How to Reclaim Pharmacists’ Time by Deploying Pharmacy Kiosks for Check-In

In today’s fast-paced retail pharmacy setting, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians face a myriad of tasks that can strain their time and resources. However, a solution lies in leveraging self-service technology, specifically pharmacy kiosks, to automate routine tasks and enhance the patient experience. By incorporating self-service pharmacy kiosks, pharmacies can optimize their operations, reduce wait times, and enable pharmacists to focus on critical duties like prescription fulfillment.

In the post-pandemic world, we’ve come to rely on pharmacies for vaccines, medications, and quick trips to the store to avoid long lines at supermarkets. We’re already seeing retail pharmacies recovering strongly after the pandemic and outpacing earnings estimates for 2021. 

On the other hand, the increased traffic can be a burden on pharmacy staff and customers, especially when pharmacists are balancing a range of duties outside of verifying and filling prescriptions.

Pharmacists are pulling double-duty

Some of those extra duties include: 

• Greeting, routing, and queuing customers
• Answering non-pharmacy-related questions
• Selecting OTC medications and verifying eligibility
• Rx pick-up and drop-off assistance
• Checkout

These additional responsibilities increase the cost of filling prescriptions for retail pharmacies by distracting pharmacists and technicians from their main functions. We know that, on average, it already costs retail pharmacies more than $12 to fill a single prescription. That number skyrockets to over $70 for dispensing specialty drugs.

There are many roadblocks on the path to filling a prescription—some unavoidable. However, retail pharmacies can still reclaim 10% or more of their pharmacists’ and technicians’ time by automating or redirecting many of their patients- and customer-facing tasks to self-service pharmacy kiosks.

Pharmacy kiosks lessen the burden

Self-service kiosks can serve as a patient-facing hub to streamline tasks like:

• Check-in
• Rx pick-up
• Shopping for OTC
• Rewards/membership management
• Checkout

We’ve already seen kiosks work successfully in healthcare settings such as diagnostics laboratories—and they are ubiquitous across retail stores—so the leap to retail pharmacies is not altogether new. 

Self-service kiosk user experience has advanced in recent years, making automating complex workflows like ID and insurance card verification easier than ever. Further, modular solutions like Aila’s Interactive Kiosk let pharmacies choose the features they need (like checkout and receipt printing), all while easily integrating with their current systems. 

Unlocking patient benefits 

Self-service has become the preferred service for many consumers at retail stores, airports, testing labs, and other frequented places. According to one study, over 73% of consumers preferred using self-service over interacting with an associate.

There are a range of reasons shoppers and patients might prefer a self-service option over interacting with an associate—whether they’re in a rush and want to avoid lines, or they just don’t feel like talking, self-service provides the option to do it themselves.

Aila’s Interactive Kiosk for self-service pharmacy solutions

The Interactive Kiosk is a versatile, pharmacy-ready solution for check-in, pickup, and in-aisle experiences. Built exclusively for iPadOS, it offers fast, intuitive experiences, support for printers and payment terminals, and a range of mounting options for any environment. 

See how the Interactive Kiosk can be used to streamline a range of retail pharmacy experiences: