Well, if there’s an industry that has gained far more from software technology advances, it’s the healthcare industry, specifically the pharmacy industry. Like that, though, 2020 is nearing an end, but what a period it has been for healthcare and pharmaceuticals in specific. The industry has taken the spotlight this year as states, companies, and individuals now understand the essential role of medicines of the top condition in sustaining an outstanding healthcare system. A significant subject of discussion in the news channel for 2020 was the usage and expense of various medications.
This year has been mostly about progress and advances for pharmaceutical companies, from specialty medicines to technologies to boost drug production. You won’t believe the market size of pharmacies and drug stores in the US is predicted to be valued at over 318 billion dollars. While healthcare professionals and pharmacists aim for engaging and user-friendly pharmacy management software to improve and control productivity as the pharmaceutical industry keeps increasing. Custom pharmacy management software automates the process of dispensing drugs, stock management, sales related procedures, and plenty more.
Undoubtedly, the pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest industries. Now, numerous owners and managers are shifting to incorporating the new pharmacy management software trends currently on the market and continuous growth in customers and stock pool. By extension, this has driven many businesses to invest more in pharmacy management applications and come up with innovative innovations that make management far more comfortable and quicker.
Major findings
- Over the previous year, over 36% of pharmacies have upgraded their apps.
- Over 60% of pharmacists with drug synchronization software in place say that supporting the program is supported by their pharmacy management software.
- The top benefits of pharmacy management software are quicker prescription delivery and better control over expenses.
These results or findings show the vital role that pharmacy management software plays in a demanding market in keeping pharmacies successful and competitive. But what is pharmacy management software, and what are the new trends of it. Well, let’s take a closer look at it.
What is Pharmacy Management Software?
An essential tool loaded with efficient and user-friendly pharmacy management solutions is pharmacy management software. Such software helps pharmacists handle complex activities such as dispensing drugs, managing inventory, and selling point tasks. Factors such as the healthcare IT sector’s growth, growing the volume of pharmacies globally, and enhancing the healthcare systems in emerging regions are driving the global pharmacy management system sector.
In 2019, the market share of pharmacy management software was valued at 16.1K million dollars, which is predicted to grow with a CAGR of 11.9% from 2020 to 2027 to reach 39.2K million.
What values pharmacy management software offers to pharmacists and pharmacies?
The software for pharmacy management offers information, simplifies the control, monitoring, and enhancement of pharmaceutical products’ procurement. Full pharmacy management software also helps manage price, ensuring that prescriptions are tailored to the required drugs and dose, automating claims processing, and directing consumer benefits
The ability to control workflow activities through multiple networks, such as robotic drug distributing systems, is a significant advantage of Pharmacy Management Systems operated from an integrated framework, allowing pharmacists and pharmacy workers to access prescription data through a network of hospital systems.
To express the top trends for this year, let us clarify why they would be essential for your pharmacy management software and how best to approach them to offer the best quality results for you, your patients, and your clients.
Problems and Challenges of Pharmacy Software
The common bottlenecks that could slow down the growth of your company or business.
- Failure of automation – Present pharmacy systems lack techniques for automation and work with manually performed procedures.
- Missing uniformity – Abnormalities in the system keep sprucing up on occasion due to the lack of standardized processes.
- Paper centered prescribing – Prescription systems are heavily paper-based, creating record management and consistency difficulties.
- Billing mistakes – Inadequate workflow and billing procedures trigger repetitive errors that affect the bottom line.
- Control of inventories – Inconsistency in the calculation of sales criteria, resulting in excess or under-stocking.
- Management of payment – Continuous shortfalls in payment processing is generated by the lack of streamlined processes and billing approaches.
The end of 2020 is just around the corner. To overcome these challenges and problems, let’s move forward and discuss some of the biggest pharmacy management software trends and advancements. So here we go.
Top trends of pharmacy management software
1. Inventory Syncing
Synchronization ensures that the amount of stock is synchronized with the number of people or customers who buy from you. If your supply is disproportionate or does not cover your clients or customer, it means you have a problem that affects your expenditures. Using pharmacy management software can all be prevented because it alerts you whenever your stock is falling just short and when your new lot should be ordered. Besides, delivering what the consumers need and cutting excessive spending at the same time can be a valuable strategy. Your processes would be more comfortable and more efficient by automating certain operations.
2. Fee processing system
The application will calculate the exact sum of money or state taxes that you or your customer will have to pay when delivering the medication to a given location. If this approach is manual, you must also remember how often instances you have fallen into financial difficulties because of this and to date. The need for pharmacy management software has already been in fierce competition with the widening rise of independent pharmacies. The growing healthcare environment presents its market ecosystem with numerous economic and regulatory obstacles. It is better to move on to comprehensive and smart pharmacy management software to counter such problems, which can help your software well enough and handle all your processes quickly and efficiently.
