Pharmacy Computer Systems

[laura_mideon]

I was just wondering if there's a big difference in the computer systems that are used from chain to chain. And if you are trained on one, are you pretty much okay to use the other ones, or are they all completely different? I was just wondering because I am going to start volunteering in a pharmacy this week and was just wondering if knowing their computer system will help me out at all in other pharmacies in the future....just curious 🙂

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[off2skl]

I think they are different from chain to chain. For example, Walgreens has a system that is all linked with one another. A patient can go to any Walgreens and they can somehow access all of that person's information. Osco, however, does not yet have this in place. Each individual store has to reenter data for each patient (except if they are transferring a script from one Osco to another; don't ask me why we can transfer a patient's profile when we transfer a script, but cannot access it otherwise). Don't know about other stores.

 

[neonam11]

Well, this is my first time working as an intern at Walgreens. I never used another competitor's computer system, but from my experience I gotta say that Walgreen's is pretty darn good. Its system is linked by satellite which means that you can access a patient's record anywhere in the nation, provided that you know their last name or birthdate and their telephone area code. One of the drawback is that sometimes we loose connection which means we can't bill insurance companies.

So yeah, you can live in Texas, take a vacation in California, then you discovering you forgot to pick up some diabetes meds from the local Wags, have it backed out at that home store, and pick it up at a Walgreens in San Diego. Technically you can even pick up your CIII's and below (not sure about CII's) from anyone of the Walgreen stores, though I'm not sure how many pharmacists are comfortable doing that. The computer system also allows us to fax prescribers, electronically bill insurance companies, file TARs, check our sister stores to see if they have the meds we don't have, keep a running inventory of our supplies , among other time-saving tasks I forget at the moment.

Yeah, Walgreens likes to brag that one of the reasons pharmacists come to Walgreens is because of their computer system, which they spend a huge chunk of change to improve and update.

I'm not sure how much computer access you will have as a volunteer since HIPPA came into effect. If you get a chance, perhaps they will allow you to see the software used to enter patient information and prescription records and the different data fields used. Good luck.

 

[laura_mideon]

Its system is linked by satellite which means that you can access a patient's record anywhere in the nation, provided that you know their last name or birthdate and their telephone area code.

That's awesome, I don't know how the one I'm going to be working with works, this will be my first time using any system. It's called Zadol or Sadol I think.

I'm not sure how much computer access you will have as a volunteer since HIPPA came into effect. If you get a chance, perhaps they will allow you to see the software used to enter patient information and prescription records and the different data fields used.

Well I don't know if HIPPA is something we have in Canada or not, but the reason I even started this thread is because the pharmacist that hired me told me like 10 times what the system is called and asked if I've used it before and said I will get used to it easily if I've had computer experience. So it's sounds like I'm going to be using it quite a bit....I don't know.

Do you have Shoppers Drug Mart in the states?

 

[baggywrinkle]

All computer systems are not created equal.

Trust me on that.

Walgreen's Intercom Plus is an awesome system. Only the federal government
spends more money on computer technology.

Most of the systems out there are stand alones specific for the pharmacy they serve. Safeway's TDS is an example.

Rite Aid's old RADS system also links all the stores in the chain together, but the system is horrendous. They are rolling out a new system, called NextGen, where they have obviously studied the strengths of Intercom Plus and gone one step further. NextGen scans the hard copy into the system and makes it available for the sister stores. No more filing! The scanned image of the orignal prescription is always available.

Perhaps Raindrop can talk about the CVS system. Are there any Eckerds employees out there? How about Longs?

 

[jdpharmd?]

Most of the systems out there are stand alones specific for the pharmacy they serve. Safeway's TDS is an example.

Safeway in AZ uses a PDX system. I don't like it, but it gets the job done for 90 scripts/day. I was VERY fast with RADS, but it was horrible, green, monochrome.

 

[baggywrinkle]

Safeway in AZ uses a PDX system. I don't like it, but it gets the job done for 90 scripts/day. I was VERY fast with RADS, but it was horrible, green, monochrome.

I did some floating for Safeway in Colorado and liked their system. As extra hands and feet I was reasonably functional in just a few days. Correction, it was their La Junta store that had TDS, Trinidad had an older system that I never had to touch (thank God and thank the Tech)

Rads is a simple system with many critical flaws. Inability to window is the largest. Halfway through a script you get a price quote. You either run to another terminal, tell the phone call to cool their jets, or lose your work.
The difference between Intercom and Rads boils down to time and money.
350 prescriptions on Intercom feels like 150 on Rads. The difference is that great. If you were fast on RADS you would scream on Intercom.

One of the best features of Intercom was it's parsing ability on SIG entry.
Sure you can remember SIG codes if you want to, and you will as you grow
into the system. With Intercom you could type like a street person - take one tablet four times daily, or like a pharmacist thinks - Take 1 tablet QID, or like the senior tech that screams - + QID, and the system was smart enough to give you the same directions on the finished label with all three entries.
The abreviation for TAKE - tk would be modified appropriately for the given prescription. For example, in a pedi script you would get GIVE JOHNNY.

I don't think NEXTGEN is quite that smart. From what I have heard they are still relegated to SIG codes. Perhaps that is a corperate culture thing. All the old timers have grown up with SIG codes and you know how cranky pharmacists get when you rearrange their pharmacy! 🙂

 

[bananaface]

In the end, all computer systems let you do the same thing. Some just have cool whistles and bells. Oh, how I love whistles and bells!

