CASE STUDY: Win New Business Without Taking Time Away from Customers
Doubling Business with McKesson Canada Automation in Two Years.
AT A GLANCE
For nearly 100 years, Roulston’s Pharmacy has provided pharmacy services across Norfolk County, Ontario
Roulston's turned to McKesson Canada Automation to help them provide specialized services for long term care facilities.
My relationship with McKesson is one of the best I've ever had with a vendor,” says Snow.
“The team is committed to adding value to my business, quick to respond when I need them, and they consistently deliver high-quality, positive experiences that are second to none.”
-Blair Snow
CHALLENGES
Limited time and capacity to seize growing opportunities in long term care
Time intensive, manual dispensing and verification processes put heavy demand on pharmacists
Little time for providing clinical services to patients
SOLUTIONS
McKesson Canada Automation provides the Roulston's Pharmacy with:
Automation technology that dispenses and verifies blister packaged prescriptions
Greater capacity, with increased accuracy
Freed up time to focus on clinical care
Competitive advantage within their market
Specifically, Roulston's Pharmacy has invested in the PACMED and recently upgraded to the PACMED NS576 They've also invested into the PACVision, which works in tandem with the PACMED for visual veriication
RESULTS
Doubled business in 2 years
Being in business for almost 100 years, Roulston's saw their business double in 2 years as they leveraged efficiencies through automation
Recognized for Value-Add Services
Roulston's Pharmacy has been able to spend more time with patients and provide more value-add services to the people of Norfolk County, as automation has freed up time to do so.
Capacity to Explore New Revenue Streams
Roulston's Pharmacy was able to expand into long term care facilities, supplying pouch packaging and verification, as a result of their investment into automation
Started in 1933, Roulston’s Pharmacy offers pharmacy services in four Norfolk County, Ontario locations, including specialized services for long term care facilities.
The compliance packaging required by long term care facilities demands labor intensive manual dispensing and verifying, tying up pharmacists’ time and limiting their ability to provide clinical services to patients. As Roulston’s initial long term care business grew, it faced a mounting challenge keeping up with increasing demand while still dedicating time to patients.
“We were doing all of our work by hand and realized it wasn’t a sustainable way to grow our business,” says Blair Snow, pharmacist, co-owner and Director of Long Term Care Pharmacy Operations at Roulson’s. “We were afraid of losing our long term care customers to competitors who could offer faster, automated services and fearful of not having the bandwidth to go after new opportunities. We knew it was time to automate.”
McKesson Canada Automation now automates Roulston’s pouch packaging dispensing and verification, freeing pharmacists to provide clinical services to patients and pursue new contracts.
The Challenges: Manual Dispensing Limits Bandwidth and Opportunities
Long term care facilities have created opportunities for community pharmacies to provide essential prescription medications and consultative services to patients, yet without automated pharmacy technology, few pharmacies can meet the demands they require.
“Big chain pharmacies have been dominating long term care while smaller shops like ours are limited in what we can offer these facilities,” says Snow. “We were in jeopardy of losing the business we had and missing out on additional weekly dispensing fees that automation could bring to our revenue. Economically, we needed to automate. We couldn’t afford not to.”
The Solutions:
McKesson Canada Automation Provides Competitive Advantage with High Capacity Dispensing and Verification
After researching automated pharmacy solution providers to meet his reliability and service criteria, Snow chose McKesson Canada Automation, the premier provider of pharmacy automation.
Roulston’s implemented PACMED, McKesson’s high volume compliance packaging solution. Its pouch packaging technology allows Roulston’s to manage complex medication regimes required by long term care facilities, maximizes its capacity, and increases efficiencies so pharmacists have more time for consultative services.
The pharmacy later added McKesson’s PACVision, a verification system that works in tandem with PACMED, to provide a complete automated solution. The verification technology frees pharmacists from the extensive accuracy checks required prior to automation.
In addition to time saving technology, Snow also cites McKesson’s reliable, dedicated service and support as game-changers to his business.
“My relationship with McKesson is one of the best I've ever had with a vendor,” says Snow. “The team is committed to adding value to my business, quick to respond when I need them, and they consistently deliver high-quality, positive experiences that are second to none.”
McKesson Automation Provides Impressive Results
Roulston’s experienced a quick return on its investment in automation, gaining two large long term care contracts in less than a year and soon after winning another, doubling its business within two years of automating.
“As soon as we implemented McKesson’s controlled medication dispensing solution, our business took off,” says Snow. “Word got out that we had new technology at our disposal and before long we had facilities calling us for our services.”
New revenue meant Roulston’s was able to hire additional pharmacists to take on new business, while relying on automation to handle dispensing and verifying so that they could spend more time with customers.
“Looking back, the biggest mistake I made in my career was not automating earlier,” says Snow. “It’s amazing technology and one of our best investments, increasing our capacity and freeing our time. It would be a catastrophic loss to our practice if we had to go without automation.”
Looking Ahead: Roulston’s Plans to Leverage Automation to Continually Evolve, Offers Advice to Others
Snow’s advice to other pharmacies considering automation is to ensure a sound business plan before investing in the technology, considering the capabilities the technology can provide and the business potential it offers, and planning appropriately for growth.
His own plans include leveraging automation to expand his business in community pharmacy services, for instance offering conveniently packaged medication and vitamins for children with chronic conditions like ADHD that require dosing while away from home. He’s also looking at introducing bar code medication administration to improve the safety of medication management in long term care facilities.
Additionally, Snow plans to take advantage of the capacity his McKesson solutions provide to centrally fill prescriptions for the four Roulston’s stores, eventually expanding and distributing to satellite pharmacies.
