for their prescription to be filled along with the many other people waiting. Eventually their name is called out for everyone to hear.
If they have questions regarding their prescriptions, they must discuss them with a pharmacist, in front of everyone else around. Their confidentiality is not well protected.
Patients rarely want to discuss how to use the cream prescribed to help with that “itch”. While your patient knows it is a cream for eczema, the other customers in line may think it is for an unwanted disease. An insecure patient may then feel the need to explain to everyone else it is only for eczema.
Many times, patients avoid asking any questions regarding their medicines to avoid this embarrassment.
In a small town, the type of prescription a person is taking can turn into gossip if overheard by the wrong person.
Pharmacists must abide by HIPAA rules. However, that may be hard at times when there are so many customers just standing around, waiting.
With direct dispensing, confidentiality is kept safe and respected always. Your patients feel confident no one else will be involved when getting their medicine.
Pharmacies Cost Compliance
Pharmacists only contact the doctor when a refill is needed. They do not call a doctor when a refill has been missed, or several refills have been missed. They say that is patient responsibility. Not all patients are responsible, however.
Pharmacists don’t usually know when a patient with a new prescription has failed to get it filled. They are too busy dealing with the patients who are waiting for their prescription. If your patient leaves your office with a prescription and decides they don’t want to go to the pharmacy, you and the pharmacist are not privy to this information.
With direct dispensing, your patients will leave your office with their medicine, not a prescription. They have no excuses for avoiding taking their medicine. They have no excuses as to why they couldn’t make it to the pharmacy.
With direct dispensing, patient compliance improves and non-adherence is avoided. With compliance, you are then able to better monitor the health outcomes of your patient.
Pharmacists Make Mistakes
Pharmacists do not intentionally make mistakes. They make every effort to get a prescription right the first time. Their work load for filling prescriptions is just too high. When you have hundreds of customers, many of which have multiple prescriptions to fill, mistakes happen.
Pharmaceutical technicians are employed to help fill the overwhelming number of prescriptions. They are quality staff but with a lot less training than a pharmacist. Common errors made at pharmacies include giving customers the wrong order. Meaning, they gave Joe Smith a prescription that belonged to Jane Doe.
Another error happens when the wrong medicine is used to fill the prescription. When Zyrtec and Xanax look similar but have dramatically different results. This could have a very harmful result.
Direct dispensing is a service offered on a small scale. There is time to double and triple check the orders to make sure they are correct.
Prepackaged medication is often used with direct dispensing. This virtually eliminates any errors, as the medicine is packaged and sealed long before it arrives at your office. Removing potential errors can save lives.
These are just a few examples of why direct dispensing is far better than sending a patient to the pharmacy. Your patients will appreciate the time and money you will be saving them by using in-office dispensing. They will also feel valued by your error free, confidential practices of prescribing medications.
When you provide direct dispensing for your clients, they will provide you with loyalty and referrals.