Essay on Pharmacy service improvement at CVS

Customer Value Store (CVS) is one of the largest retail drugstores in the United States. CVS has over 4,000 stores and generated revenue of 24.2 billion dollars in 2002. CVS grew at the same rate as other major pharmacy chains, but continued to lose millions of customers due to service issues. These problems led to the implementation of the Pharmacy Service Initiative (PSI). In observations of various stores, as well as interviews with employees, 67 major problems were identified. The steps in the service process include drop-off, data entry, production (prescription fulfillment), quality assurance, waiting for pickup, and

3. Medication errors, handoff process and information quality. Chiru, Alina M; Baxter, Ryan. Business Process Management Journal 19.2, (2003): 2011-2016

The stage 1 of the meaningful use includes thirteen core criteria and ten menu set objectives. The first core criteria is the computerized provider order entry (CPOE). CPOE entails the provider’s use of computer assistance to directly enter medication orders from a computer or mobile device. The use of CPOE and the electronic prescription process is a technology that has been found to be helpful in preventing medication prescribing errors in several ways (Mominah & Househ, 2013). Having an accurate electronic patient medication profile will help prescribers and pharmacists review the medication history easily and consequently alert the pharmacist to communicate with the prescriber in case any unexplained change in the prescribed medication to the patient and then conforming the change with the prescriber. Applying CPOE technology reduces medication errors.

CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems generated by exceptions. The company must now decide how to change this process, and what information system changes to make in support of the redesigned process.

The nurse must verify the physician’s medication order, including the dose and time, and then the pharmacy is responsible for their own checks and balances via the BCMA system in order to complete the dispensing phase of the medication (Gooder, 2011). The nurse enters the BCMA system with a login and password and is able then to see a list of the virtual due list for a specific patient. The computer on wheels is then taken to that patient’s room and the five rights of medication administration begin. As nurses, we are taught to use the five rights of drug administration are (1) right patient (2) right medication (3) right dose (4) right route and (5) right time. By scanning the barcode on the patient’s hospital identification band, the nurse then asks for the patient to verbally state their name and date of birth, which can be verified by the nurse on the virtual due list and then choses the medication that are due for administration at that time. The medication is dispensed and the nurse is able to scan the barcode on the medication, the scanning triggers the automatic documentation of the medication given (Kelly, 2012).

The initial intent of this analysis was to identify changes in accounting methods within the financial statements of Walgreens and CVS, as well as to compare and contrast their financial statements, in order to draw conclusions about which company had better earnings. However, in the process of this analysis, with the exception of a minor change to lease accounting by Walgreens, there were no major changes in accounting methods identified. In examining the financial statements for these two drugstore industry leaders, the analysis shows that while each company conducts retail drugstore operations in similar ways, their business models for carrying out these operations greatly vary. These variances in business model

Encourage the use of computer-generated or electronic medication administration records. Plan for the implementation of computerized prescriber order entry systems. Consider the use of machine-readable code (i.e., bar coding) in the medication administration process. Use computerized drug profiling in the pharmacy. Be a demanding customer of pharmacy system software; encourage vendors to incorporate and assist in implementing an adequate standardized set of checks into computerized hospital pharmacy systems (e.g., screening for duplicate drug therapies, patient allergies, potential drug interactions, drug/lab interactions, dose ranges, etc.)”. (Association,

There are four important steps at Walgreens to ensure the prescriptions are dispensed accurately and safely. The four steps has its own buttons on the computer screen system and allows for the pharmacists and the technicians to see at what step the patients’ medications are. The first step is the Rx entry. All prescriptions in the Rx entry can be found by pressing the F1 key. This step is where all the prescriptions and E-scripts go in. All the patients’ information, insurance, and prescription information is entered into the system. All the refills, new scripts, and even insurances rejections are handled at this step. Once the prescriptions went through, any hardcopy prescriptions will be scanned onto the computer and will move on to the next step.

CVS/Pharmacy- CVS/Pharmacy began operations in 1963, and added the pharmacy department in 1967. In 2007, CVS merged with Caremark Rx, Inc. Finally, in 2008, CVS bought the Longs Drug Store chain. CVS has over 7000

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, there are a few things that says Brooklyn. Heading to the park for a game of basketball with the kids in the summer, running through the sprinklers at the park, visiting the Brooklyn's Children Museum and even going for a ride on the Cyclone at Coney Island. However, when it comes to getting the necessities we need when we're not feeling well, one pharmacy has always stood out and that's been CVS. There seemed to be a CVS pharmacy within walking distance of wherever you are, which made me believe that their acronym truly did stand for Convenience, Value & Service. We however moved to the beautiful state of Colorado four years ago and the one thing that stood out to me here was that there was NO CVS to be found, so I was pretty excited when I got the news that CVS was finally making it's way to the Western US and Colorado was included on

CVS Pharmacy is the retail division of CVS Caremark. It is also one of the largest Pharmacy Retail Chains in the country and operates more than 7,400 stores domestically. Although the retail pharmaceutical division of this corporation accounts for a significant amount of this company’s success, CVS Caremark focuses more on its corporate strategy to compete with other industry rivals such as Walgreens and Rite Aid. Considering CVS Caremark is the result of the 2007 merger of CVS and Caremark Rx, this analysis will begin with a brief history and the merger of these corporations, its current performance, strategic posture, and the strategic managers of this organization.

I came up with several standard procedures to answer the question at hand. These involved clustering stores based on demographic profiles and testing for a statistically significant difference in performance of stores that had pharmacy versus those that did not. My supervisor was happy with the roaadmap and I commenced the analysis. However, during the course of assignment,

The threat of Amazon giant entering the pharmaceutical distribution business can be perceived as an opportunity to dethrone McKesson as the leader in this industry. However, the evidence presented in this proposal will show that McKesson can through an effective business plan and advanced technology, launch ground breaking software that will enhance the processes currently being used.

Thus when patient arrives and ask for medication, technician will retrieve by patients last name. Technician confirms patient’s address before handing medication to patient. By confirming address, technician makes sure that they are giving right medication to right patient and reduces the error of handing medication to wrong patient having same names. While handing medication pharmacist counsel patient on their medication and answer all their concerns and questions. Patient has direct access to the pharmacist, as pharmacist is not hidden behind the counter while counseling. Patients are more satisfied with the service provided as they can directly and free talk to

At Pharmatec, one aspect of the lack of supply chain transparency is the distorted picture of the inventories in the network. This limits stock visibility and makes it impossible to accurately recall or trace products as they reach their final destination. In addition, problems related to products are due to the product information as it goes through the network.