How to Choose the Best Pharmacy Management Software for a New Store?

The healthcare industry is rapidly expanding. People spend tens of thousands of dollars on medication to stay healthy. The retail pharmacy business is an immortal business that has been least affected by the recession. Moreover, local customers are your brand ambassadors as a startup. You must use the best pharmacy management software to manage your business.

This blog will cover all the considerations from starting a medical store to establishing a successful store. Moreover, it will be a helping hand for you. We will cover the following topics:

To start a pharmacy business, an entrepreneur needs to choose or create a business idea. We will help you with this crucial step. As a result, you can go ahead with the plan of having a pharmacy business. So, let us start.

5 Essential Tips to Start with Pharmacy Business

“We think that when we get to the market, we’re going to make a difference.”

–John Lechleiter, CEO, Lilly Pharma, US-based pharma

Most Important Thing you Need to Know About Pharmacy Management Software

“Numbers have an important story to tell. you rely on them; they will give you a clear and convincing voice.”
―Stephen Few. – Data scientist.

We have seen how to start a medical business. Let us talk about managing your business. For example, as a startup, you may be using Excel for pharmacy inventory management. There will be a shortage of budgets, or maybe any other reason. However, PMS will be useful for you instead of Excel. Just compare Excel and PMS or POS as per business needs. After that, you will get to know which one is better.

1) Traditional vs Cloud-Based Technology:

As an entrepreneur, everyone wants accuracy and scalability at their pharmacy store. Therefore, the excel sheets are too old for inventory and staff management. Moreover, they are tough to manage and lack security. If you were in the ’90s, then Excel was your key. However, you need to move on as technology gets updated.

Above all, excel sheets are unfit for agile business activities, and the pharmacy management system plays a role where spreadsheets leave off. Furthermore, let us compare Excel and POS.

2) EXCEL VS Pharmacy Management Software:

Excel

Spreadsheets are great tools that have been used by companies for years. Furthermore, there is no doubt that they are useful for sorting data and simplistic information. However, unfortunately, Excel spreadsheets aren’t always the easiest or most intuitive choices. Most importantly, it is also time-consuming. As a result, user errors are rampant with spreadsheets, which leaves data flawed and unusable.

Pros of Excel

• Create your own shelf-to-sheet counts
• Do the necessary math’s for cost calculation
• Make charts and graphs online

Cons of Excel

• Scaling issues
• Errors are tough to fix and locate
• It does not provide real-time updates

Pharmacy Management Software

It is no secret that your point of sale (POS) system is the workhorse of your technology solutions across the retail industry. Not only does it help you and your operations complete sales, but it can also help you better track inventory. Moreover, promotions, management, and many more. Nowadays, PMS is the key to success.

Pros of Pharmacy Management Software

• Easy Updates
• No Software Installation Process
• Access Data from Anywhere

Cons of Pharmacy Management Software

• Some are free while some are paid.

Conclusion: Excel VS Pharmacy Management Software

In short, Excel is not a solution for your business. As a result, it will be great if you will use POS for your day-to-day business management. It will be your game-changer moment.

Your POS software is responsible for the day-to-day management and operation of your business. Moreover, it will help you from checking outpatients to managing business reports. Therefore, search for integrated and comprehensive POS solutions.

What is Pharmacy Management Software or Point of Sales Software?

“It is a well-known fact that bringing in technologies in the retail sector is good for customers.”

— N. R. Narayana Murthy, co-Founder, Infosys

PMS is a point of sales software specifically made for the pharmacy business. On the other hand, in the pharmaceutical industry, Pharmacy management software (PMS) is also called pharmacy POS systems or simply POS. In short, it is developed to provide digital and electronic assistance to pharmacies and pharmacists.

Pharmacy management software (PMS) accepts payments, manages customers, and confirms or approves purchase orders. As a result, retail, clinical, and independent pharmacists are all using these solutions. A lot can go wrong. However, with the right PMS, you are putting yourself in the best position possible.

Pharmacy employees can effectively manage sales transactions. Moreover, PMS uses payment processing technology and maintains rules for the payment card industry (PCI). After that, pharmacy-specific POS can generate insights on shop performance. You can see these insights in real-time. After that, margin potential, and client loyalty.

Also Read about Optical POS

The Reasons why Everyone loves Pharmacy Management Software

I was reading all these reports that were down on retail brick-and-mortar, saying it’s all about online…I think brick-and-mortar is an amazing opportunity to use our stores and our store staff as a vehicle to truly engage with the community in a way no other retailers are doing.

— Jim Brett, President, West Elm

There are many features of Pharmacy management software, some of them are given below.

1) Traditional vs Cloud-Based Technology:

One of the most prominent points of PMS is an inventory management system. For a medical retail store, inventory can be your most considerable overhead.

