Shane Becker, PharmD, owner of Old Town Pharmacy, is committed to improving patient health and wellness. “I like to look for the things that are kind of outside of the box, things that other people aren't doing,” says Becker.
Becker has been working to improve the health of the community in Monett, Missouri for the past 15 years. His independent pharmacy offers a variety of health services, including compounding and pouch packaging services.
“Originally I had somebody that was packaging for us, but that had a lot of challenges as you can imagine,” says Becker. “I finally decided to purchase my own machine, the TCG machine, and it just was not very efficient at all.” Realizing that the system was costing him money by holding inventory, Becker found a better automation solution in the RapidPakRx.
Click above to watch the full video.
Better Workflow
“When I saw the RapidPakRx, it was amazing to see a smaller footprint that could fit right into our workflow,” says Becker. With its all-in-one design, the RapidPakRx has the smallest footprint on the market.
“We were actually able to remove part of a countertop to give us more work room, and it also reduced the amount of space that was needed by the pharmacist to check the packages by probably 80%,” says Becker. “It's almost exactly like checking any other prescription now.”
Prior to obtaining the RapidPakPak, Becker was struggling to staff his previous solution. “We had to have dedicated multiple staff members to make that machine work,” says Becker.
“Once I purchased the RapidPakRx system, I was able to manage it with just a normal staffing situation,” says Becker. “It brought me down by around eight or ten days of full staff in a month.” That’s about a 30% saving on monthly labor costs!
The RapidPakRx has a one-pass workflow, making it easy to manage with one pharmacy technician. Becker is now able to dedicate reclaimed staff time to other profitable services.
Competing Against PillPack
Like most independent pharmacy owners, Becker faces the prospect of losing patients to Amazon’s PillPack.
“Several of our patients have told us that they were switching to PillPack,” says Becker. “We mentioned to them that we could do the packaging just the same for them, and they immediately were excited and stayed with us.”
The RapidPakRx can complete packaging for up to 50 patients per day using one technician in an 8-hour shift. “The RapidPakRx has allowed us to increase our business,” adds Becker. Old Town Pharmacy is now able to complete pouch packaging for local patients, as well as long-term-care facilities.
Decrease Labor Costs
“Since obtaining the RapidPakRx system we have really become much more efficient, which has allowed us a significant growth in many different avenues of the business,” says Becker.
“We have decreased labor costs and increased the amount of business we are doing from a packaging standpoint, so it's really helped our bottom line,” adds Becker. The RapidPakRx uses universal cartridges, eliminating the need to purchase NDC-specific canisters, which require extra inventory.
“My favorite feature of the RapidPakRx system is the fact that you don't have to keep inventory of all these different drugs inside the system,” says Becker. “The ability for my staff to just grab anything at any time and get it packed is a huge plus.”
Keeping Up with Pharmacy Trends
“Adding adherence packaging to your pharmacy can really help patients view your pharmacy as an up-to-date pharmacy that is progressive, and doing more than the average pharmacy,” says Becker.
Some independent pharmacy owners are beginning to realize that adherence packaging isn’t going away anytime soon.
“Adherence packaging is a growing trend in pharmacy,” says Becker. “We see it with Amazon, we see it with CVS; it’s very important that your pharmacy can keep up with that technology and the RapidPakRx really allows you to do that.”
“In my opinion, the RapidPakRx machine is the most efficient and cost effective packaging system on the market today,” adds Becker.
If you want to learn more about Shane Becker’s experience with the RapidPakRx, please watch the video above. For more information about the RapidPakRx, please visit our product page, or speak with an adherence expert now at (877) 797-2332
