Why Medication Synchronization is Important

Medication synchronization, or MedSync, significantly enhances a pharmacy's efficiency and workflow. By coordinating prescription refills for patients to occur on the same day each month, pharmacies can streamline operations, better manage inventory, and improve patient care. Here's why MedSync is crucial for your pharmacy's success.  MedSync allows the pharmacy to take control of the entire medication refill process and organize the staff needed and the timing of work to be most efficient - the pharmacy is no longer waiting for the patient to initiate the fill process.

 

Improved Workflow and Efficiency

MedSync allows you to control your workflow by managing when most refills get processed and filled. Instead of reacting to unpredictable patient demands, you proactively control when to “sync” the fills, leading to a higher level of productivity (ie. More Rx filled in less time). With a better idea of the volume of refills needed on a given day, you can deploy staff resources more efficiently. By dedicating specific staff to activities such as making sync calls, contacting doctors, processing prescriptions, counting, and checking, you can achieve a more organized and predictable daily workflow. This creates more “slack time” to address unforeseen influxes in prescription volume and to perform other tasks such as immunizations or clinical services.  Aim for 50+% of your patients on MedSync to see a real benefit – helping with scheduling and reducing staffing costs, as well as spreading the workload evenly across the week to avoid "super busy Mondays" and "lazy Wednesdays."   Additional benefits include:

  • Lower levels of incoming phone calls from patients
  • Less hassles and lower frustration levels for all pharmacy staff
  • Less fill errors
  • Higher patient adherence levels leading to more regular refills – more Rx per month/year

 

Develop New Services

A robust MedSync program improves efficiency which will free up time and resources to develop and administer additional services - not just for technicians but for pharmacists as well.  A pharmacists time should not be consumed by checking Rx all day, every day.  Slack in the workflow provides pharmacists more time to speak with patients and to implement new services and generate additional revenue not tied to PBM reimbursements (a crucial diversification strategy that helps pharmacies be more profitable in today’s environment).  Pharmacists with more time can complete CMRs, discuss adherence to improve EQuIPP Scores or Star Ratings, they can upsell vitamins or supplements and administer immunizations year-round, not just flu shots.

In order to develop a robust adherence packaging program (a foundational element for LTC@Home) MedSync is essential.  These services simply don’t work properly without it.  As LTC@Home is a powerful service line to improve profitability in a community pharmacy, being able to transition eligible patients from MedSync to Packaging to LTC@Home is a winning strategy for success. 

A strong MedSync program also leads to more consistent patient contact that can helps increase clinical service engagements and other sales opportunities for the pharmacy.   In addition, a well-managed MedSync program increases patient satisfaction levels which can lead to higher customer retention and more word of mouth marketing opportunities, providing your pharmacy with a competitive advantage within your area.

 

Control Your Inventory

A strong MedSync program in place is essential to applying new, more advanced strategic buying and inventory management strategies that are so important to a pharmacy’s financial health.  With MedSync, you know exactly when refill prescriptions are due, eliminating the need to keep extra inventory on hand "just in case." This can lead to lower on-hand inventory levels and helps to keep high-cost drugs out of the pharmacy until they are needed.  This is a Just-In-Time approach to inventory management that better aligns your payments to wholesalers with payments received from the PBMs.  If your pharmacy is struggling with declining cash reserves, MedSync is an essential first step to regaining control of your cash flow.

 

Common Mistakes in Implementing MedSync

Too many pharmacies struggle to develop a strong MedSync program.  They fall into many of the “traps” that inhibit their progress and limit success.  Some common mistakes are:

  • Mixing different fill cycles – 28/84 vs 30/90 Day Cycles
  • Allowing MedSync to operate too similarly to your regular Rx fill process
  • Randomly assigning sync dates
  • Not coordinating MedSync with delivery schedules
  • Biting off too much too soon, or trying to grow too quickly
  • Failing to involve and train all pharmacy staff
  • Giving up too soon, never achieving the benefit phase

 

How the Best Pharmacies Manage MedSync

MedSync is the foundation for how top owners operate their pharmacies.  These pharmacies manage most if not all of their regular med refill patients’ needs via MedSync every month.  Allowing only PRNs, acute meds, or new starts to be filled outside of their MedSync process. Short-fills are done correctly, and a consistent fill cycle is maintained. These pharmacies contact patients prior to each sync cycle to ensure accuracy and address concerns proactively. They build their clinical service administration around the sync date in an “Appointment-Based Model.” They use MedSync to keep inventory lean and organize their people and resources to smooth Rx fill production each week in order to maximize productivity and efficiency.   Top pharmacies are leveraging MedSync to stay competitive and profitable, ahead of most other community pharmacies.

How Does Your MedSync Program Measure Up?

  • Is MedSync your standard approach for patient med refills:
  • Are more than 50% of all patients enrolled in MedSync
  • Are more than 60% of all med refills processed by following a MedSync approach
    • For most pharmacies, med refill rates should be greater than 50% of total Rx filled

 

How PEAK Pharmacy Solutions Can Help

Most pharmacies that attempt to establish a MedSync program on their own fail to reach optimum levels and do not experience the promised benefits.   There are proven approaches and techniques for how to build a successful MedSync program.   If you are unsure how to get started or what to do next, PEAK Pharmacy Solutions is here to help.  This is what we do:  helping pharmacies upgrade and transform their business to meet today’s challenges and succeed.    PEAK has worked with many community pharmacies and has a proven track record of implementing successful MedSync programs.  

PEAK Pharmacy Solutions can evaluate your current sync program and help organize it for better efficiency and success. We offer strategies for maintaining workflow consistency, identifying potential problems, and providing solutions. Our team can assist in developing policy and procedure documents and training your staff to ensure program continuity. We also We also help your pharmacy take advantage of inventory management strategies that MedSync makes possible, and develop new services to grow your business. 

Get Started Today:   info@peakrxsolutions.com   (814) 636-0663