Streamlining the Prescription Process: Insights from Dr. Jess

The traditional prescription process, often seen as a simple exchange of a paper slip for medication, is desperately in need of transformation. This outdated model misses a crucial opportunity to improve patient health and well-being.  

Jessica Hamuy Blanco highlights that through digital platforms, we can go beyond convenience and accessibility to actively drive consumer behaviour for better health outcomes. Dis-Chem is leveraging this simple process to become a holistic healthcare partner, turning a routine transaction into a continuous loop of engagement, education, and support. 

The Risks of a Broken System 

The current prescription process often feels outdated, creating frustration right from the moment a person realises they are sick. The journey to get essential healthcare is riddled with hurdles that are difficult to fit into consumers' busy lives.    

As Dr. Jess points out, "You need to go to the doctor. You need to find time in your day, make an appointment, and get there. And then there's also a cost attached to that. It's also a case of, OK, now I need to actually get the medication. Factors like convenience, which pharmacy is closest, and how easy it is to get there become points of frustration." 

Beyond inconvenience, manual, paper-based systems carry significant risks. Using handwritten scripts opens the door to potential errors, fraud, and abuse. Pharmacists often have no reliable way to verify a doctor's signature, and there are challenges around accepting copies or photos of scripts that could have been submitted at multiple pharmacies. 

Fortunately, Dis-Chem is actively working to solve these problems. By focusing on innovation and technology, the company strives to streamline the process, circumvent these issues, and ensure people can access safe, efficient, affordable prescription systems. 

Leveraging Technology for a Safer Prescription Process 

For Dis-Chem, technology is the key to solving the problems associated with the traditional, manual prescription process. The transformation begins with seamless integration. We have created a direct link between our dispensary management system and the software used by third parties such as private practices and medical aids. 

When you visit a doctor who uses an integrated system, the prescription is created digitally and sent directly from the doctor's office to a Dis-Chem pharmacy. This approach removes the patient as the "middleman," creating a faster, more efficient, and incredibly convenient process. The friction points of a manual system are eliminated. This digital workflow does more than just save time; it also protects against fraud and abuse, ensuring the patient's health remains the top priority. 

Besides being more convenient and secure, this system helps to keep patients actively engaged in the healthcare chain. All too often, handwritten scripts are never filled. By sending the prescription directly to the pharmacy, we ensure the script and the patient remain within the system. This gives our pharmacists a better opportunity to follow up, provide support, and ensure patients receive the critical treatment they need. 

Increasing Adherence and Improving Health Outcomes 

For years, Dis-Chem has invested in adherence management as a core service. This effort is built on two key pillars: a dedicated call centre that proactively reminds patients when their medication is due, and a digital version of this service called PackMyMeds. 

These systems are invaluable, especially for managing chronic conditions. They allow us to know exactly when a patient is running low on vital medication, enabling us to prompt them to place an order through our app. This proactive approach ensures patients remain in control of their health. 

Dr. Jess explains that the results have been astonishing, "Globally, the average adherence rate for chronic medication is sitting around 50%, meaning people dispense their chronic meds only about 6 out of the 12 months of the year. We, as Dis-Chem, have raised our overall chronic adherence to around 10 out of 12, which is a really significant jump." 

Patient Well-being Above All Else 

The digitisation of the prescription process is about more than just dispensing medication. Patients with chronic illnesses are a perfect example of how these systems have created a holistic health partnership. 

These patients need more than just a prescription; they require regular check-ups and repeat pathology tests. With the data we have access to, we can make educated suggestions and help guide patients on what tests they need and how often. These platforms allow us to engage and educate our customers about their conditions. 

By driving these behaviours, we are positioning ourselves as a genuine health partner for our patients. We can actively promote the importance of managing their condition, an added value that manual prescriptions cannot offer. This focus on long-term health, not just a quick transaction, ensures that our commitment to patient well-being remains at the forefront of everything we do.