Insight - Fall 2020

Fall 2020 | 11 way up to the corporate office as operations manager during his decade tenure. He oversaw the transition frommanual prescription processing to computerizing the pharmacy. “Everything was done by hand when I started in the profession,” Gary said. “As operations manager, I was given the task of taking our pharmacies to the next level. I was involved in getting our first QS/1 system around 1990. I learned about QS/1 then. When the company was sold in 1994, I moved to Oxford and opened my own store.” After six years, Gary outgrew his original location and began the process of opening a new location in 2001. He started with the RxCare Plus ® platform, but now uses QS/1’s NRx Pharmacy Management System. He has tied in Point-of-Sale in addition to SystemOne to service the home medical equipment market around the Oxford area. The store recently celebrated 25 years of serving the community, outlasting the other community pharmacies and showing that attention to customer service and knowing the names of patients can make a difference in offering that personalized touch. When COVID-19 hit, Professional Pharmacy Oxford never missed a beat. “We never closed our doors, but we did have to think of ways to fill prescriptions for patients and maintain their safety, as well as our staff’s safety.” Gary said that prior to the pandemic, he limited delivery services to the town of Oxford. Now, the pharmacy has extended delivery to a 10-mile radius in the county. “A lot of patients took advantage of the expanded delivery,” Gary said. “But we still had a lot of our customer base who wanted to come into the store, so we had to adapt to make it safe. People are still going to need prescriptions and the services we provide.” Gary said they implemented a physical distancing strategy and installed plexiglass at the drop- off and consultation counters, as well as the Point-of-Sale checkout locations. He added there were a lot of solutions within NRx that helped him limit the foot traffic inside the pharmacy. “We discovered more patients were open to synchronizing their medications to reduce the number of times they had to come tanding: al Pharmacy Oxford here,” he said. “Through NRx, we use Health- Minder a lot. We use that to help manage our synchronization program. We have about 650 patients enrolled right now. A lot of them are also switching to 90-day supply fills.” Gary said he doesn’t spend as much time with customers as he would like. He lets his three pharmacists work with patients while he handles running the operation and looking for new ways to better serve patients. He told us QS/1 has always been an important component in his plan. “QS/1 has been a game changer – period,” Gary said. “I’ve been approached by other companies, but I haven’t found one that’s better than QS/1. We love all of the products and services that help us offer better service to the neighbors in our community. I just love QS/1.”