At Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Using Practice Strategies to Combat the Manpower Shortage

Abstract

of bar codes, central fill, and in-store automation—can greatly increase productivity. A typical pharmacist fills fewer than 25,000 prescriptions annually if it is assumed that he or she fills 100 prescriptions daily in a 50-week work year. Using the technology at KP Colorado’s Pharmacy Automated Refill Center (PARC), a pharmacist dispenses more than four times this number each year. More than 40% of KP Colorado’s total prescription volume is filled centrally at PARC, allowing pharmacists at decentralized clinic pharmacies to concentrate on patient-focused activities such as counseling. Use of the Internet for ordering refills and the expansion of computerized physician order entry are other technologic advances that are having a positive effect on productivity at KP Colorado while simultaneously increasing patient safety. The number of prescriptions filled annually in the United States has been increasing for several years. Prescription coverage by third party payers expanded tremendously in the 1990s, and along with this surfaced the societal expectation for value-added pharmacy services. Thus, measuring productivity by looking solely at the number of prescriptions filled no longer suffices. Workflow design should enable more productive cooperation between pharmacists and pharmacy technicians so that pharmacists can focus their energy on patient care while pharmacy technicians complete the more routine and technical duties.