3. E-prescription
One of the main trends to recognize in pharmacy management software is e-prescription. Prescriptions are indecipherable, which may contribute to patient misunderstanding and is also a cause of contamination in the dispensing of suitable medicines. E-prescriptions give patients a user-friendly alternative and reduce the likelihood of mistakes. The e-prescription allows refills to be handled by pharmacies and enables physicians to send the latest refills into the pharmacy management system, allowing them to be dispensed easily. Besides, it guarantees that there will be no misunderstanding between the physician and the patient in delivering the required prescription.
4. Drives values from recorded data
You have to have massive volumes of information that is just floating around whether you are a solo pharmacy or a network of pharmacy stores. This knowledge might turn out to be helpful for your creation and improved advertising. With all of the financial information, consumer data, and clinical data you collect from each pharmacy unit within your canopy, the pharmacy management software integrated with an advanced data analytics framework would allow you to make a wiser choice. The information will help you determine how your customers behave and what changes will influence their purchase decisions and get you closer to managing your shops economically.
5. Push notifications and multi-location assistance
Pharmacy management systems allow pharmacists to arrange texts and emails to notify patients until they run out of their prescriptions. Patients will then inform pharmacists, only by listening to the messages, if they need refills. The status reports make it easier for pharmacists to keep patients in contact, ensuring patient satisfaction. Users can effectively operate stores in different places with Pharmacy Management Systems in the area. One single software can track the accessibility of inventory levels, purchases, and returns from multiple stores. It is possible to produce a full report for the whole chain of stores, giving the consumer a thorough summary of benefits, loss, inventory levels, etc.
6. Managing dispensing workflows
The dispensing of medications is one of the most related and essential acts in a pharmacy. The pharmacy collects and checks the prescription for possible drug reactions, appropriate doses, duplicate treatments, or discrepancies in transcription. The pharmacy then dispenses the medication and checks that the right drug, quantity, and supply are included in the loaded prescription. The pharmacy management software integrates workflows, clinical practices, services, data, and stock reporting into a centralized framework that enables health professionals’ smart decision-making. Customized distribution systems, prescription refills, and cross-communication in the clinical department simplify the workflows for dispensing. The app automates both the method of prescription fulfillment and the requests for drug delivery.
7. Pharmacy data management
Pharmacies often manage a vast amount of information, like many other healthcare areas. The software for pharmacy data management offers real-time data that can help pharmacists monitor administrative costs, ensure adherence to prescriptions, and improve public health control. Through intelligent analytics, robust pharmacy management software offers streamlined access to medical information and some demographic data. These technologies also work towards integrating audit specifications and billing and claims-related changes and modifications. Data management applications help track and maintain the electronic health records (EHR) and electronic medical records (EMR) of patients in one location, as well as the doctor’s notes, supporting documentation, scans, and X-rays.
8. Master data & patient indexes
A Master Patient Index (MPI) is a patient database that allows pharmacies to retain reliable patient records and build consolidated patient records through different systems. The MPI grants each authorized patient a unique id. The pharmacy management system simplifies the index by state-of-the-art technology with minimal human intervention inpatient data and contacts control and notifications. For pharmacies to have better patient outcomes and better quality, an MPI offers a full view of a patient’s medical details. In an emergency, pharmacies may also provide proper advice, although they have exposure to specifics such as patients’ medical conditions and other information.
9. Reports
Throughout the day, chemists communicate with various patients, and records on each of these encounters are registered and processed inside the pharmacy management software. Data may be used to enhance business vision and strategy reference, or it may also be required at the time of approval or for the inspection process. The reports offer additional essential insights into the pharmacy’s daily functioning. The reports often help you distinguish between patients who mostly visit the pharmacy for refills, and this data can be used to store them properly.
10. Medical synchronization
Medical synchronization is an abbreviation concept that suggests that what you sell to customers in your pharmacy should be in line with whatever they need. A Med Sync management platform integrated with pharmacy management software enables pharmacies to maintain all patients’ maintenance records and provides them with reminders to pick up all the medications in one go while they’re in stock. It is an easy but profitable way to help customers with better service and avoid spending on workers who can do all these manual jobs. To decide which customer needs to be informed, all patient records will be processed, and the software will run through all of them. This will help to simplify the workflow, saving efficient hours. Often the pharmacy management software would improve customer satisfaction gradually.
To sum up
As both new and longstanding debates presented to the public, 2020 felt like a “déjà vu” moment for the pharmaceutical industry. With the implementation of techniques that can help speed up medicines’ production, various medications’ cost and usage have taken center stage.
As a pharmacy or business owner, it is very worth noting a few things as you look at the significant pharmacy management software trends and build your game plan for the year beyond.
Groundbreaking pharmacy management software is expanding time after time. To change this industry, several trends are indeed being tested and confirmed. And this is why it will have a considerable effect on your company and ROI by incorporating pharmacy management software.
Choose Matellio for top-notch pharmacy management software services.
Matellio is already a leader in offering cost-effective pharmacy management solutions and a variety of other healthcare services. We have a team of seasoned professionals who could appeal to all your requirements. If you are hunting for highly personalized and premium pharmacy management software, then you are at the correct spot. Let’s talk with our specialists today.
Interested to know more, visit our website www.matellio.com