Technology vendors promote connectivity

Drug Store News,  Oct 10, 2005  

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SAN DIEGO -- It's all about connectivity.

If the technology vendors at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Pharmacy & Technology Conference shared a common theme in the new applications they rolled out, it would have been their ability to integrate their products with the overall pharmacy work flow. And some of that connectivity is occurring over long distances via secured communications links that allow remote-site dispensing via standalone kiosks and even live communications with distant pharmacists for counseling.

Just prior to the conference, Distributed Delivery Networks installed its Automated Product Machine dispensing kiosk in Kmart's three-floor store in New York's Penn Station, where hundreds of prescriptions are dispensed daily. William Holmes, DDN president, praised the chain for employing a cutting-edge kiosk technology that improves customer service [and reduces] store operating costs."

The APM requires a personal identification number and electronic signature from patients and securely delivers prescriptions with the swipe of a credit card. Kmart divisional vice president Mark Doerr said the system maximizes every second of our customers' time by providing them with a more efficient alternative to pay for and retrieve refill prescriptions in less than a minute.

"With the APM, we can guarantee accurate refill distribution and more quality time with pharmacists for those seeking consultation, he said.

Duane Reade, meanwhile, has turned to New Edge Networks to install some 70 kiosks in stores and remote locations so patients can access prescription and pharmacy services.

"They're tied back to a centralized Duane Reade call center, where pharmacists are on location," noted a New Edge spokesman. Patients, he said, can literally walk out of the doctor's office, scan your prescription there and talk to a pharmacist live" via the company's dedicated, ATM-based DSL network.

Extending the theme of connectivity with existing pharmacy systems, Iatrogen LLC introduced a portable risk-assessment system, called RxWise, which is designed for patients to use themselves. The personalized system, contained on a portable USB flash drive and available for sale in stores, evaluates the potential risks for an adverse drug reaction by analyzing the consumer's self-reported (or insurance claims-based) medical history and checking it against the medications they are taking.

The device can be handed to the pharmacist at the point of dispensing for a rapid check of the patient's medication history. It also can be downloaded via the Internet and forwarded via e-mail.

PDX-NHIN-Rx.com, meanwhile, continues to expand the possibilities its massive central patient data-gathering technology offers. The result is a growing suite of applications that enhance connectivity, including among a chain's individual pharmacy outlets. Those links allow pharmacists to access a patient's prescription records immediately from any location the software provider serves.

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