Pharmacy Inventory is an ongoing expense that accounts for the most important investment that many pharmacies make. This is why it is necessary to manage it properly and maximize profitability. Community pharmacists need to focus on certain factors that enable them to handle their inventory optimally.

Being aware of what it takes to streamline inventory management practices can help you run a pharmacy that is more financially secure, effective, and controllable while prioritizing your customers’ needs. The success of any pharmacy depends on its inventory and regardless of what the type; location of the size of your business may be a pharmacy will find it difficult to realize its potential when it is constantly dealing with multiple generics and backorders.

Although managing inventory may not appear to be a major concern, the reality is that retail pharmacy inventory management is essential for a sustainable organization, enhancing customer experiences and saving money.

Some pharmacies are reluctant when it comes to improving how they manage their inventory. When they already have methods in place to regulate their pharmacy inventory that they are comfortable with, it can be challenging to convince such businesses to revamp their systems which can include scanning all inbound pharmacy shipments and scanning prescription out of the inventory.

Although various retail pharmacy inventory management systems can gain from taking the bold step to completely change their approach, some considerations might not be practical choices for your business. Fortunately, there are some fairly easy improvements that you can implement to achieve better inventory management.

1. Maintaining Pharmacy Inventory Accuracy

Accuracy is a vital aspect of pharmacy inventory management. Like other sectors in the business world, healthcare depends on delivering the right products on time. This cannot be accomplished if supplies and stocks are not well maintained. Making sure that inventory is accurate involves using available software programs to automate the procedures of handling and moving products.

Utilizing technology in a strategic way helps to boost accuracy significantly and overcome the challenges of systems that are paper-based, manual and conventional. The most effective approach is to support traditional inventory checks with a computerized system that is tracked by a particular employee.

2. Stocking Strategically

Being aware of what your customers –Local Doctors and Patient demographics-  require from you lets you determine how to fulfill their needs while ensuring that you provide enough without being excessive. This is achieved through strategic stocking that combines aspects of value-driven purchases, timely orders and rotating stocks.

A surplus supply of products means that you are investing in a lot of products that are not profitable. This is a big risk when you are in the early stages of setting up your pharmacy and you are aware that you need items but are not sure about how fast or how much will move.

Rather than creating a huge stock, it is advisable to make smaller orders on a regular basis in order for you to stabilize your stock as time goes on. In addition, think about the products that you can rely on to bring in revenue and stock these in large amounts while the other type of stock should be ordered rarely.

3. Working with other Pharmacies

Even when you try your best to stay ahead, there may be products that are wasting away on your shelves and filling up valuable space where other profitable items should be. Think about carrying out stock checks every week to find medications that are about to expire or cannot be returned or sold as you can resell certain items to other pharmacies. Most pharmacies are members of local WhatsApp or FB groups to post unwanted or inventory “mistake”.  However, the online classifieds site www.whitecoatexchange.com allows pharmacies to post items “in real-time” allowing pharmacies to revisit posts and contact other pharmacies directly when the time comes and the inventory product is needed. You can also increase the space at your store by looking for slow-moving products that would do better in other stores and posting these items online is a quite agreeable idea.

4. Knowing what Pharmacy Patients and Clients need

All pharmacies need to prioritize their customers’ needs. This requires effective communication between local doctors and pharmacies to make sure they have the right type and amount of items throughout.

The supply chain within the pharmaceutical industry can be complicated and susceptible to challenges. There is hardly any room for error considering the low number of manufacturers and the stringent rules that regulate the sector. This is why it is necessary to keep track of customers’ needs and stocks on an ongoing basis.

Although suppliers may not have the ability to control what goes on around the world in regards to regulations pertaining to pharmaceutical regulations, you still need to be adequately prepared in order to serve your customers as efficiently as possible. When you keep customer demands in mind, it is easier to determine the most important products that should be in stock and keep up with their needs.

Smaller pharmacies can easily connect with their customers and get more insight into the drugs that are being sold while boosting profitability. Observe the OTC medications and prescriptions that move fast and those that do not. Collecting information about products that stay on the shelves or are ordered frequently requires commitment and patience but it is a worthwhile step towards preparing for the future and preventing overstocking.

5. Handling the Pharmacy “OutBox” drawers

The “OutBox” drawers is among the areas that cause pharmacies to make substantial losses. Customers place orders and do not pick up their prescriptions for weeks and days. In instances where they do not collect their orders at all, you may end up dealing with products that have expired yet you could have sold them a long time ago.

One of the pharmacy inventory management best practices is to manage your outbox by communicating with customers and ensuring that they know their prescriptions are ready and confirm when they will pick them up.

All pharmacies have some type of workflow that determines how they run their store. It is essential to be able to locate products whenever necessary and keep track of every prescription that is filled.

6. Avoiding Pharmacy Product Expiries

Regulating the supply of inventory helps to reduce the risk of being stuck with expired products. If you cannot return or sell these products, this essentially means you will have wasted funds, which is why it is crucial to monitor inventory and know the items that are not moving. Some manufacturers have a provision for issuing some credit in situations where expired products are being returned but others do not facilitate this.

Depending on what the distributor’s return policy is, you may be able to send back the products before their value diminishes and reduce losses. A designated employee can monitor items that are about to expire and make sure that this important task is included in daily activities. It is important to note that products that expire within a short period of time are stored in the refrigerator, which is an important factor to keep in mind when scanning the shelves.  However, unreturnable items will need to find a new home if you feel the items will never see another prescription for a long time. Find another pharmacy willing to buy your inventory becomes the only plausible alternative.

7. Pharmacy Inventory Risk Management

It is always a good idea to minimize costly items by coordinating repeat prescriptions with patients and working with distributors who deliver drugs the same or next day. Stocking an expensive product would not make economic sense. Working closely with physicians, patients and distributors provide an effective way to lower your costs.

Opening a costly item for a certain patient who does not collect it can leave you stranded with the expenses incurred. Although expensive medications have the biggest effect when considered individually, ending up in the outbox instead of being picked up by the customer can have far-reaching financial implications.

8. Keeping Track of the Pharmacy Inventory System

Pharmacy inventory systems are usually automated, which means businesses can place orders for the items they sell automatically and make sure that they have a consistent supply. This is a good way to minimize the time that is used to manage stock on a daily basis but regular changes and updates are still important. For example, various items are no longer trendy depending on what customers want at the moment and the demand for brand-name products tends to go down when generics are accessible. Knowing when a brand name drug will become genericized is also a valuable piece of business intelligence, allowing you to work that stock down before a formulary bumps it off the reimbursement list.

Making comparisons between ongoing demand and stock levels is useful for making sure that you have a sufficient supply of things that are currently required and do not end up being stranded with items that are not in high demand anymore.

Conclusion

You may feel that your pharmacy’s approach to inventory management is ideal or you might be considering some changes. Regardless of your circumstances, there are different ways you can enhance your inventory management and be in a better position to serve your customers’ needs as well as the financial requirements of your business. When you are stuck with stock, however, efficiently finding another pharmacy buyer may be the soundest way.