Recent announcements from QS/1 target new services that improve the customer relationship and facilitate meeting state requirements.

The first new service involves partnering with the LDM Group to print patient-specific suggestions for over-the-counter medications that complement the prescription or suggest a prescription that could be more beneficial. "Let's assume a patient comes into the pharmacy and gets a prescription for a medicine they must take twice a day. The pharmacy system would know to print information about an alternative drug that is taken only once a day," explains Mike Coyne, VP of LDM.

There is no cost to the pharmacy for the LDM CarePoints patient-messaging system. In addition to being free, the printed material adds an additional revenue stream for independent and regional chains. Typically, this revenue of marketing dollars has been limited to large chains.

Pharmacies can also print medication guides, saving the time of determining which drugs require a MedGuide. Or Carepoints can be used for in-store promotions targeted to specific patients. For example, if a pharmacy has a flu vaccine program for those over 65, whenever a prescription is filled for a person over 65, the system would print a flyer along with the prescription label.

With another new service, this one for South Carolina pharmacies, QS/1 can track and report controlled substances for the state's recently implemented prescription-monitoring program. When a pharmacy dispenses a Schedule II, III, or IV prescription, it is saved to a reporting file that is then automatically transmitted to South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control. While this new service is only available in South Carolina, the company says it has plans to provide it in other states as well.