As we’ve talked about before, there are many benefits of in office medication dispensing, including providing another revenue stream for the practice. So, once a healthcare provider decides to bring medication dispensing inhouse, it’s important to know which company will provide the best value and will be the best fit for your organization.
But, there are many companies out there that provide in office medication dispensing solutions, so how do you choose?
To help in the decision-making process, we have identified three features you should consider before signing on with a physician dispensing solutions provider:
They have a dedicated customer service team.
Quality customer service is important in any business, but it’s especially important when you’re dispensing medication to your patients at their point of care. You need a company whose customer service team is accessible and readily available to not only walk you through the set-up process at the beginning of your relationship, but you also want to work with a company who will help navigate you through any unexpected snags you may encounter whether it’s software-related, issues with labels printing, etc.
They provide customized formularies to meet your unique needs.
Whether you’re a primary care office, an urgent care facility or an onsite employee health clinic, you need access to pre-packaged, ready-to-dispense medications that are more commonly dispensed at your practice via point-of-care dispensing.
They provide intuitive software for efficiency and compliance.
Make sure the in office dispensing solutions provider you choose, provides you with the necessary tools to manage your inventory and properly dispense your medications. Software features to look for should include:
- Productivity – a secure web-based application that is accessible via all modern web browsers, supports multiple label formats, real-time analytics dashboard, automatic patient merging / database cleanup
- Inventory Control – formulary controls, ability to track to lot number and expiration date, bulk dispense capability (including pre-counts / staging)
- Compliance – automated state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) reporting including ‘zero reporting’ in supported states, drug utilization review (DUR), state-compliant medication bottle labeling
- Billing – electronic claim transmission, multiple reimbursement options including cash payment, exporting, or transmitting to third party billing companies, integrated billing, and collection platform for utilization by in-house billing staff or third-party billing companies
- Security – HIPAA (HITECH)-compliant application with external audits performed yearly, full historical tracking / audit trail, dedicated firewalls and DDOS attack mitigation procedures used to prevent intrusion
We would love an opportunity to discuss your needs, and what a customized, in office physician dispensing program could look like for your practice. Contact us today.