Do Patients Trust Your Pharmacy?
Pharmacies occupy a unique place in society. They must simultaneously balance the medical needs of the patients while competing with the rapid growth of competition in the industry. With so many options regarding where to fill critical medications, patients often look for a pharmacy they trust.
Building this trust is more than just the prescription being available in a timely manner. It means patients know their order will be error free; their questions and concerns will be answered; and the software used by pharmacies is flexible and can meet the changing needs of the industry.
At Emporos, we have decades of experience working with a diverse set of pharmacies. In that time, we have identified three critical junctures within a patients’ experience where technology can boost trust.
1. Dispense Process
When surveyed about their concerns when it comes to pharmacies, more than half of Americans (51%) worry about potential problems with their prescriptions stemming from understaffed pharmacies. These concerns include issues such as getting the wrong dosage (50%), getting the wrong medication (50%), or getting unclear or incorrect instructions (47%). ¹
The Emporos Point of Sale software touts several features which aid pharmacists and technicians in ensuring that they mitigate medication errors as much as possible. The POS can be configured so that when connecting to a Pharmacy Management System (PMS), certain stops are put in place to verify critical data, such as date of birth. Additionally, the POS will alert the pharmacist when the medication of another patient is scanned to act as safety stop. Features such as these can help a pharmacy build and maintain customer trust by ensuring a busy technician can keep patients safe.
2. Patient Counseling
When having to answer multiple people at once, it can be easy to push through the question “Do you have any questions about your medications today?” This question is top of mind for many patients, even if they aren’t saying it in the moment. 65% of patients are concerned about possible interactions which were not identified when they or a loved one were prescribed medications. 60% of patients also believe pharmacists have a great deal of responsibility for this issue. ¹
Given how important this is to patients, Emporos Point of Sale has a built-in counseling page as part of the checkout process which can appear on the patient facing screen directly or on the technician’s side. This allows the customer to make the affirmative choice if they want that help. This enables a pharmacy to empower the patient to drive that decision and trust that if they do have questions, there is an easy way to ask. To help meet the diverse needs of many pharmacies, this option can be presented in English and a variety of other languages.
3. Mail-Order
The rise of direct-to-customer pharmacy from major corporate pharmacies and online retailers is one of the greatest threats to a pharmacy that does not already have this kind of technology in place. Over three quarters (77%) of patients reported that they would prefer to receive medication at home if it means they can save money.¹ While many patients want this feature, the concept of prescriptions getting mailed can feel overwhelmingly personal, causing some to be wary.
Emporos has several features which make mail-out an efficient and secure method to help pharmacies build trust with patients. From dedicated mail out stations to a mail out mode on a standard Point of Sale, there are several options available which can serve a pharmacy of any size.
Building trust is one of our core values at Emporos. We are hyper-focused on helping pharmacies of all sizes build trust with patients and keep them safe. To learn more, chat with us here.
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