Case Study: Creating a flagship drive-through pharmacy

Situation

Steve Sheldon, a pharmacist and owner of a Nation’s Medicines franchise, had witnessed the ongoing advances in drive-through service at financial institutions and fast-food restaurants. Why not integrate this technology at his new pharmacy in Bowling Green, Kentucky? It would provide his drive-through customers the same high quality of service and care that an in-store customer would receive – yet conveniently delivered to the customer’s car. Sheldon turned to The Banker’s Store subsidiary B.G. Banking Equipment to help plan and implement a unique solution that could be adopted at future stores throughout the chain.

What We Did

Sheldon planned three drive-through lanes for the pharmacy. B.G. Banking’s Duane Hayden helped source and integrate the technology Sheldon needed.

The lane closest to the building uses a pass-through drawer for transactions. The pharmacy technician, visible at the window, talks with customers through a two-way audio system. All of the technicians wear wireless headsets that allow them to stay in constant contact with the customer at any of the three drive-up lanes.

The other two lanes incorporate the latest food-service and banking technology to enhance the prescription order and fulfillment process. A two-way video and audio system links the customer and pharmacy technician, face-to-face. A delivery system shuttles the prescription slip or refill bottle inside to the pharmacist. The 15-inch LCD screen used for the video link also shows information about the prescription number, price, and any other items, allowing the customer to confirm the order. If the customer has a clinical question, the technician can switch the video link to a clinician. That allows the customer to consult directly and privately with the clinician. Several private video links throughout the building provide flexibility to the pharmacist.

To pay with a credit or debit card, the customer slides the card through a device at the drive-through and signs a screen or enters a PIN number. Any customer signatures needed to acknowledge the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act (HIPPA) would be solicited through the signature capture device jointly used in the card transaction.

The Results

The grand opening of the store was planned for August 2007. Paired with pharmacy technology inside the building, Sheldon expects the operation to provide increased accuracy, speed, and total order throughput. Already, the pharmacy’s “soft opening “ has received rave reviews from customers.

“The system allows us to talk with people like they are standing in front of us,” he said. “A drive-through can become impersonal, if you let it. We want to give our customers the kind of care and professionalism they deserve and the same kind of care they would get if they walked in. We looked at the drive-through lanes as a place to be served, just like if they were inside.”

Sheldon gives much credit to B.G. Banking Equipment for helping pull together the software and hardware needed for such a system. There was no existing off-the-shelf solution. He plans to introduce the pharmacy drive-through system to other Nation’s Medicines stores and possibly to other pharmacy operations.

“B.G. Banking did their absolute best working with us. They listened closely to what we needed and helped pull together the technology and expertise to get it done,” Sheldon said.

Vince Buckman, CEO of The Banker’s Store, said his company’s work for Sheldon’s Nation’s Medicines franchise builds upon solutions that the Banker’s Store continues to provide for pharmacies and financial institutions. “This is a great demonstration of how we effectively integrated a number of systems to develop the most efficient, productive drive-through available.”

For further information, contact Terry Gibson, B.G. Banking Equipment, Inc., at (800) 726-0337.