Best Ways to Automate Your Virtual Dispensary

The digitalization of healthcare is accelerating. Practitioners, multi-practitioner clinics, hospitals, and healthcare systems are seeking out technology that helps them offer virtual care to give patients better and more consistent access to their services.

Statistics show that even before the global health crisis, practitioners were gradually adopting virtual care. A recent survey conducted by Deloitte concluded that in 2018, 20% of physicians intended on using remote monitoring, which increased to 33% in 2020. Twenty-seven percent of practitioners intended on using video software for virtual visits in 2018, which increased to 37% in 2020. (1)

With any evolution comes hesitation, but digitalization has also alerted practitioners to the potential of increased income and practice growth through automated health systems.

Importance of automation in healthcare

Implementing automated healthcare solutions has proven to help grow medical practices. According to a 2018 article in HealthTech Magazine, there are four major ways automation is impacting healthcare.

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Faster access to data for practitioners and their staff as well as overall accessibility to data digitally is one benefit of automation. Integrating all patient data into a single EHR fosters simplicity and efficiency. Practitioners have noticed reduced errors, frustrations, and time wasted with this approach. (2)

Moving from prescription pads to online tools that help automate refills improves the overall ordering experience. Online ordering is convenient, accessible, and often more affordable for patients. Practitioners can track orders and keep their patients focused on their treatment plans. (2)

Most virtual care software accommodates easy, convenient, and organized billing that deposits revenue directly into a practitioner’s account of choice. Most tools that help with payment, invoicing and billing support also have practice management along with tracking and reporting. Applying health insurance is also easier and makes healthcare more affordable. (2)

The right virtual tool can revolutionize how a healthcare practice runs and how it supports its staff. Shared information and data empower support staff, such as clinical managers, to process orders and answer any questions from patients. Staff can also prepare for influxes in visits based on their historical data on seasonality in the practice’s software. (2) Optimizing patient visits, whether in-person or virtual, is also an important and impactful result of automation.

Did you know? As reported in the same Deloitte survey above, virtual visits increased from 14% in 2018 to 19% in 2020. (1)

Automation in Fullscript

Let’s explore how Fullscript uses automation to help practitioners and their practices with adherence, growth, data sharing, ordering, billing, and medical staff support.

Patient promotions

Fullscript practitioners can participate in promotions to help boost revenue—all while making supplements more affordable for their patients. Recently, a Naturopathic Doctor using Fullscript saw an increase of 1462.33% in MSRP and 813.33% growth in orders in just one week by participating in a promotion!

Here are some other stats that show real practitioners’ experiences after opting in to patient promotions on Fullscript:

“The opt-in process was super easy, and I really liked that an email was sent to me detailing the sale. There was full transparency, and that’s always appreciated. I opted in without hesitation, and I knew what I was opting in for.” –Dr. Melissa Gallagher ND, CLT

Refill reminders and autoship

Empowering patients to be successful with their treatment plans is why Fullscript created the refill reminder and autoship features.

“As an integrative, functional Medical Doctor, Fullscript has been a game-changer for my practice, as well as my patients. My practice is completely virtual and I reach individuals living in all 50 states. With Fullscript, I can access all of my go-to supplements and brands, all in one location. My patients love the ease of ordering online, and the reminders to refill are A+!” –Dr. Tina Discepola, MD

Life gets busy and patients may forget to fill up on their supplements. This may lead to not ordering altogether, and in the end, stopping their treatment plan. For all the work and time put in by the patient and practitioner, simple automation can help avoid this result. Refill reminders are based on the dosage recommended, so a patient gets a reminder at the perfect time to place another order, ensuring they won’t run out before it’s delivered.

“Fullscript opened up my ability to create really sophisticated and digestible supplement protocols that would have been more difficult in the past. Since refills are so easy for my patients, I now get repeat orders three and five months after an appointment. I love being notified when patients refill their order, and it’s wonderful to know that my patients are still compliant months after I have last seen them.” –Dr. Vincent Pedre, ND

For patients, there is an option to turn on auto-shipments of products, we call this autoship! Shipping frequencies range between every two weeks to every six months. If a patient plans to take a vitamin or supplement for a longer period of time, they can set up autoship to ensure they remain stocked without ever placing an order manually. Automatic email notifications are sent before an automated shipment takes place and practitioners can track the reordering data.

