BOSTON — In a “State of the Industry” speech, Dave Bernauer, former Walgreens chairman and current board chairman of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Alexandria, Va., said new technologies will save pharmacists hours that can better be spent with customers. Bernauer spoke during the association’s Pharmacy & Technology Conference here this week. Among the technologies he referenced were radio frequency identification, electronic prescriptions and electronic medical records, as well as the need to better control counterfeit medications through drug pedigree laws. “Technology, if done correctly, will make it possible for pharmacists to play a far more significant role in health care than is possible today,” he said. Standards need to be set for RFID, he noted. “We can take hundreds of millions of dollars out of the pipeline by fully exploiting the potential of RFID in the pharmacy supply chain.” E-scripts have the potential to generate more business — 11% more prescriptions find their way to pharmacies when filed electronically — and increase accuracy, but first pharmacies must make sure all pharmacy staff members are well trained. “Once someone has tried something new and it doesn’t work, there is hell to pay to get them to try it again,” he said. The greatest opportunity for pharmacy lies in electronic patient records. “Electronic medical records have the potential to give pharmacists, doctors and payers clear visibility into adherence.”
Read More of Today's Headlines