I worked for Wal-Mart before Wags and Intercom Plus reminded me of a dinosaur. I think when WM's Connexus system gets all the features inlaid it will be one of the top of the heap systems. At the time I was there their partial fill function was not enabled, and a few other things needed polishing. But, I would have to say that even as it stood, it was much more user friendly and efficient that Intercom Plus. The one thing it is lacking (or was at the time) is the ability to look up fill history and RX numbers at other stores. You can search for prescribers in their database. Like NextGEN, you also scan in RXs then go paperless. And, the sig codes are "smart". The troubleshoot feature is absolutely awesome. You can suspend RX's until insurance will pay, fax and re-fax MDs on refills electronically, leave a note that you are faxing for PA, etc. You click on the troubleshoot button and you can see all the problem RXs, what is wrong with them, and when they are going to be placed back in the regular que for a retry. Another nice thing is that it does waiters 1st come, 1st serve, followed by dr calls, and then refills. If someone comes in before something is done you just update their status and they get put into line accordingly. If there is an emergency, you can put that RX in front by marking it as such. A pharmacist checks the RX for transcribing accuracy before it is filled. After it is filled they do a visual verification using images from a database. I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting. The paperless aspect, the troubleshooting, the status tracking, and the workflow auto-sorting are the best features.

I'm not sure what TDS is. (That Damn System?) Safeway and Target in our area use PDX, as does my chain. PDX is a stand alone, but it does allow store transfers within the chain. You can get a transferring doc's info off the transfer screen. But, you can't search a systemwide database for docs on new RXs from out of area or look up fill history or RX numbers at other stores. I always wondered how people felt about their insurance ID and Rx history being available to anyone working for a chain nationwide. I don't think they realize how easily their privacy can be violated.

You could call Longs here and ask, baggy, but they got bought out by WAGs! They sell out so easily to anyone. Sheesh. WAGs and Rite Aid are both using the buyout strategy in this area. Rite-Aid just bought out Hi-School's WA stores. And, I heard they bought a bunch of indies up north. It is safer than opening a new store, I guess. It seems to be the post-market saturation strategy. I would not doubt that the trend will grow from here.

 

[dontworry]

I currently work in a rite aid with nexgen. Its pretty good 🙂 I didnt work with RADS really, but that seemed not user friendly and hard to navigate. Nexgen is pretty easy to use, you can do different tasks at the same time, you can use already established sig codes or just type the instructions in. It takes longer to fill with this, but the information is so much easier to access. You can see all the previous prescriptions they had filled and when, i like the fact that you have to scan the stock bottle to verify it is correct, you can just scan the labels to fill the prescription. Its a huge improvement over RADS, though it still has some bugs i really like working on it.

 

[baggywrinkle]

Regarding TDX, perhaps I'm having an old person moment and confusing the name with a hospital system I used in Texas. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! The Safeway system I used in La Junta was very useful back in 1997 for a stand alone. It comfortably handled 300 prescriptions a day with only one person doing order entry and an army counting and pouring.

Another nice feature of WAGS system is the addition of the national DEA physician database. RADS is a national system linked by satellite, but all the physicians are entered by the pharmacies. You have no problem finding a
doc in Trenton, New Jersey but you are out of luck if you need the name of a physician in Lubbock Texas where there are no Rite Aids. When I was floating for WAGS we would get phone calls from pharmacists across the street at Winn Dixie or Publix wanting doc info on some guy from outside the local region.

Privacy is an issue with the satellite systems. We entertained ourselves
on some slow days looking up movie stars using birthdays from an almanac.
When Noel Bush (GW's niece) got busted in Tallahassee for passing a forged script and thrown into rehab she was fair game for slack time gossip. Post HIPPA the search capability has been crippled. You can no longer search centrally using first name and birthdate. That was how we found Winona Ryder aka Horowitz in both Beverly Hills and SFO under multiple profiles.

Did WAGS buy out the entire chain, the stores in Washington State, or the stores Longs wanted to unload? I would be sad if they have thrown in the towel entirely. I always heard good things about Longs Drugs as a company to work for. The Longs in Olympia closed and the WAGS across the street bought their files doubling their volume overnight to over 400. None of the Longs staff chose to join WAGS so the pharmacy staff is getting slaughtered.
They got no hard copies and the computer file merge was a nightmare. No drug associated with the prescription, just an NDC number. Even if they did buy the entire chain WAGS is no longer #1. Not since CVS gobbled Eckerds up. I predict that will turn into another Rite Aid/Thrifty Payless fiasco. You saw it here first.

 

[GravyRPH]

Longs is still in business here...barely. Though I hear they are ripe for the plucking. Longs used to be a good store to work for, but they have long lost their luster. Their high volume, cut costs attitude has produced a mass exodus by techs and pharmacists alike. The only remaining pharmacists are the long term, loyalty driven, die hards or unaware new grads (who don't last long).

By the way, Longs is apostrophe-less because when the miserly Mr. Long bought his first big light up sign, he could save some money by dropping it. Thus, you won't find a gramatically correct sign in existence. How's that for some useless trivia for the day?

 

[meister]

Albertsons/Osco/Savon uses Adsrx, which is pretty outdated, from the sounds of things. Like off2skl said, only on intra-store transfers can we transfer patient info online. Sometimes I cheat and act like I'm going to transfer something to get patient insurance info without calling the other store, but one time I accidently did transfer the prescription...heh.

Walgreens' system sounds pretty cool, but what about how they delete stuff from their records? There have been two times in the past couple months where I've wanted to check a hardcopy for some information that was originally a transfer from Walgreens, and they said that they delete it and it's no longer in their system. Am I not understanding things or do they really delete transfer records? I think it may have been new ones we were transferring.

Oh, I forgot to mention how the corporates use promises of a new computer system to keep us from leaving the store. I hate those bastards

 

[bananaface]

WAGs just bought out the Olympia store. But other Longs stores have sold out in the past to other chains. It worked out fine for my store. We are transferring a ton of people from WAGs.