Patient Benefits of an In-Office Dispensary

In-office dispensaries are fast-emerging to provide continuity of care.  According to a study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 42% to 71% of visits to a physician result in at least one prescription for medication; however, this same study revealed that more than 30% of patients do not fill their prescriptions.  Most states allow physicians to dispense prescription medications under their physicians’ license, enabling practices to expand the continuum of care provided.  

Three Benefits to Your Patients of an In-office Dispensary

1. Convenience: Consumerism has infiltrated healthcare, which means patients are choosing and staying with physicians based on more than just the physician.  In fact, patients rank convenience as more important to them than physician credentials.  The number one finding from a survey of 4000 consumers conducted by the Advisory Board Company on the topic of what they want from primary care was, “Convenience is king.”  Getting a prescription filled at an in-office dispensary was among the top ten attributes consumers used to define the conveniences they want.
   
   For specialists, the data is similar.  A survey by OncLive revealed that 75% of patients would prefer to obtain prescription drugs directly from their physician instead of making an extra trip to a pharmacy.
    
2. Education:  According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, adverse drug events result in more than 770,000 injuries and deaths each year, and 11%-14% of those instances can be traced back to the dispensing pharmacy.  
   
   In observational studies, 17%-25% of prescriptions were not accompanied by instructions from the physician or the care team.  Why?  Weighted down by the increasing expenses of running a practice, physicians are spending less time with each individual patient to see more patients daily.
   
   So, ironically, staff members are spending 30% of their time fielding telephone calls about prescriptions.  With a lack of communication between the physician’s office and the pharmacy, accountability for a detailed conversation with the patient about the medicine, side effects, adherence, and potential adverse events is split, at best, and unclear- despite regulatory requirements. With point-of-care dispensing, the staff and time are built into the process to ensure the patient gets the information he needs to begin and adhere to therapy.
    
3. Improved outcomes: Compliance with drug therapy is 60% -70% better when medications are delivered at the point-of-care versus when patients must go to another location to fill the prescription. Incorporating an in-office dispensary into the checkout process enables the patient to receive his or her prescription immediately, avoiding the risk of the patient forgetting to pick up the order at the local retail pharmacy.

UniteRx assists physicians’ offices with installation of point-of-care dispensary solutions. We can help establish a dispensary and provide ongoing support to navigate the pharmaceutical industry.