Those bike rides to and from downtown were memorable. At the time there must not have been an age requirement in place for picking up prescriptions, because you remember riding to the pharmacy alone, or maybe with your younger sister tailing behind. The white glossy paper bag holding the purple cough syrup was just long enough to wrap around the handlebars of the bike. Turns out though that bag wasn’t sturdy enough to hold the weight of the jar. More than once the bag ripped, the bottle chattered, and the purple syrup splashed from the pavement onto your shoes and sometimes even your leg. Back to the pharmacy you would go for another bottle. It did not take long for everyone at the counter of Ben’s Pharmacy to know that double bagging was in order for your prescription.
Most pharmacy experiences are far less personal, and hopefully less messy, than this bike riding purple syrup explosion, but many independent pharmacies still operate across the country. And while these independent pharmacists still have a goal of knowing many of their clients, this doesn’t mean that they can’t also offer the latest point of sale (POS) technology. The best pharmacy POS software allows even the small town drug store to offer electronic signature capture so that the HIPAA signature compliance is met, as well as automatic phone calls to remind customers that their new prescription is ready. In fact, almost all pharmacy POS software systems are equipped with electronic signature capturing, as well as integrated credit card swiping.
Luckily, most liquid pharmaceuticals are dispensed in heavy plastic, not glass anymore, but it is still necessary for every pharmacist to keep specific accurate details about all prescriptions and the customers. Integrating the best pharmacy POS software systems allow for easy recording of customer information, making the transaction process faster and less cumbersome for both the pharmacist and the customer. In an independent pharmacy software vendor setting, the software can take care of the required information while the pharmacist can continue to develop personal relationships with customers. For example, while the software can double check any possible allergies, the pharmacist can verify these concerns but still have time to ask about last weekend’s hometown football game.
What was your goal as you completed your pharmaceutical degree? Was it to work as a faceless white coat at a big box company, or was it to work as an independent pharmacist back in your hometown? Today’s best pharmacy point of sale systems allow you to create the independent environment you want, while also keeping accurate data of all filled prescriptions, and allowing you to easily call up the necessary transaction records.
