In recent years, independent pharmacies across the U.S. have faced a series of challenges that have jeopardized their existence. Challenges such as PBMs, low reimbursements, DIR fees, and clawbacks continue to threaten the survival of community pharmacies.
Richard Moon, RPh, founder of Pharmacy Innovations, believes that surviving these challenges begins with innovation. As a pharmacy owner with six locations, Moon believes that staying ahead of pharmacy trends has contributed to his success.
“What I realized was that I was doing everything that everybody else was, and it was like trying to surf on a wave from behind, trying to catch up to the top of the wave,” says Richard Moon. With 30 years of experience under his belt, Moon is no stranger to the constantly changing industry. “You got to be an innovator of some sort. We started looking at things that nobody else was doing or very few people were doing and trying to create markets that we thought would be good,” says Moon.
Click above to listen to the full podcast episode.
Vitamin Depletion-- a Common Issue
With adherence pouch packaging gaining attention in the pharmaceutical industry, Moon quickly realized that there was an opportunity to provide a unique service. “There is some competition out there and there's some folks to be aware of, but there's a lot of people that you can learn from,” adds Moon.
In addition to providing patients their medications, Pharmacy Innovations addresses a common health issue among patients -- vitamin depletion. “Every single patient that calls us, we do a drug depletion. We don't ask them for it, we just do it. Then we present the data to them and see what they want to do about fixing their drug depletion review,” says Moon.
“Everything is coordinated whether we've got a vitamin pack for our current day and times with the COVID-19 virus or an immuno boost that we can add to vitamins or regular meds or compounds,” adds Moon. “So it is a little bit of a different approach.”
With the addition of vitamins, patients experience the full benefits of correctly taking their meds while reducing the impact on their body’s essential nutrients. This additional service creates a unique value for patients of Pharmacy Innovations, which other pharmacies are not offering.
Choosing the Right Automation
With adherence packaging programs growing across the nation, choosing the right system for your pharmacy can seem a little daunting. Moon shares some of his tips for navigating the search for adherence packaging automation.
“You want to know what the output is going to look like and what your support is going to be. And you also have to know what you want to do with [the machine],” says Moon.
For Moon, the RapidPakRx was the best option to meet the needs of his pharmacy. “One of the things we did was a base calculation of how many patients we needed to pay for the mortgage on the machine,” adds Moon. “When you start breaking it down into patients per day, it really becomes a much more manageable chunk to think about.”
“The RapidPakRx saves time on the back end because of the verification process,” says Moon. “It's all built into the system.” The RapidPakRx utilizes a 3-step vision verification system that reviews the contents of each package without removing it from the system. An image of each pouch is captured to facilitate the checking process for the pharmacist.
The RapidPakRx is an adherence pouch packaging automation system designed with a built-in integrated machine vision verification system. For Moon, the universal cartridges and removal of manual filling stations made the RapidPakRx the best option. Other adherence automation systems on the market work by using prefilled cassettes. “I couldn't justify having a building full of machines sitting idle with inventory in it to pop out some strip packaging,” says Moon.
To learn more about Richard Moon’s experience with adherence packaging for vitamins using the RapidPakRx, listen to the podcast above. If you would like to get more information about the RapidPakRx, please visit our product page or contact an adherence automation expert now at (877) 797-2332.
