Patients visit their pharmacist more than any other healthcare professional, on average up to 35 times per year. These visits are a great opportunity for pharmacists to interact with patients to educate them about their medications and lifestyle, perform clinical tasks like administering immunizations, medication therapy management, and conduct point of care testing.
However, pharmacists across all practice settings struggle to make time to interact with their patients, because a majority of their time is spent manually processing hundreds of prescriptions a day.
If this sounds like a description of your situation, don’t worry. There is a solution that frees the pharmacist from the manual process of fulfilling prescriptions and allows them to spend more time talking to patients and performing revenue-generating activities for the pharmacy.
The solution is Virtual Verification.
How does Virtual Verification work?
Virtual verification fits into your pharmacy’s existing workflow and virtualizes the basket. Decoupling the pharmacist from physically handling the prescription allows the technician to operate more efficiently, while the pharmacist is able to spend more time interacting with patients.
Virtual Verification compared to traditional verification
Let’s dive a bit deeper and analyze the role of the pharmacist in the traditional process compared to the virtual process. The technician fills the prescription, taking images of the process as stated before, but when it comes time for the pharmacist to get involved:
In the traditional process, the technician hits a stopping point while waiting for the pharmacist to verify each prescription manually. The Leaning Tower of Baskets continues to grow while waiting for the pharmacist to come and process the prescriptions, causing the counter to end up looking like this for much of the day:
With Virtual Verification, not only is the pharmacist not bogged down with the manual fulfillment process, but the technician is more efficient as well. The technician can continue the fill process, bagging the prescription and setting it in will-call so it’s ready for pickup once the pharmacist approves. The counter now looks more like the counter below, and the pharmacist’s virtual queue is clean and simple to navigate:
The scene above is a much more welcome site for pharmacists to return to after finishing some clinical activities with their patients. A daunting stack of baskets that will take them well past closing time to process is not what pharmacists want to see. In fact, it may even deter some pharmacists from taking the time to interact with their patients, since they know that every minute they are away from the fill station, more manual work is literally stacking up waiting for them to return.
Is Virtual Verification safe?
If the pharmacist isn’t physically checking each and every prescription, how can they be sure it’s correct?
When using Outcomes® Virtual Verification, every prescription is imaged using high definition cameras, and there is a clear audit log for all prescriptions dispensed at the pharmacy.
By eliminating several manual steps for pharmacists (steps which are often performed as quickly and frantically as possible so they can stay ahead), and maintaining clear records of every action taken by a technician or pharmacist in the prescription fulfillment process, Virtual Verification ensures accuracy, safety, and maximum efficiency for the pharmacy.
Are you interested in implementing Virtual Verification for your pharmacy operation? Contact our team so we can discuss your particular needs and recommend the best possible solution to solve your pharmacy’s workflow inefficiencies.
