Page 28 - P4304.1-V94_PS-Magazine-February 2024 PRINT

Here’s a few of my top tips to

help you update some of your
dispensary processes, which could

be contributing to a loss of income.

Firstly, does your practice employ a dispensary manager and if so, are they
allocated protected time to actively ‘manage’ your dispensary? An experienced
dispensary manager is worth their weight in gold, but we are seeing many leave post
and not be replaced. It can place a great deal of responsibility on your dispensing
team if they have no experienced manager to support them and can also create
unrest, potentially leading to other team members leaving. Finding experienced
staff is very difficult these days and many practices are now employing pharmacy
trained staff, this can also bring additional challenges as although the dispensing
process is similar, pharmacy and dispensing practice operate in very different ways.
The pharmacy model doesn’t have access to some of the benefits you have as
dispensing practice – manufacturer rebate schemes, generic schemes etc.

Dispensary accounts

Caroline Pond recently wrote an article for PS magazine around ensuring
dispensary managers are keeping track of spend and income monthly. We
recommend dispensary managers are recording the number of paid/non paid
items that are dispensed each day and cross referencing this against the PPA
statements, allowing you to track any wrong group movements and ensure you
have been paid correctly for your hard work.
You should know where you are financially all of the time, not just
when you’re your accountant presents your year-end accounts.
Try to be proactive, rather than reactive when it’s
too far down the line to recoup those losses!

Cleanse your ordering system

If you are ordering via Systm1 or Emis, how often do you check
that your orders are being sent to the correct wholesaler, do
you check your pip-codes are up to date and are your min/max
stock levels reviewed regularly? All are contributing factors to a
potential loss. Your PSUK account manager will be able to advise
you how to review any of the above during their meetings with you.

MDS Schemes

As a PSUK member you have 81 MDS schemes to take advantage of, 36 of those are
enhanced versus other wholesalers or are exclusive to PSUK. During your account
reviews we will indicate what schemes you are not signed up for. Please sign up, even
if you are not currently using the product, you may at some stage in the future.
Checking your manufacture rebate income each month via a spreadsheet is a
prudent way to pick up on any changes and act upon them quickly. It also allows
you to ensure you are not going above any caps that may be set by certain
manufacturers as this could change a profit-making line into a loss-making line.

28 PS Magazine | Top tips from your DDAM Buy direct online at PSUK.co.uk