Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/365680
C h a i n D ru g s to re D a i l y 3 9 S u n d a y, Au g u s t 2 4 , 2 0 1 4 MARKETOUCH MEDIA ENHANCES RXTOUCH OPTIMUM MEDSYNC Medication synchronization has become a vital part of pharmacy operations in recent years. Many chains have institut- ed a medication synchronization solution to assist in driving patient adherence and to differentiate their services to patients and PBMs. Studies show that synchro- nizing multiple chronic medications to a single refill date increases patient adher- ence, health outcomes and pharmacy profit. Overall, this contributes to driving down total healthcare costs. Medication synchronization drives adherence by providing patients with all their medication during one visit to the pharmacy, which eliminates the likeli- hood of a drug getting forgotten. RxTouch Optimum MedSync works by evaluating each patient's profile and selecting the patients that are most likely to benefit from synchronization. Multiple factors are taken into consideration, including clients' operational goals, patient needs and disease states. Optimum MedSync is a service that offers clients a clear advantage when it comes to aligning their patients refill dates and increasing patient adherence. The solution provides data mining tools to assist subscribing pharmacies in meet- ing or even exceeding quality metrics. Enhancing a pharmacy's performance within the CMS Quality ratings may drive higher reimbursements under the pay for performance models. Furthermore, the solution is fully cus- tomizable to each client's specific needs to ensure that client goals are met. MarkeTouch realizes that while all pharmacies have similar goals with regards to patient adherence, each client manages the process differently. Rather than providing a cookie- cutter technology plat- form, MarkeTouch Media works with its clients to align the solu- tion to their clinical and operational goals. The RxTouch sync engine is flexi- ble enough to allow clients to determine criteria for patient eligibility and pro- vides multiple total solution options that seamlessly incorporate with current workflow. The solution's automated and customizable processes are designed to optimize patient satisfaction, patient results and client operations. Optimum MedSync provides com- munication tools to facilitate direct patient interaction, as well as document and drive clinical outcomes of various patient populations. According to NCPA, high touch communication "is the single strongest predictor of individual medica- tion adherence" (2013 Adherence Report Card). Studies show that direct pharmacy staff interaction is key to assisting patients take their medication correctly and where the length of therapy directly influences patient's clinical outcomes. [ASHP Midyear Clinical Presentation, December 4, 2011, "Partnership for Patients: A Collaboration to Improve Safety and Care Transitions"] MarkeTouch Media has bridged the patient care gap by providing a customiz- able and proactive high touch approach that facilitates automated and live interac- tions. The solution can easily be utilized at stores, corporate offices or by a call center. MarkeTouch's multifaceted approach is simple for pharmacy staff to use, seamless to the patient, and provides meaningful and functional reporting to the chain. Optimum MedSync brings an integrated clinical solution to the retail marketplace that allows clients to demon- strate results in a meaningful manner. For more information, visit MarkeTouch Media at booth 307 or online at www.rxtouch.com. Resource Planning system by Systems, Applications & Products (SAP) driven Advance Shipping Notice's.(ASN). Automation provided by Radio Frequency (RF) technology affects the logistics of processing shipments in a timely manner by measuring the effi- ciency of warehouse personnel. Advantages are: RF Guns maximize warehouse performance. They reduce human error/miss-shipments by vali- dating items/batches via bar code reads; SAP integrates external IT sys- tems of transportation partners by col- lecting data that tracks shipments and identifies freight payments; SAP initi- ates customer invoicing process; SAP performs time consuming transactions in the background, i.e. creating/con- firming Transfer Orders, and shipment confirmation/post good issue; SAP notifies customer through ASN of shipments in order to plan receipt of goods; SAP provides data storage enabling trend analysis and other key metric evaluation capabilities. CDD: How far do you go with automa- tion? BW: As far as automation will allow without negatively affecting the cus- tomer. Example: 99 percent of our PO's are generated using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), elimi- nating the need for data entry. Multiple finance programs are in place, remov- ing the manual clearing of thousands of chargeback lines/month bringing service times to all-time-lows. The return process is interfaced with our third party reverse logistics providers bringing thousands of data lines direct- ly into SAP for processing. Within the warehouse, the SAP Warehouse Management Module automatically allows materials to be placed in the designated locations. In addition, SAP can customize specific storage/distrib- ution needs such as cross docking and Ranbaxy ( Cont'd. from p. 1) key product slotting which streamlines the picking/packing process based on specific business needs. But automation isn't just about 'how can I make this process happen automatically.' It's about giving cus- tomers tools to have their questions answered in the quickest, most effi- cient way possible. Our Automatic Customer Tracking (ACT) site is a good example of such a tool. It gives the customer PO information at their fingertips. Through this site they are able to view order status and obtain shipping/tracking information with a click of a button. Automation helps manage day to day activities more efficiently, freeing up valuable labor for analyzing the business, evaluating trends and anticipating the needs of our customers. Early planning translates into having a more prepared supply chain to exceed customer expec- tations. CDD: How critical is inventory manage- ment in the generic space? BW: With relatively low profit margins on generics, it is even more critical to manage inventories tightly and efficient- ly. Diligence in forecasting is a great starting place. Growing challenges posed in managing inventory are: Demand Variability: Growing com- petition, pricing pressures and consolida- tion of buyers by forming group purchas- ing organizations resulting in higher demand variability. Supply Variability: Increased over- sight by regulatory agencies and chal- lenges posed through international logis- tics contribute greatly to higher supply chain variability. Lead Times: Outsourcing of manu- facturing activities results in supply chain pipelines getting longer which increases lead times across the board. Visit Ranbaxy at booth 2316. For more information, call 888-RANBAXY or go to www.ranbaxy.com.