A common misperception held by long-term care pharmacists is that backup pharmacy is most frequently utilized outside of normal business hours, on weekends, or holidays.
In fact, across our book of business 67% of our backup pharmacy requests occur between 9 am and 9 pm, and more than 90% of requests occur between Monday through Friday!
While overnight, weekend, and holiday backup pharmacy services are important, our weekday services during normal business hours are most frequently utilized.
Backup pharmacy services are being used successfully by long-term pharmacies to support timely launches. When new orders are called into the pharmacy in the middle of launch preparation, it is often easier and more cost-effective to use backup pharmacy to support these fills.
Our data demonstrates that peak times for backup pharmacy utilization occur during launch preparation when in-house pharmacists are preparing existing orders for delivery.
Other common reasons for using backup pharmacy during daytime hours include:
- Support for first dose/first fills on new admissions
- Drug is out of stock in the pharmacy
- Drug is not available or out of stock in the facility’s e-kit
- STAT deliveries are more expensive than using a backup partner to fill and deliver
Regardless of the reason for use, it’s clear that backup pharmacy is more than just after-hours support.
So, there you have it. The first of the five biggest myths of backup pharmacy services has been debunked by the special Myth Busters team at Care Services. If you’d like more information about how we can help your pharmacy gain workday efficiencies, contact us.
Have a myth you want to add to our list or have us review? Send us your ideas at info@careservicesllc.com. Until then, stay tuned for our next installment of Myth Busters.