Moreover, in a community pharmacy, especially where you’re managing front-end inventory and drugs, it is essential to control your over-the-counter (OTC) inventory. Therefore, the POS system keeps track of inventory, allowing you to see the exact quantity of an item you have on hand.

Furthermore, pharmacy management software helps to easily update inventory and costs. For example, when you get an electronic response from the merchant on what is being shipped, you can get a notification. After that, you can print various reports to better analyze your inventory, by department or category, or even for a specific item.

2) Special Interest Group for IIAS Certification – SIGIS – (Inventory Information Approval System)

Patients frequently want to use their flexible spending or health savings card to pay for their copayment or eligible products when picking up prescriptions or purchasing over-the-counter items. Therefore, PMS is built with pharmacy needs in mind.

You must be listed with SIGIS, and your point-of-sale software vendor must also be a SIGIS certified vendor to set up your pharmacy to accept FSA (flexible spending account) and HSA (health savings accounts) cards.

3) Integrated Pseudo-Ephedrine Tracking with Pharmacy Management Software:

Pseudo-ephedrine is a drug that is useful for many diseases. Furthermore, it is banned in some countries, while some nations allow them to buy it with a doctor’s certificate and government permission.

Pharmacies have unique requirements and capabilities for tracking and certifying pseudoephedrine product sales. As a result, pharmacies must verify sales of pseudoephedrine-containing goods.

Furthermore, it is essential to keep track of their customers’ details.

Your POS system (pharmacy management software) is ultimately connected to track pseudoephedrine sales in real-time. Moreover, it confirms the transaction and notifies cashiers if the patient can buy the item. In short, it is an essential feature for your pharmacy point of sale software.

4) Signature Capture and Workflow Integration with Pharmacy Management Software:

When patients pick up their prescriptions, the cashier scans the barcode. POS software does more than read an item code and spit out a price. As a result, it communicates with your pharmacy management software to ensure that the patient’s prescriptions are available for pick-up.

In addition, the point of sale’s workflow integration will check to see whether a patient or associated family member has any other prescriptions in the pipeline that need to be filled.

After that, patients can also sign for prescription pick-up, HIPAA,(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and counseling acceptance or rejection, all saved in the pharmacy management software.

5) Pharmacy Management Software Makes you More Competitive:

Technology evolves very fast. The latest tools, such as pharmacy management software, help you stay competitive. Furthermore, in the pharmacy retail industry, payment processing is evolving rapidly.

For example, today’s POS systems for pharmacy businesses provide you with the proficiency to accept EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) chip cards, which is significant if you consider the data given by fortune business insights.

• 85 percent of credit cards issued in the U.S. are chip-enabled
• Only about 63 percent of merchants can process them

11 Precious Tips from Experts to get Perfect Pharmacy Management Software

“One order management system, one database, one inventory. Without these you will never seem seamless to your customer.” — Andy Laudato, COO of The Vitamin Shoppe

Today, point-of-sale (POS) systems are important to the success of the pharmacy retail business. POS systems are used by 68 percent of businesses to capture new sales at the checkout counter.

Let’s see which elements should be considered at the time of choosing the correct PMS for your business.

1) Ease of Use:

The PMS that you choose must be easy to use by everyone. Therefore, the interface must be simple and robust.

2) End-to-end Features:

Pharmacy management software has many features. In addition to accepting payments, you might find solutions that can handle:

• Inventory tracking
• Customer management
• Invoicing and billing
• Refunds and returns
• Employee scheduling
• Data analytics

Make sure the PMS you choose has all the features your business needs.

3) Reporting:

Medical stores just need a robust dashboard. In short, analysis is the only way to achieve success. Therefore, by using accurate pharmacy management software, you can get real-time reports. Furthermore, it will help to grow businesses.

4) Cost:

Obviously, you need to consider the cost of the POS system (including the hardware and software). The type and number of terminals you purchase should align with your needs.

5) Support:

No matter how technically savvy you are. However, it’s good to have access to customer support. Whether you run into issues or need help setting up the system, look for pharmacy management software that provides 24/7 support via:

• Email
• Live chat
• Phone

6) PCI Compliance:

Payment security is also essential. Moreover, this is especially true for small businesses, since they’re the victims of nearly 43 percent of cyberattacks. Therefore, any pharmacy management software you consider should be compliant with data security standards established by the Payment Card Industry (PCI).

In addition, you want a solution that can further safeguard users’ payment data with:

• End-to-end encryption
• Data tokenization

7) Automation:

Does the system automate processes and reduce manual inputs? For example, a good POS solution should be able to use data from your logistics and supply chain to update inventory and order information.

8) Integration:

Does the point-of-sale system integrate with tools, apps, and software that you’re already using?

