Problem Analysis

 Problem Analysis

Some of the issues identified from the procurement process is that even though the pharmacist executes a batch control by ordering the amount needed based on the customer’s prescription, there is sometimes leftover stock from excess ordering that eventually lead to expired medications that eventually need to be disposed of and to prevent that, our recommendation was to execute a batch control for all inventory to prevent the company from losing potential profit, lower high inventory costs, and for the company to earn back in value. For example, if Metformin Hydrochloride 1000mg is out of stock, the pharmacist orders a batch of 6 or 7, even though there was no patient prescription for this medicine at the time to refill the items out of stock. Even though the expiry for new medications have a longer period, usually 1 to 4 years, eventually over time the items will expire and some of items bought in the past eventually expire quickly as well. Moreover, one bottle of Metformin Hydrochloride 1000mg contains 1000 pills and the entire stock may not always be fully used depending on the time and changes in the needs of the patients. Some patients may need Metformin Hydrochloride 1000mg, however, there are 1000 pills in a bottle, one patient will only need a certain amount of pills, (30, 60, 90, 180, 270, or 360). Depending on the week and the changes in customer needs, many patients may not be needing this medicine at the time depending on his or her present situation and the pharmacy can have many patients need another medication more than others, Atorvastatin Calcium 40mg, for example, that may be more essential to those customers. Hence, the item or items sit in the pharmacy and eventually become expired or dead stock that need to be disposed of. Hence, the pharmacy may lose its value based on the inventory assets lost, and not being able to sell or distribute those medications can lead to a loss of profit and loss of customers when the medications are not available when needed. Another issue found with the patient prescription process for in-store pickup is that customers do not pick up their prescriptions on time or do not pick up at all and in turn, the pharmacists must dispose or cancel the prescription if the item has been in the will-call bin for a few months. Moreover, it is sometimes annoying for customers when the pharmacist or pharmacy technician calls them each time for reminders to pick up their prescription from the store every week; Star Pharmacy can lose customers in this way, whereas other customers enjoy or like receiving reminders of their prescription. To resolve this problem, we recommend InventoryX software, an integrated database system that will allow for patients to receive online reminders of their upcoming ordered prescriptions or refills instead of phone call reminders which will enable them to feel at ease and customers will easily remember to pick their prescriptions from the pharmacy with constant updates through their email or phone text messages.