CASE STUDY: Tripling pharmacy productivity through automation.
Building the modern pharmacy with McKesson Canada Automation
AT A GLANCE
The Boggio Family of Pharmacies is a second-generation business consisting of five pharmacies across Canada’s Niagara region When brother's Kyle and Aaron purchased the family business, they put their focus into creating a 'Pharmacy 2.0' through automation technology.
CHALLENGES
Reactive, outdated pharmacy model stifled growth
Manual, inefficient processes led to frustrated staff and customers
Demanding workloads introduced the potential for error
Limited time and resources left new business lines untapped
SOLUTIONS
Automation is a win-win for our business and our patients.
It’s enabled us to lift revenue and free our time for professional services like oneon-one consultations and injections because we are spending less time filling pills in packs and more time helping patients figure out how to make their lives easier and healthier.
McKesson Canada Automation provides the Boggio Family of Pharmacies with:
Technology that labels, fills, caps, and sorts prescription vials
Efficient processes for increased productivity and faster, more accurate offerings
Innovative and affordable compliance packaging solutions
Automated verification process
A high-speed, high accuracy automated inspection unit Specifically, the Boggio Family of Pharmacies has invested in the Parata Max, PACMED C208, PACMED D36 and PACVision C
RESULTS
Doubled strip volume process
Before automation, it took six people to process 300 compliance patients on a two-week packing cycle It's down to 2 days and one person, doing 600-700 patients
Doubled vial filling volume
Increased from 700 vial prescriptions per day to nearly 1,400 per day, while taking an enormous strain off of the dispensary team.
Through automation, the Boggio Family of Pharmacies improved the speed and accuracy of prescription fills and created a more enjoyable experience for patients, and staff Freed time for patient counselling and care
-Kyle Boggio
Started in 1983, the Boggio Family of Pharmacies is an independently owned and operated group of five pharmacies in the Niagara Region of Canada.
The second-generation business offers a wide range of pharmaceutical services, employing 155 staff members and serving more than 30,000 patients.
The Boggio brothers, Kyle and Aaron, purchased the family business in 2016 . They had a vision to level up, creating a ‘Pharmacy 2.0’ concept through automation technology.
“Our business was heavily dependent on inefficient manual processes that stifled our ability to keep up with growing demands and provide the personalized service our customers deserve,” says Kyle Boggio, Owner. “We had a goal of becoming the pharmacy of the future focused on patients, not on counting and packaging drugs and knew that automation would get us there.”
McKesson Canada Automation solutions have empowered the Boggios to transform their family business, creating efficiencies, improving productivity, and empowering staff to spend more time with patients.
The Challenges: Pharmacy 1.0 Model Hinders Business with Inefficiencies, Stifling Growth
Like many pharmacies, the Boggios were experiencing surging prescription volumes while their reimbursements stayed flat. With inflation and continually rising costs, they found it difficult to create sustainability let alone pursue new business opportunities like group home contracts that could help to grow their bottom line. “We were operating under a reactive model waiting for someone to call in a prescription and scrambling to prepare it before they arrived to pick it up,” says Boggio. “We needed technology to help us become proactive by offering autofills and packaging options and changing the dynamics of the dispensary so that we are ready for patients and can offer personalized attention and consultations that we are trained to provide.”
The Boggios sought technology to help transform their pharmacies by making them more enjoyable places to work reducing workloads and freeing staff from the hassles of last minute orders, backorders, and missing refills so they could provide a better experience for customers.
By automating manual tasks and expanding their product line to offer blister packs and strip packaging they could also offer additional value to customers, for instance appealing to busy customers and making it easy for them to get the right medication at the right time, while creating another revenue stream.
The Solutions:
McKesson Canada Automation Helps Modernize the Boggio Family of Pharmacies, Fulfilling
Their Vision for the Pharmacy 2.0
Six years ago, The Boggio Family of Pharmacies turned to McKesson Canada Automation, a leader in pharmacy automation, for vial filling automation. They chose McKesson’s Parata Max, a fully-automated robot that labels, fills, caps and sorts prepared vials into drop-off shelves that can hold more than 130 completed prescriptions. It simultaneously dispenses and replenishes, allowing for continuous pharmacy operation.
“The Parata Max runs unattended and it’s fast, processing multiple scripts per minute, quicker than staff can handle,” says Boggio. “Without it, I’d have to hire at least two to three people immediately just to catch up.”
McKesson automation helped the Boggios accommodate demand when 30-day refill prescriptions were mandated by the Canadian government to combat supply chain issues brought on by COVID-19.
“Almost overnight we experienced triple vial fill volumes, and we wouldn’t have survived without the machine,” says Boggio. “We had so many prescriptions in the queue that it would run late in the night, processing 200 scripts before morning.”
In 2016, the company turned to the McKesson PACMED C208 and PACVision C to provide automated solutions for faster, more accurate compliance packaging, that would enable them to optimize medication management and provide better care to retail customers and those in group homes.
“When we started offering strips, the retail part of our business, especially, took off,” says Boggio. “It’s now a huge sub-set of the business and it’s presented us with an opportunity to improve adherence and create better health outcomes for our patients by making it easier and more convenient for them to manage their health.”
McKesson Automation Provides Impressive Results
Automating with McKesson has enabled the Boggio Family of Pharmacies to improve the speed and accuracy of prescription fills and create a more enjoyable experience for staff and customers.
It’s also led to impressive productivity gains. The pharmacy's fill volume increased from 700 vial prescriptions per day to nearly 1,400 vial prescriptions per day, while taking an enormous strain off its dispensary team.
The business is now also processing strips for 600 to 700 patients per week. Before automating, it took six people to process 300 compliance patients on a two-week packing cycle. PACMED & PACvision enables them to process that volume over two days with just one person.
“Automation is a win-win for our business and our patients,” says Boggio “It’s enabled us to lift revenue and free our time for professional services like one-on-one consultations and injections because we are spending less time filling pills in packs and more time helping patients figure out how to make their lives easier and healthier.”
Boggio's advice to other pharmacies interested in modernizing with automation:
“McKesson Canada Automation can transform your business. They offer a range of products with more depth than other suppliers, allowing you to dip your toes in with smaller machines and upgrade as you build your business. Their service is excellent and no issue is left unresolved. Together you can level up to become the new and improved pharmacy of the future.”