By 2025, as much as half of Walgreens’ total prescription volume could be filled at the automated hubs, said Rex Swords, who oversees the network of facilities as Walgreens’ group president of centralized services, operations and planning.
Many insurance plans give better coverage when you order 90 day quantities from a mail order house.
You wonder how many of those mail order prescriptions are actually filled by robots? Counting pills is not very sophisticated. Should be easy to automate.
Pharmacists spend years in college and must pass licensing tests in most states. They should be supervisors to make sure the right pills are used and properly packaged.
I’d say this is progress in many situations.
Still having a local pharmacy where you can ask questions or get advice is a plus. We still like a personal contact some of the time.
Let’s hope a reasonable compromise can be worked out–finding the right resource to serve your needs.
In my area, some Walgreens are closed midday due to staff shortages. Automation could be one way to address that problem.
Still having a local pharmacy where you can ask questions or get advice is a plus. We still like a personal contact some of the time.
Let’s hope a reasonable compromise can be worked out–finding the right resource to serve your needs.
In my area, some Walgreens are closed midday due to staff shortages. Automation could be one way to address that problem.
Seems to me that there would be a “work from home” opportunity for a registered pharmacist to answer customer questions via Zoom while the robot dispenses the pills onsite.
Many insurance plans give better coverage when you order 90 day quantities from a mail order house.
You wonder how many of those mail order prescriptions are actually filled by robots? Counting pills is not very sophisticated. Should be easy to automate.
Why couldn’t 90-day supplies of the most common prescriptions just be fulfilled in packaging done the same way that OTC meds are packaged. I doubt anyone is counting 100 pills of Tylenol to put in a package. Couldn’t 90 pills of heart meds or cholesterol meds be made the same way?
Why couldn’t 90-day supplies of the most common prescriptions just be fulfilled in packaging done the same way that OTC meds are packaged.
They are. High volume meds are often packaged in 30 and 90 tablet bottles at the factory. Then the local pharmacist just has to slap the label on it, and he’s done.
I take three generic meds that my insurer charges triple the cash price for. I have my doctor write me a 365-day prescription for each, then I buy a year’s supply in one fill and pay cash. That also eliminates a lot of standing around time at the pharmacy counter.
That also eliminates a lot of standing around time at the pharmacy counter.
intercst
Little chance of that at my Costco Pharmacy that is at the back of the store … they give you a guestimate of when it will be ready and I proceed to rack up the grocery bill. The minimum is the duty 20 minutes but often 30 minutes if I am picking up meds for wife.
Oh, 90 day supply is the standard for long term meds. Costco also allows non-members to use the pharmacy … how generous of them! }};-D
Why couldn’t 90-day supplies of the most common prescriptions just be fulfilled in packaging done the same way that OTC meds are packaged. I doubt anyone is counting 100 pills of Tylenol to put in a package. Couldn’t 90 pills of heart meds or cholesterol meds be made the same way?
The last several fills of [name of medicine redacted] that I’ve received came in unopened 90-count bottles.
Couldn’t 90 pills of heart meds or cholesterol meds be made the same way?
Mike,
I do not know the medical protocols for the MD, but s/he has to understand how the patient is using prescriptions pills. As a doctor becomes comfortable for instance that quarterly visits be met by the patient it becomes easier to prescribe quarterly refills. Patients have histories of not being compliant.
In my area, some Walgreens are closed midday due to staff shortages. Automation could be one way to address that problem.
I recently saw an article … don’t remember where, sorry … about, I think Walgreens, going to put in automated prescription machines in stores … not for everything, but to greatly reduce the need for staffing in busier stores.
Why couldn’t 90-day supplies of the most common prescriptions just be fulfilled in packaging done the same way that OTC meds are packaged.
Its likely this is actually the way it works at large mail order pharmacies. The bottles are prefilled with 90 day supply of tablets. When prescription order is received, label is printed for the bottle and the order is shipped.
And you can imagine going the next step where the drug supplier fills the bottles used by the mail order house. Much less manpower required. And drug supplier accommodates a major customer with special handling.
Robot takes the bottle off the shelf and applies printed prescription label? Untouched by human hands.
Why couldn’t 90-day supplies of the most common prescriptions just be fulfilled in packaging done the same way that OTC meds are packaged.
And contrary to conventional wisdom (that 90 vs 30 results in more waste), data suggests that outcomes (medication adherence, greater persistency, nominal wastage, and greater savings) are better with 90 vs 30.
And contrary to conventional wisdom (that 90 vs 30 results in more waste), data suggests that outcomes (medication adherence, greater persistency, nominal wastage, and greater savings) are better with 90 vs 30.
Sure. But US health care isn’t optimized for outcomes and patient health, it’s optimized for increasing Executive Compensation. There’s more money in making a prescription so time consuming and painful to fill that many people avoid it. And the improvement in the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) goes right to Executive Compensation.