SmartFlow Pharmacy Workflow System
Ever get tired of fixture representatives telling you what will work in your retail pharmacy—reps who have never owned pharmacies & are certainly not pharmacists trying to work faster & with more accuracy, while still enjoying the process?
If you look at pictures of a 1964 pharmacy, you will see that pharmacy design has not changed in over half a century. We decided there had to be a better way. In the numerous pharmacies we have owned since 1971, we have continued to imagine & implement ways to improve workflow before anyone even understood the term or its value.
Over the past 11 years, Independent Pharmacy Owner, Don Grove, RPh, has been on the cutting edge of pharmacy workflow & redesign, developing & continuously refining the SmartFlow Pharmacy Workflow System, with three key questions in mind:
1. Will this increase speed/productivity?
2. Will this increase accuracy?
3. Will this increase employee satisfaction?
The results have been astounding! Our pharmacy continues to innovate, thrive, and succeed in very challenging times. Find out how SmartFlow Pharmacy Workflow System could enhance your store today!
Advantages of SmartFlow Pharmacy Workflow System:
-Profit -Results from increased speed & productivity; lowers 2nd largest expense-wages.
-Skills – Production pharmacist frees clinical pharmacist to work in an area of expertise & increase niche sales.
-Accuracy -Separate work stations assure more focus & less small talk between staff; everything is within arm’s reach
-Satisfaction – Employees have more horizontal work space, personal space, less walking distance, & increased output.
-Redesign – Replacement of fishbowl design decreases HIPAA concerns; less ability for patients to hear/see pharmacy staff working
-Speed – Increases tech retrieval time, inventory selection, accuracy & urgency; bags never spill like traditional trays
-Anti-anxiety – Urgency-colored hanging bags allow consistent balance between urgency & time orders are received.
-Footprint – Reduced footprint with round, vertical inventory carousels, 1-3 tiered bag storage & quick retrieval.
-Synergy – By adding redesign + SmartFlow System, you can raise current verification rates 3 times the average (1+1=3).
-Counseling – Unique Lego designed iPad kiosk/video center allows quick/consistent counseling in-store or at home.
Workflow Productivity Potential
200 Rx’s/day FTE Individual Productivity
Pharmacists 1.5 133/day
Technicians 3.3 60/day
Owners 1.5 90/day (if owner is a working pharmacist)
2019 J&D Pharmacy*
400 Rx’s/day Individual Productivity
Pharmacists 300-500/day
Technicians 90-180/day
*Productivity numbers exhibited by our pharmacists & technicians are based on a combination of excellent workflow, pharmacy software, robotics, IVR, & up to date hardware. The recommended redesign, in combination with the SmartFlow Pharmacy Workflow System, allows for maximum technician/pharmacist interaction & minimal turbulence (outside disruptions).
Coming this year as the most innovative architectural redesign in 50 years! ‘SmartFlow LAB’
Urgency Color-Coded Transparent Bundling Bags
A pharmacist is able to find any patient’s prescription bag quickly as it is hanging & no longer in cumbersome trays. Color-coded system allows orders to be filled according to patient urgency, lowering stress levels of all employees.
-Red signifies patient waiting (urgent-stop & fill it ASAP)
-Yellow for next 3-6 hours (caution), green for the next day (relax)
-Purple for unusual issues such as insurance rejects, need diluents, downed 3rd party IT systems, special orders, & special counseling on specialty drugs (danger).
When a technician looks for patient’s prescriptions, they are now found much easier than when the former trays were stacked & unorganized. Vertical hanging bags free up so much more horizontal workspace & provide much-needed organization. In order to increase bag volume & not have to carry multiple sized bags for our hanging areas, we have incorporated large metal clasps to allow technicians to combine up to 3 bags for patients with numerous Rx’s, & to bundle one final checked bag to a new, incoming order. Pouches on the front and back of each bag allow for easy storage & retrieval of pricing & auxiliary labels.
