Posts By: Beth Osborne

Buying a Pharmacy? What to Look for in Your Assessment

buying a pharmacy assessment

Many independent pharmacies want to expand their business. They often look at buying a pharmacy from another independent. There are around 22,000 independent pharmacies in the US, with about 900 changing ownership each year. So, there’s definitely opportunity for you to grow.

But how will you know if it’s a solid purchase? How will you be able to make an unbiased assessment of the pharmacy’s performance?

If you depend solely on the pharmacy to provide you with their financials and records, it may not provide you with all the information you need. You also won’t know if it’s completely accurate. That’s why many pharmacies look to third parties for acquisition analysis.

Acquisition Analytics provides a neutral view of operations

To ensure the most thorough and impartial review of a pharmacy, using a third party is a smart move. InfoWerks offers Acquisition Analytics to help pharmacies assess potential purchases. The process includes a data pull of the last two years of information in their pharmacy management system. The pull is handled securely and compliantly. That data is then put into buckets, providing insights on profits, volume, and more. All PHI is removed from the report as well.

What Makes the Purchase a Good One?

So, what exactly do you need to pay attention to when it comes to reviewing the operational data of the pharmacy for sell? Typically, you want to be able to discern what patients you think you can retain. The retention of these customers will set up your future profitability. Look at these data points when buying a pharmacy:

  • Average weekly scripts and volume: do a year over year comparison to determine ebbs and flows in business and if there has been a significant decrease in the past 12 months
  • Percentage of new prescriptions vs. refills: see the trends of return patients
  • 90-day fill numbers: look at these fill types as a percentage of total fills
  • Prescriber information: find out the top prescribers associated with the pharmacy to determine if there are existing relationships that you can continue to nurture
  • Patient volume information: learn how many “high value” patients that frequent the pharmacy, meaning they have a large number of scripts filled annually;
  • Patient location: determine how close the majority of patients are to the pharmacy; this information could help you decide if the site is feasible
  • Payer information: see which plans are used most often by the patients of a pharmacy; if Medicare is a leading payer

These data points will provide you with a good grasp on the profitability and performance of a pharmacy. But there are additional data elements you’ll also want to analyze to ensure that the purchase is a shrewd one. One thing of importance would be the percentage of controlled script fills. A higher rate could mean the purchase may be risky. If the percentage seems higher than your pharmacy, it’s advised to dig into this deeper to ensure that no fraudulent actions are occurring.

What Else Do You Need to Know?

These data points will provide you with a good grasp on the profitability and performance of a pharmacy. But there are additional data elements you’ll also want to analyze to ensure that the purchase is a shrewd one. One thing of importance would be the percentage of controlled script fills. A higher rate could mean the purchase may be risky. If the percentage seems higher than your pharmacy, it’s advised to dig into this deeper to ensure that no fraudulent actions are occurring.

You may also want to find out what percentage of patients using the pharmacy are over 65. This intel would provide you insights about how many Medicare users you have and long-term patient retention.

Buying a pharmacy can be a complicated process. You have many considerations from financing to viability. Before you make the decision to purchase, consider requesting an Acquisition Analytics report. Find out more information about this report by contacting us today.

Benefits to Decommissioning Legacy Systems for Pharmacy

Converting to a new pharmacy software platform doesn’t mean that you have to keep your legacy system running. You are required to keep patient records for a minimum of 10 years per Medicare Part D requirements. However, you don’t have to waste dollars keeping old systems available. Decommissioning legacy systems can be a massive win for pharmacies with many benefits.

Benefit One: Save Money

decommissioning legacy systems save money

We’ll start with the most obvious benefit—reduced costs. Keeping a legacy system up and running means you’re still paying those monthly fees. That’s a fixed cost that could be better allocated elsewhere.

To switch to an archiving solution, you’ll pay one fee for your migration at the beginning. No monthly fees required!

Benefit Two: Ensure Compliance

Legacy systems may no longer be supported, which could mean that the software is no longer updated. Without crucial updates, the systems may be vulnerable to breaches.

When you decommission and move to an archiving tool—one explicitly built for pharmacy data—your data will be secure and fully compliant with HIPAA.

Benefit Three: Find Records Faster

How easy is it to find old records in your legacy system? Depending on functionality and features, it could be time intensive.

With an effective and efficient archiving solution, you can effortlessly search based on filters like patient name, prescriber, or date ranges. If you need to respond to an audit or patient request, it will take minutes, not hours.

Benefit Four: Store Multiple Record Types

One challenge with old systems is they may not provide you access to all the different record formats, including documents and images. If they are stored in your old system, you may be limited by the size of files or other restrictions.

With a more robust platform, you can store documents, data, and limitations, no matter the size.

Benefit Five: Create Reports for Audits Quickly

decommissioning legacy systems audit

Have you ever been hit with an audit and needed a report fast? Trying to create one in your legacy system could be problematic. Instead, with an archiving tool, you can create and print reports in mere minutes, meeting your audit requirements.

The Better Alternative to Archiving

It’s time to sunset your old software and reap the benefits of decommissioning legacy systems. Retain access with a web-based searchable archive like ViewMaster. With an intuitive dashboard, there’s no training required. Just log in and search. Plus, you can manage access as well. If you have multiple stores being archived, assign permissions based on the store level, regional level, or define admin access to all data.

Experience a better way to archive with the pharmacy data experts at InfoWerks. See ViewMaster in action today by requesting a demo.

Data Security Protocols and HIPAA Compliance

data security

As a healthcare data management company, we understand the robust data security protocols that must be in place. Additionally, since we’re handling protected health information (PHI), everything we do meets or exceeds HIPAA guidelines. 

How We Maintain Strong Security Protocols

We maintain the highest security and data protection with annual risk management assessments. We also always encrypt PHI data in transit or at rest. Further, we employ two-factor authentication for access to data. 

We have a rigorous culture of security and compliance. Our IT team ensures that all employees are well-versed in security protocols. Employees also receive yearly HIPAA compliance training. 

Our Business Associates Agreement (BAA) is also an integral part of our security process. The BAA outlines the obligations of all parties, identifying how we will adhere to HIPAA and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITRUST).

We are dedicated to ensuring the security, privacy, and accessibility of your data. In our over two decades in business, we’ve never had a PHI breach.

HIPAA requires that we put into place administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. Our policies address all these areas. 

Trusted Data Center

We partner with Flexential to house all our servers. They are a top tier, national colocation provider that delivers reliable bandwidth and 99.9999% uptime along with 24-hour security. By partnering with Flexential, we have a solid plan in place regarding disaster recovery and business continuity. 

Flexential has over 20 years of experience and maintains 40 data centers, covering 3.1 million square feet. Their certifications include: 

  • PCI DSS
  • HIPAA compliance
  • HITRUST CSF
  • SOC 1, 2 & 3 Type 2
  • ISO 27001
  • NIST 800-53
  • EU-U.S. privacy shield framework
  • ITAR

Our commitment to security protocols and HIPAA compliance goes beyond just checking the box. There is no room for error in an atmosphere of data breaches, which hit healthcare more often than any other industry. 

If you have any questions about how we handle data security, we’re happy to help. Contact us today to learn more.