4 Ways Pharmacies Can Benefit from Central Fill as a Service
Explore the benefits of Central Fill as a Service (CFaaS®) and learn how your pharmacy can leverage automation technology with minimal upfront investment.
The future for many pharmacy organizations is centralized prescription filling, a model in which multiple pharmacies are served by one highly automated dispensing and fulfillment facility.
While automated central filling has been around for some time, the upfront capital and ongoing operational costs have been prohibitive for many pharmacy organizations. With CoverMyMeds Central Fill as a Service (CFaaS®), pharmacies of any size can outsource prescription filling.
CFaaS offers comprehensive centralized prescription fulfillment on a pay-per-script basis. Unlike other third-party fulfillment options, CFaaS leverages the scale and scope of our parent company McKesson to provide customers with access to a wide range of inventory, logistics and pharmacy resources.
Outsourcing central filling with a pay-per-script model creates a number of benefits for pharmacies of any size. While reduced cost, increased efficiency and simplified inventory are big wins, the ultimate benefit is the power to better serve patients.
Austin SacksSenior Director, Product Management, CoverMyMeds
Benefit 1: Serve evolving patient needs and market demands
As the popularity of telehealth and prescription home delivery has skyrocketed, patients are visiting the pharmacy in person less often. At the same time, a growing list of responsibilities, increased admin and labor shortages mean pharmacists are over-burdened. One survey found that 9 out 10 are on the verge of burnout.The Striking, Startling Realities of Pharmacist Burnout, University of Illinois Chicago, Dec. 6, 2022
Central filling can reduce the burden on in-pharmacy staff while providing the infrastructure needed to quickly expand home delivery services. Central Fill as a Service is licensed to operate in 48 states as well as several U.S. territories, which opens possibilities for pharmacies to connect with a broader customer base, including rural and under-served communities.
For a cohesive brand experience, prescriptions filled with CFaaS include your pharmacy’s logo on the label. For organizations that need support with patient-facing digital channels, CoverMyMeds also offers virtual pharmacy services.
Benefit 2: Minimize your start-up investment and operational costs
When it comes to operating an automated central filling facility, there are many specialized staff to hire and vendors to manage. With CFaaS, you get a fast start-up time and just one partner to deliver everything.
Our strategically located fulfillment centers support geographic differentiation in terms of redundancy and nationwide shipping efficiency. We continually upgrade our facilities, so you’ll always be served by a central filling operation that’s at the cutting edge of automation.
Pharmacy Organizations that Benefit from Central Fill as a Service:
Health Systems With central filling services that comply with contract pharmacy regulation, CFaaS can help health systems overcome barriers to operating an outpatient pharmacy.
Retail Pharmacies CFaaS can help retail pharmacies optimize revenue and address labor shortages, giving pharmacists more time to focus on patient services. CFaaS can also expand the capacity of an existing central filling operation and increase overall central fill utilization for the chain.
Mail-Order Pharmacies CFaaS can help mail-order pharmacies offer broader fulfillment and distribution services to reach a broader patient base, all with minimal upfront costs. Thanks to our competitive pricing, CFaaS can also help reduce shipping costs.
Benefit 3: Optimize your inventory while reducing cost-to-fill
With Central Fill as a Service, instead of paying upfront, you pay per prescription filled, and you decide which prescriptions to fill in-store and which to outsource. Based on approximate CoverMyMeds historical dispensing data, we’ve found that pharmacies using Central Fill as a Service can reduce in-store inventory stock by up to 30%.Based on analysis of CoverMyMeds historical dispensing data
While reducing the need for pharmacies to purchase medication in bulk, CFaaS provides access to a broad range of therapeutic areas, including specialty brands. “With less medication sitting on your shelves, outsourcing inventory management can also help reduce waste due to prescription expiration," says Sacks.
Read the Niemann Foods Customer Case With Central Fill as a Service, Niemann Foods saved approximately $50,000 per year on maintenance contracts and improved inventory control. Read our Niemann Foods customer case study to learn more.
Benefit 4. Give pharmacists time to support positive patient experiences
Pharmacists’ to-do lists are growing beyond traditional tasks to include health and wellness screenings, immunizations and advising patients on healthy lifestyles. While some traditional tasks like counting and dispensing medication won’t be completely eliminated, automation helps expedite these manual tasks, allowing pharmacists more time to focus on patients.
“With central filling, pharmacists can save time on their traditional responsibilities and help more patients at the pharmacy counter,” says Sacks. “This can positively impact the pharmacist’s job satisfaction, as well as improved population health and patient care.”
Break down your barriers with Central Fill as a Service
CoverMyMeds offers a wide range of technology solutions that support the needs of modern pharmacy organizations. Backed by our parent company McKesson, we have 30+ years of experience in high-volume automation.
CoverMyMeds Pharmacy dispensing network is powered by CoverMyMeds' pharmacy automation, which dispenses over 500 million prescriptions per year.Based on analysis of CoverMyMeds historical dispensing data At multiple fulfillment facilities throughout the U.S., medicines are dispensed using advanced automation technology and industry-leading pharmacy control software.
With sites strategically located near nationwide shipping hubs, CoverMyMeds’ partnership with national shipping carriers allows us to offer direct-to-patient shipping that’s not only efficient but economical. Our geographic diversity and shipping redundancy enables us to optimize facility usage to support the timely arrival of medications. To learn more about CoverMyMeds’ Central Fill as a Service solution, visit our page on prescription automation solutions.
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