hOW AUTOMATION HELPS WITH THEFT PREVENTION

If there is one thing we can recommend that you could do to really enhance your pharmacy business, we would say to begin automating parts of your pharmacy. Pharmacy automation is turning the pharmaceutical industry upside down – in the best way. Since the start of modern automation, production speeds have increased by up to fifteen times, accuracy in prescription filling is unparalleled, and pharmacies have seen a significant decrease in labour costs. But it can do more than protect your bottom line or ensure the smallest possible margin of human error. One particular, yet not widely known, added benefit of pharmacy automation is theft prevention. This blog will go into greater detail on how automation helps with theft prevention and the benefits of incorporating automation into your pharmacy. 

Facts About Theft in Pharmacies

2021 saw a rise in pharmacy robberies and brazen theft across the United States and Canada. The EPS estimates that almost 40 robberies have occurred across Alberta alone – 2019 recorded a mere 8. This year in New York City, a spate of break ins at 6 separate pharmacies (amongst other locations) resulted in over $70,000 in losses. No matter where you are, the threat of theft is real, and should be treated seriously.

According to DEA statistics:

• In the United States, nearly $25 billion is lost to drug theft every year. 
• Some independent pharmacies carry over $4 billion in inventory at all times (which often makes pharmacies a high profile target for theft).
• Pharmacy errors that result in medication errors cost pharmacies over $4 billion every year.
• In the United States, over 7,000 Americans die every year due to improper drug dispensing or errors with drug dispensing. 
• Drugs or other narcotics in the wrong hands can be very dangerous.
• Pharmacies with a secured system for their drugs experience less incidences of theft. 

The figures stated in the pharmacy facts above are so large it can be hard to fathom. We are talking billions and billions of dollars. That’s why advanced theft prevention is absolutely essential for pharmacies all over the world. The good news is that the automation systems at Synergy Medical take theft prevention to the next level. Protecting valuable pharmacy assets, such as clients and inventory, is important to us.

Automation Helps Prevent Medical Identity Theft

Medical identity theft is a crime and it is a form of theft that happens often but it isn’t highly publicized in the industry. While it is the job of pharmacists to help protect the identity of their patients, pharmacists can’t always prevent the medical identity theft from happening–especially if they were unable to detect it at the time it was occuring. Pharmacy automation helps prevent medical identity theft by adding an extra layer of security that serves as a technological safeguard for clients and their medical information. The medical and personal data of your patients are more safe and secure in one of our encrypted pharmacy automation systems than it is on pen and paper or in any other pharmacy software.

Our automation systems operate by requiring proper pharmacist and patient authentication in order to dispense any medication. Additionally, patient information is fully secure through our software and is practically inaccessible to those looking to steal the identity of patients. 

Automation Helps Prevent Physical Theft in Pharmacies

Obviously, the threat of inventory loss is of great concern. With a SynMed automation system, access is restricted to authorized pharmacy personnel and our technology require multiple levels of authentication to even access the functions of the system. The chances of getting into our state-of-the-art SynMed pharmacy automation systems without authorized personnel are slim. To put it simply, someone cannot just walk by and swipe a bottle or a couple pills off the pharmacy counter. 

In addition to not being able to access our automation systems, those looking to steal drugs from the pharmacy won’t physically be able to lift our SynMed systems out of the pharmacy. If you’ve been beside one, you’d understand the daunting scale of our technology; if you saw it installed, you’d know it was meant to stay in place, until the owner makes the conscious decision to relocate it.

The other kind of physical theft in pharmacies is internal theft. Filling prescriptions by hand leaves a lot of room for error… and, on some occasions, theft. The way automation helps prevent internal theft is by accurately measuring out the number of pills that need to be dispensed and keeping an immaculate log of the history of medications that have been filled by the system. Not a single pill will go unnoticed during the filling process. On top of that, inventory in the automation systems are updated in real-time as prescriptions are filled and detailed reports will tell you precisely which prescriptions were filled by whom. If there is ever a question about a prescription, all of the information you need can be provided to you in the report that our system will generate. 

Get a State-of-the-Art Pharmacy Automation System at Synergy Medical

The speed at which the automation industry is progressing means the sooner you invest in a SynMed system for your pharmacy, the more adaptable you’ll be in the years ahead. While we are currently sold out of our revolutionary SynMed ULTRA, contacting our team now to secure your purchase will guarantee you a system in the new year. The benefits that pharmacy automation can offer your pharmacy business are measurable both in terms of your financial stability and for your peace of mind. 

Our automation systems are the gifts that keep on giving back. Additional pharmacy automation benefits include: helping to prevent theft, increasing patient adherence and safety, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of prescription filling, increasing profits for the pharmacy business, and providing our pharmacy clients with the peace of mind they deserve to have while at work. We, at Synergy Medical, are known for being the total adherence solution for pharmacies around the world for good reasons.