ECRS's Tight Integration With Cardinal Health and HBS Gives Independent Pharmacy a Competitive Edge with Automated OTC Replenishment & Prescription WatchdogTM
Camelback Village Pharmacy is an independently owned pharmacy located in the suburbs of Phoenix, AZ at the base of Camelback Mountain. Dennis Meyers, owner of Camelback Village Pharmacy, recently took time to discuss the importance of automating his pharmacy enterprise, utilizing integration between vendors and implementing an effective point-of-sale system. Meyers installed the ECRS Retail Automation Solution in October of 2007 and explains below how ECRS has helped provide the tools needed to optimize his daily operational efficiency.
ECRS: Tell me about Camelback Pharmacy and your customer base?
Meyers: Camelback Pharmacy is located in an affluent, residential suburb of Phoenix. We serve high-end clientele who expect a unique, personalized experience when they enter our store. Our philosophy is to provide excellent customer service and to make everyone feel important when they walk through our doors. Camelback provides what box chain stores cannot through extra attention to detail, full neighborhood service, delivery, house charge accounts, home health products and much more. We choose not to compete with the larger chain stores. If people come in here, they won’t go anywhere else because we focus on going the extra mile for our customers.
I started Camelback Pharmacy in 1985 with a partner who has since retired. On our first day, we filled two prescriptions. Today, Camelback fills an average of 200 prescriptions per day. Over the years, and through much effort, Camelback has grown from a $200,000 per year operation to a $4 million per year operation.
ECRS: How did you first learn about ECRS, and how did you decide that ECRS was the right business partner?
 Meyers: I had used three point-of-sale systems before installing the ECRS Catapult system. I could never get the other systems to serve as much more than an accounts receivable program. With ECRS Catapult, I have a fully automated system with inventory management, complete item scanning capability, internet card processing, and everything needed to streamline my business operations.
ECRS was first introduced to me through HBS, my pharmacy management system. I later attended the Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference in Boston [2007], and I actually ended up signing a contract during the show. ECRS’s interfaces and partnerships with HBS and Cardinal Health were very important in my final decision making process.
ECRS: What are the most important features of the ECRS Catapult system that have made your store operations more efficient?
Meyers: Ease of use for the staff, internet credit/debit processing for transaction speed and the Supplier Integration Server (SIS) with Cardinal Health for automatic ordering and replenishment. Also, the flexibility provided through the system for improved margin management. You have the ability to go into Catapult and determine exactly what margin you want for each item.
ECRS: How do ECRS and Cardinal Health facilitate easier inventory management?
Meyers: Before the ECRS and Cardinal Health partnership and the resulting SIS technology, we had a very ineffective method of maintaining inventory. We are a very busy store, and we would end up just doing inventory as we had time. I would assign the task to someone who would walk around with a wand, and they would see what needed to be ordered. We didn't really keep track of what we were actually selling. It very was inefficient. The front-end merchandise accounts for about 10% of our business. It may seem like a small thing, but it is actually very important, and a large part of the business.
With Automatic Replenishment, if we sell something it is replaced the next day. It is a very flexible system, so I could actually choose to manage inventory in a variety of ways to suit my business needs. The system provides an easy, painless solution for maintaining inventory. This, in turn, provides more time for other store operational needs and provides  customers with the product they need, when they need it. Customer service is at the core of our philosophy, so this is very important. Before when we were busy, we were missing sales because there wasn’t always enough time to keep track of inventory and keep product on the shelf. With Cardinal Health and ECRS working together, this is no longer a problem.
ECRS: Are you currently using the Automatic Price Update feature in SIS?
Meyers: Yes, this project is currently underway. My goal is to eventually transition into a completely stickerless pharmacy and utilize shelf labels throughout the store. SIS reporting allows for easy price updates, so we won’t have to spend time pricing and stickering each individual item.
ECRS: How does Cardinal Health help you better serve your customers and meet business needs?
Meyers: Cardinal Health is our sole-source supplier for front-end. Their integration with ECRS has been huge because of the price updates and automatic replenishment. Cardinal Health is a wonderful partner to have because they send a representative to the store to help with marketing and shelf layout. They also help determine best selling items.
ECRS: Tell us how the integration between ECRS and HBS has improved your prescription accountability.
Meyers: The ECRS and HBS integration is very important, and the prescription accountability the partnership provides is greatly appreciated. We can now track signatures electronically. We can easily determine when a prescription was picked up and who signed for the prescription. The system also helps us monitor insurance restrictions that limit prescription availability based on date requirements. If a prescription hasn’t been approved by the doctor, it won’t show up in the patient’s queue at all. Both of these features help make the cashier’s life easier and help manage prescription pick-ups.
ECRS: Does the ECRS and HBS integration allow for easier management of your will-call inventory?
 Meyers: Yes, at the end of each month we can easily see which prescriptions have not been picked up. The integration has really locked-down the prescription pick-up process. Before, we had to scan the prescription twice, and now it’s a one-step process. This allows us to avoid costly mistakes and provide better, more efficient customer service.
ECRS: How has the Prescription Watchdog™ will-call feature helped account for prescriptions and better serve customers?
Meyers: When a prescription is scanned at the register, the system alerts the cashier to notify the customer of any other available prescriptions associated with their account. This may include prescriptions for family members or may simply be a prescription they didn’t realize was ready. This is a nice feature for customer convenience. It also helps us insure prescriptions are picked up in a timely manner.
ECRS: Describe how the system improves HIPAA signature management?
Meyers: The signature capture is integrated with the POS and signatures are stored electronically through HBS. If a patient’s HIPAA signature isn’t on file, HBS communicates with Catapult which will then automatically prompt for the  signature at the time of purchase. After the signature has been received, Catapult transmits the data back to HBS. This prevents having to ask the customer for a signature more than once or having to manually search for a HIPAA signature on file.
ECRS: Do you feel the ECRS system has been a good investment for your pharmacy business?
Meyers: Absolutely. I can’t imagine not having a POS with integration to your pharmacy management system for prescription management and your front-end supplier for inventory management. ECRS provides a very efficient way to manage a retail pharmacy business. It makes us look good and makes life easier.
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>> Read about Pharmacy Front-End Automation by ECRS
>> Read the Cardinal Health/ECRS joint press release
>> View the Cardinal/ECRS video testimonials
>> Read about the integration between ECRS and HBS
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