When long-term Pennsylvania pharmacy owner Sherri Leon was asked to describe how the PrimeRx™ pharmacy technology system improves efficiency, she didn’t hesitate in her response. “Speed,” she said. “The system makes certain processes almost instantaneous.”
How long did those processes used to take? “About 15-20 seconds.” To Leon, that’s 15-20 seconds more that she now has to spend with customers. It’s also a sure sign of just how busy today’s pharmacies have become. Every second counts, and most pharmacists find there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. Consider, for example, findings of the 2022 National Pharmacist Workforce Study, which found more than 60 percent of community pharmacists surveyed “said they don’t have enough time to perform their work.”
Leon has managed Whitemarsh Pharmacy, located in Lafayette Hill, outside of Philadelphia, for more than eight years. She was drawn to the pharmacy profession by a deep desire to help people, and says that interacting with her patients “and truly knowing that I’m helping them” is her greatest joy. Leon sees all types of patients throughout the course of the day, children and their parents, senior citizens, privately-insured, Medicaid, and everything in between. “We take them all,” she says, “and are honored to serve each and every one.”
Sherri has seen a lot of changes in the industry, changes that make it harder to devote quality time to patient interactions. Covid, of course, changed everything. But even before the pandemic took hold, the pharmacy was forced to deal with increasing PBM requirements along with shrinking reimbursements, skyrocketing DIR fees, and economic conditions that make running a pharmacy more and more complicated.
Technology though, has been a tremendous help to Leon and her staff. Sherri says that the PrimeRx™ system from Micro Merchant Systems was already in place when she began her tenure at Whitemarsh Pharmacy. She kept the system in place and has been impressed by the continual upgrades and added functionality designed specifically for the needs of community pharmacists.