EHR integrations

Fullscript’s library of electronic health record (EHR) integrations allows practitioners to work more efficiently than ever. Writing recommendations and managing your practice from one place eliminates the issues of duplicate work, the use of multiple tools and systems, and confusion among patients and staff. Practitioners can integrate with a few steps to unlock the entire Fullscript supplement catalog in the software they already use.

Did you know? Practitioners using an electronic health record (EHR) to communicate to their patients grew from 38% in 2018 to 63% in early 2020. (1)

On average, practitioners who integrate their Fullscript account with an EHR see an increase of 16% more revenue per month, and 33% more prescriptions written per week.

“Using the Practice Better and Fullscript integration has been one of the best decisions I have made since starting my functional medicine micro-practice. The combined systems streamline my supplement recommendations, provide beautiful, easy-to-follow protocols for my patients, and provide a great source of added income. My personalized recommendations go straight from the Practice Better EHR to Fullscript. It’s that easy.” —Dr. Kimberly Baydarian, MD

Patient wellness content

The patient wellness content program is an automated approach to keeping patients engaged in their wellness and treatment plans. Every two weeks, evidence-based educational content, curated by the Fullscript Medical Advisory team, is sent to all patients whose practitioners have opted in to the program.

“My patients really enjoy learning more about supplements and their benefits. The more they understand, the more interested they are in seeing the results of their wellness plans.” –Dr. Frank Bodnar, Chiropractor

Content is never based on conditions and recommendations. Instead, it’s built to educate patients on the latest in health and wellness research, while building trust between the practitioner, patient, and Fullscript. Content is written to be easily digestible and to promote behaviors that can be implemented into daily life.

“How do I ensure that my patients will receive these emails? They look great!” –Lucinda Harms, RpH

Wellness content has also proven to re-engage patients who order less frequently. On average, practitioners see a 17% week over week lift in MSRP when wellness content is sent via emails!

Monthly payout and year-end sales taxes

A key feature on the Fullscript platform is to support the revenue growth of practitioners and their practices. When a practitioner sets up a margin account on Fullscript, they choose to generate revenue from their dispensary with complete control over their margin. Monthly payments are automatically deposited in a practitioner’s desired bank account for a steady income stream, reflective of their dispensary activity. This avoids any unnecessary manual work and steps to get payments. Annual financial reports are also available to practitioners. These reports show a record of payout history, sales activity, and are used to calculate net income earned through an account. Based on this information, sales taxes can also be calculated. Fullscript collects and remits applicable state sales tax, so practitioners have one less thing to worry about.

“After 25 years of stocking, selling, and shipping supplements from my clinic, I finally switched to Fullscript, and what a difference! I have cut my inventory and logistic expenses associated with delivering supplements to patients and increased the range of products I now use. My office staff no longer have to receive, stock, distribute, and ship products. And best of all, I no longer have to calculate sales tax! What a relief. Using Fullscript has increased my bottom line while allowing us to deliver a far superior service to our patients.” –Dr. Dan Kalish, DC, IFMCP

Product swapping

Healthcare is constantly changing. New research is published, preferences change, or products simply become unavailable. Practitioners are constantly looking for the best products to better help their patients. This is where product swapping shines.

Imagine you want to swap a product, but it’s in 56 active recommendations. Will you do that manually? No thank you! The Fullscript product swapping tool lets practitioners swap products in all their recommendations with one action.

When a practitioner needs to swap a product, they simply need to choose which one they want to replace it with, and in a few clicks, the old is replaced with the new! The product is swapped in every recommendation. For transparency, an email is sent to all patients who have been recommended the previous product so they know a new product is available to order.

Multi-practitioner clinic operational support

In a multi-practitioner Fullscript account, practitioners, support staff, and all licensed personnel who would need to use Fullscript can access the same dispensary with their own recommendation tools. With the right permissions enabled, practitioners can also automatically share relevant data with their colleagues, saving time and adding efficiency. This feature allows for better coordination, communication, and transparency between collaborating practitioners.

Supplement ordering permissions can also be granted to users like front desk staff to capture orders while checking out patients in-office. It lets patients place orders while a practitioner’s directions are top-of-mind and helps practitioners reduce workload while promoting adherence at the point of care.

The bottom line

While there are barriers to implementing virtual care and technology in any practice, it’s important to remember that there are strategies and tools to alleviate its challenges. Automation should be a key consideration for practitioners as healthcare continues to digitalize.

Fullscript offers a range of tools, resources, and features to help automate practice management and growth. Automated healthcare solutions can save time and money for practitioners and patients alike.

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