Prescribing and filling prescriptions at the point of care is becoming more popular among physicians and healthcare practices. Many physicians and health systems implement in-office dispensing into their practice because of the potential for extra revenue. While in-office dispensing rules and logistics differ from state to state, it’s inarguably profitable but there’s much more to it than shrewd business tactics.
In-office dispensing provides a variety of benefits to patients as well, from convenience to confidentiality. By working with their patients directly, physicians and healthcare practices can ensure a better quality of service, and save lives – all while building an additional revenue stream.
Medication Compliance
Pharmacists don’t always have a full view of the bigger picture. On any given day, a pharmacy may be tasked with fulfilling well over five hundred prescriptions – knowing each patient’s full history becomes an impossibility.
Without full knowledge of a patient’s treatment, a pharmacist cannot adequately advise patients on their treatment or medication, which can be especially risky for patients who are forced to purchase medication from several different pharmacies with no understanding of potentially adverse drug interactions.
In some cases, patients do not get the information they need because they are never prompted to ask for it. In other cases, it’s a conscious decision made to minimize time spent at the pharmacy and return home while sick or unwell.
Convenience
In-office dispensing can be a lot more convenient for your patients. Time is the most critical factor here. While many practices are located near or even beside a pharmacy, that is no guarantee that your patient is going to get the medication they need in a timely manner. The experience of getting your first prescription fulfilled can be mired by long lines, long waiting periods, and the general discomfort of waiting for your medication alongside a host of other irate strangers.
With just a few clicks, prescriptions are entered, labels are printed and adhered, and the patient is headed home to recover. This takes on average two minutes or less, saving staff and patients several hours of their precious time.
Confidentiality
Dispensing medications in-office can help strengthen the relationship between physicians and patients, especially due to confidentiality and enforced privacy. Patients understand that their health and healthcare is confidential information – yet at times, trying to have a prescription fulfilled in a public pharmacy can be very contradictory to that idea. In-office direct dispensing restores a patient’s trust in their right to privacy, by having their prescriptions fulfilled within the same practice or office.
There are no confidential or protected spaces in pharmacies. Those who do choose to speak with a pharmacist are forced to whisper, and then made to feel rushed, as they are sharing the room with many others who have been waiting in line long enough. Through in-office direct dispensing, you provide an additional layer of security.
Within the Comfort of Your Office
Patients are less likely to be thoroughly informed about the medication they are being prescribed while at the Pharmacy.,. In-office dispensing allows you to oversee your patient’s education and personally ensure that they are well aware of how their medication works, when to take it, how often to take it, and when to come back for a refill.
Proficient Rx works with healthcare professionals so you can provide your patients with the best possible service. Simply put, we help you better serve your patients, and earn more while doing so.