Independent pharmacies are rapidly expanding clinical services, and one that is gaining popularity in the industry is pharmacogenetics — the study of the effect genetic factors have on drug interactions and metabolism in individuals.

As pharmacogenetics grows, pharmacies will have to rely on technology to take full advantage of this clinical service. Updox supports independent pharmacies interested in pharmacogenetics with collaborative patient and pharmacy tools in several ways:

Enhanced Care Coordination Services

Pharmacogenetics tests are new to the market, but early adopters have shown that the offering is most effective when there is a strong pharmacist-prescriber collaboration. A Direct referral network allows independent pharmacists to leverage these relationships in order to:

  • Coordinate patient care and test results.
  • Communicate medical and prescription records.
  • Become a prescriber’s preferred referral source.

Elimination of Inefficient Paper Processes

There is a steady shift toward automated processes that decrease inefficient manual processes in a pharmacy. Technology that allows for electronic fax, digital document editing, and streamlined prescriber communication via secure messaging will become more popular in the coming years, and advanced clinical services like pharmacogenetics require efficient processes in order to communicate patient test results and arrange effective drug therapies with prescribers and patients.

Stronger Patient Loyalty

Offering patient-centric technologies will continue to drive patients to community pharmacies. Community pharmacies have retained a loyal customer base within healthcare because of the personalized, individual care provided to their customers. Today’s rapidly changing healthcare landscape has proved that patient-centric health is the focus, and that won’t change any time soon. Advanced technology supporting pharmacogenetics testing will allow pharmacies to use tools like a patient portal, online payments, and self-scheduling in order to engage with patients in a user-friendly, collaborative online platform. CT