There are many benefits to partnering with a physician dispensing company, but what should you look for in these companies? How do you know which company is right for you?
Physician dispensing or in-office dispensing can be a boon to patient satisfaction and a clinic’s growth and revenue, representing both a useful marketing tool for capturing the interest of patients who would rather avoid making additional trips to the pharmacy, and a way to improve patient-physician relationships and greatly impact the concerning issue of medication adherence.
Figuring out what your practice might need to get started as soon as possible can be a complicated process all on its own. Then there’s the trouble of sourcing and regularly stocking medication, printing labels, tracking patient prescriptions and follow-up information, and doing it all in a way that’s both safe and compliant with state and federal law.
This is where physician dispensing companies become an invaluable resource for any healthcare provider considering direct dispensing. A reputable and experienced medication dispensing company will work you through the steps locally required to begin dispensing at the point-of-care, help you determine what medication to stock, and often outfit your practice with a software solution for tracking inventory, sales, and more.
Why Bother with Physician Dispensing?
Doctor dispensing is a particularly valuable service during a pandemic, as it helps healthcare providers minimize patient risk by helping them source their medication in the same spot where they receive their care, and by providing an alternative to the pharmacy for refilling prescriptions.
Even outside of the context of an ongoing public health crisis, doctor dispensing has a marked effect on both patient adherence and patient satisfaction, two metrics that can greatly improve a practice’s reputation and save patient lives.
While regularly stocking and managing an inventory of medications might seem like a substantial drain on practice time and resources, it doesn’t have to be with the right partner. Through repackaged medication and smart pricing, most practices can make a humble profit while offering a service that is both a benefit to the practice and its patients, and it’s neither costly nor time-consuming to implement.
Finding the Right Physician Dispensing Company to Partner With
When setting up in-office dispensing, you will want the following qualities in any potential partner:
1. Responsive, User-Friendly, and Intuitive Software
When working with a physician dispensing company, it’s important that you have a reliable, intuitive, and automated way to order, manage, track, and dispense your inventory.
Good dispensing software will automate as much of the process as possible, minimizing human errors by:
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- Ensuring that every prescription is tracked and accounted for
- Organizing and keeping records automatically
- Making it easier for physicians to go over their patient information and schedule follow-ups with patients to improve medication adherence and provide another opportunity for patient education
- Quickly retrieve summaries of their patients’ respective prescription and medication histories
2. Web-Based and Secure Service
Your doctor dispensing company should be utilizing web-based systems. Web-based dispensing systems don’t require tedious installation, are easily scalable across platforms and devices, and are much easier to integrate with other systems. These systems remove a lot of maintenance headaches and completely eliminate the need to regularly download and install updates or patches (as these are rolled out automatically). Because of this, they take a lot of the hassle out of utilizing a software service by simplifying the implementation process as much as possible.
Security is also important, especially when handling sensitive information like medical data. Web-based systems will store information online, keeping it safe and encrypted while letting healthcare providers easily manage, order, and track medication in just a few clicks, without ever having to download anything.
3. Swift and Effective Live Customer Support
With critical services like medication dispensing and HIPAA-compliant high-quality telehealth, having access to reliable customer support is essential. You want a partner with a reputation for helping clients sort issues out before they evolve into greater problems, and help with every important step towards full implementation; from employee training to basic troubleshooting.
Furthermore, each state’s Board of Pharmacy may have different regulations and requirements surrounding direct dispensing, and these may change. Keeping up to date on changes and new requirements important.
4. A Stellar Reputation
Reputation is important when picking a physician dispensing company to partner with. Dispensing prepackaged medication can be a great ancillary revenue stream for any private practice, but you want a partner with a stellar reputation and a history of providing top-quality services to healthcare providers.
Currently, only a fraction of healthcare providers and practices are leveraging these services to their benefit. Picking up on the trend early can help you distinguish yourself from other healthcare providers and grow your patient base.
At Proficient Rx, our top priorities are patient convenience and affordability while ensuring full compliance. We find that helping our clients cater to these points not only provides a substantial boost in satisfaction and reputation, but allows for a steady stream of additional revenue, and positively impacts patient-physician relationships.
Our simple in-office dispensing software is web-based and intuitive, allowing healthcare providers to immediately take advantage of the benefits of point-of-care dispensing without a lengthy course or installation process.
We also offer extensive and live support to address any questions as fast as possible, and help you keep your inventory stocked. Through our FDA– and DEA-approved repackaged brand and generic medication, we aim to serve the needs of nearly any healthcare provider, especially urgent care clinics, worker’s comp clinics, private practices, and on-site employee health services. Contact us to learn more about how your clinic could leverage physician dispensing to improve patient satisfaction.
