How Centralized Fulfillment is Making Pharmacy More Efficient

iA provides centralized pharmacy fulfillment solutions for retail, health system, and government pharmacies, using semi and fully automated technology to help pharmacies streamline their workflows and put a greater focus on their business’ bottom line.

While large-chain retail pharmacies and supermarkets were the early adopters of the centralized pharmacy fulfillment model, there’s been significant growth lately as more independent pharmacies and health systems are discovering the benefits of using centralized fulfillment. These pharmacies are showing a concerted effort to reclaim reimbursement, alleviate workforce burnout, and ultimately improve their bottom line.

“We're now seeing growth in smaller retail independents, but also in the health system market. More and more there's staffing challenges out there of pharmacists being overburdened and also just reimbursement pressures overall. We're really seeing more interest beyond the bigger initial adopters [of central fulfillment] that we saw in the market,” said Tom Utech, PharmD, CEO of iA.

iA modular robotic systems and adaptable dispensing units are designed to seamlessly integrate with existing pharmacy workflows utilizing NEXiA Software Suite.

“Our software produces a lot of knowledge and insight for the customer to be able to optimize their systems. [We’re] really looking at historical patterns, and patterns that are seen today, both in dispense profiles and how they're staffing the site to be able to understand what's the optimum go-forward plan to meet the customer needs,” continued Utech.

To learn more about centralized fulfillment and how it’s impacting pharmacies today, listen to the full-length podcast version of our discussion with iA’s Tom Utech.