Medication synchronization programs offer many benefits for pharmacy teams and patients. And while medication synchronization doesn’t operate directly from your pharmacy point-of-sale system, it represents a significant opportunity to improve customer-centricity in your pharmacy. Which we think is important no matter what pharmacy technology you use.
During our February CLIMB webinar, we were lucky enough to hear from pharmacist, pharmacy owner, and medication synchronization pioneer Bob Lomenick.
We learned so many things from Bob’s insightful presentation. But since we can’t fit them all into one short article, we’ll start with a few foundational tips.
Buy into the “why”- Medication synchronization is all about controlling the chaos of your day. On average, maintenance medication makes up 70% of your prescription business, so when you get those prescriptions under control, your day looks a lot different. Rather than patients having to come in several times throughout the month, you can resolve all their questions, concerns, insurance issues, or anything else in one visit. This pro-active approach to medication and problem solving goes a long way towards improving efficiency and customer-centricity.
Delegate – You don’t have to do everything in your pharmacy business. That’s what medication synchronization is all about. Choose a champion to help run your medication synchronization program.
Envision success – What will a successful program look like in your pharmacy? Write it down and work it from there to figure out your workflow for the synchronization model. Then write down the synchronization processes that would need to happen at each workstation in the pharmacy.
Training is key– Do you have that one person who you completely rely on in your pharmacy? That if they were unexpectedly away, it might just completely derail your day? Star employees are awesome, but it’s even better if every member of your pharmacy team is the A-Team. Make sure that your entire team is trained in every aspect of the program.
Review the technology– Most dispensing systems have a sync program built in. See what your technology vendor can bring to the table or explore potential third-party services.
Identify the patients you can synchronize– This will give you an idea of the time you’ll save with your MedSync program and give you a good starting point.
Encourage team involvement – Don’t be afraid of new ideas, wherever they may come from. Get your team involved in the process to encourage buy in from them and make your program the best it can be.
If you’d like a deeper dive on Medication Synchronization, you can watch Bob’s full 40-minute presentation as part of our CLIMB webinar series. The tidbits we’ve shared above are just the tip of the iceberg. Registration for the webinar series is free with this link and gives you access to all of our great content!