Many solutions have native software that locks you into their tools. Therefore, it’s best to explore pharmacy management software that integrates seamlessly with third-party vendors.

9) Software:

POS systems start with the software, Therefore, examine each option’s capabilities and costs to make sure they’re the right fit for your business. In short, some companies, like ARI POS, provide you with free trials. Try them.

10) Hardware:

The size and type of business determine what type of hardware you need:

• If you’re a small retailer, you may need a tablet, card reader, and cash box.
• If you have a larger operation, you may need terminals, receipt printers, barcode scanners, or more.

11) Flexibility:

Pharmacy management software must be able to customize your business as per your needs. As a result, you can easily make changes to your costs, inventory, employment status, etc. Above all, this can be controlled from a location away from your store.

With so many options out there, knowing how to choose a POS system can be difficult. However, every business requirement is different. Therefore, it would be best to consult.

Different Ways to Optimize Pharmacy Management Software for your Business

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

— Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft

As a retail pharmacy, most of the time, people buy POS software for their business. However, most of them just use them for accounting purposes. PMS can do much more than that. Therefore, here are some tips to optimize your POS software.

1) Improve the Patient Experience with Pharmacy Management Software:

It’s easy to satisfy your customers with the right pharmacy management software. Your pharmacy can use several internal tools and applications to promote your store with patient engagement.

• Use alerts for additionally available prescriptions
• In-workflow pop-up alerts with patient information
• Track patient purchase history
• Patient apps to request refills and track medications
• Notifications for recommended supplements to avoid nutrient depletion

2) Minimize Dispensing Errors:

Dispensing errors can slow down your pharmacy operations. Moreover, it puts your patients in danger. Therefore, use pharmacy management software to minimize dispensing errors with warning messages in your existing workflow.

3) Drilldown Reporting Capabilities of Pharmacy Management Software:

To efficiently run your business, you need insight into your daily operations. Use the right POS system to get crucial reports, including drill-down reporting. As a result, use filters and customize reports.
 

4) Inventory Syncing and Optimization Tools:

Link your pharmacy management software with the in-person workings of your pharmacy. Furthermore, include inventory management. Inventory syncing and optimization should take place within your POS, including promoting your business online and increasing foot traffic. 

• Link your inventory online 
• Manage OTC (Over counter) inventory and price updates through EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
• Manage OTC inventory with promotions, sales tax, holidays, shelf label/price stickers, alternate barcodes, item bundles, bottle deposits, age-restricted items, service fees, etc. 

5) Customer Loyalty Programs:

With loyalty programs, you can promote customer loyalty and improve patient satisfaction. Integrate them with your PMS. By rewarding your loyal customers, you can retain patients and attract new ones.

• Drive sales with customer loyalty programs
• Encourage repeat business
• Automation of digital marketing
• Offer eGift cards, refer-a-friend seasonal and rewards emails, VIP programs

6) Compliance Tracking on the State and Federal Level:

Firstly, compliance is an essential part of your pharmacy. Consequently, noncompliance can result in serious consequences. Use the right pharmacy management software for your pharmacy to track your compliance on a federal and state level. 

• Compliance with controlled substances
• Child safety caps
• Age restriction sales
• Relationship to patient
• ID Capture
• Counseling
• HIPAA Compliance
• Signature capture related to 3rd party insurance

7) Delivery and Payment Methods:

Customers expect convenient shopping experiences everywhere they go, including at their community pharmacy. Your PMS should make it easy to serve your patients in a way that works best for them.

In short, by offering a variety of delivery and payment methods, you can improve the overall customer experience. 

• Drive-thru, pickup, curbside, and home delivery options for prescriptions
• Credit card payments
• FSA/HAS
• Contactless payments
• Apple Pay and Google Pay

8) Internal Business Tools:

Your POS software should go above and beyond to help you grow your business. Moreover, community pharmacies are constantly faced with new and evolving challenges, and you need a solution that manages every aspect of your internal business operations. 

• Multi-site management capabilities
• Integrated accounts receivable 

Time clock for maintaining and reporting employees’ in/out times

Summary of Pharmacy Management Software:

To sum up the blog, we must say the process of starting a medical shop may be easy work, but managing and growing your pharmacy business is not that easy. Some people consider excelling as a good option for startups. However, believe it or not, the feature of pharmacy management software eliminates excel.

The features of POS software, such as   Inventory Management, SIGIS Certification, Signature capture, and workflow integration, will help you to make it more Competitive. Choosing the right software is a critical part of your business. As you know, every business’s needs are different. It will be best if you try consultation services before selecting PMS.

You can utilize Pos software in your day-to-day work, such as improving the patient experience, compliance tracking, inventory syncing and its optimization in real-time, and many more.  In short, you can achieve your goal by choosing pharmacy management software for your business.