Have you ever heard of physician dispensing? It’s a fairly new trend in healthcare that enables physicians to provide medication directly to their patients. But what does this mean for healthcare providers?
Well, the short answer is that physician dispensing can be incredibly beneficial for both you and your patients! In this article, we’ll take a look at four key benefits of physician dispensing that all healthcare providers should consider.
From improved patient satisfaction and compliance to potential financial savings and greater control over drug costs, it’s clear that physician dispensing can have a positive impact on everything from reimbursement rates to practice efficiency. So let’s dive into all the benefits of physician dispensing!
Increased Profitability for Healthcare Providers
Physician dispensing just makes sense for healthcare providers. When you have full control over the products you offer, you increase your profitability in two ways. First, you can keep full retail premiums on all RX items sold. Second, you can even extend your services to include lower-priced over-the-counter items which normally take a lower reimbursement rate and don’t contribute to your profits.
Physician dispensing also allows you to streamline your services and offer multiple products with one transaction. You no longer need to prescribe medications offsite or add additional steps for patients who need OTCs alongside their prescriptions; they can buy everything they need in one place: your office. This simple convenience will result in increased patient satisfaction and customer loyalty, giving you a competitive edge.
It’s clear that physician dispensing is a great move for healthcare providers looking to increase profitability. By taking control of what gets prescribed and sold in their practice, providers can easily increase their profits while also boosting customer satisfaction – a win-win situation!
Improved Quality of Care With Physician Dispensing
Another great benefit of physician dispensing is improved quality of care. How so? Well, not only can you offer more precise medications that are tailored to an individual patient’s needs, but you can also provide follow-up services such as vaccinations, non-prescription drugs, and other over-the-counter products.
Having the ability to provide medication on site makes it easier for physicians to provide a more comprehensive and holistic approach to patient care. Furthermore, physician dispensing helps reduce errors from missed doses or incorrect dosages due to incorrect calculations or bad handwriting.
Plus, if medications are provided in the clinic or hospital setting instead of a pharmacy, patients receive an added level of safety by immediately being able to discuss any side effects or questions they may have with the pharmacist or physician who dispenses the medication instead of having to wait until they visit a pharmacy afterward.
Enhanced Patient Safety & Security With Physician Dispensing
When you think about ways to make your practice safer and more secure, physician dispensing should be high on your list. By ensuring that you have the medications you need, when you need them, no matter what the case may be, you can protect the health of your patients.
Here are some of the benefits of physician dispensing for safety and security:
Improved Medication Adherence
When medications are easily accessible and patients can get them right away, they’re more likely to take their medicines as prescribed. This means improved outcomes for many conditions and better results overall. Plus, with fewer office visits required to pick up medication refills, providers can focus on other things like improvements in patient engagement.
Quicker Dispensing & Delivery Options
Physician dispensing eliminates the wait time for patients to get their prescriptions filled at a retail pharmacy. With physician-dispensed medications — typically shipped directly from a repackaging pharmacy — delivery times range from same-day to three days max, enabling patients to start treatment faster and without worry.
Biosimilars Integration
Another advantage of physician dispensing is that it enables providers to offer biosimilars in their own office. Biosimilars are lower-cost versions of biologics, or drugs produced from living organisms. By providing these cost-effective alternatives in a timely manner, physicians can save their patients money while also providing treatments that are just as effective as the original drugs they replace.
Safeguarded Prescribing Data & Security Measures
Physician dispensing offers rigorous data security protocols designed with HIPAA compliance in mind — including safeguards against potential attack or misuse of confidential medical
Cost Savings With Physician Dispensing
Another benefit of physician dispensing is cost savings. When providers dispense medications directly to their patients, they are able to save money on pharmacy-related costs. For example, in a recent independent study, it was found that physician-dispensed medications can be up to 20% less expensive for patients than those purchased through the pharmacy. This can lead to significant savings for both the provider and the patient in the long run.
Additionally, trained physicians have the ability to customize medications for each patient. This means that patients may receive more cost-effective treatments that still provide them with the same level of care as a more expensive prescription from a pharmacy. And since a physician is dispensing medication directly from their office, there is no need for time-consuming and costly trips to the pharmacy for refills or additional prescriptions.
Not only does physician dispensing save financial resources, but it also saves time – something very valuable in healthcare settings where every minute matters. With physician dispensing, the patient’s entire treatment plan can be implemented in one visit, reducing the number of trips necessary and freeing up time for other patient needs. Ultimately, this leads to more efficient medication management and greater convenience all around.
Conclusion
In the end, physician dispensing may be the answer that healthcare providers are seeking when it comes to providing the best care for their patients. By reducing wait times in the pharmacy, increasing staff efficiency and patient satisfaction with faster service, and increasing profitability through greater customer loyalty, physician-dispensed medications can provide an attractive solution for many healthcare providers.
Ultimately, physician-dispensed medications offer a comprehensive and cost-effective solution to healthcare providers, helping them to build relationships with their patients and make better decisions about the treatments they recommend. With the additional benefits arising from physician dispensing, healthcare providers are sure to see real improvements in their practice.