Dispensing Machines, Telepharmacists Fill Void Left by Closing Pharmacies

David Wahlberg of the Wicsconsin State Journal wrote a great article yesterday about the problem of vanishing pharmacies in Wisconsin, and the rise of outpatient telepharmacy programs. He explains why pharmacies are closing (mostly high costs, and mentions that pharmacists are expensive) and how telepharmacies and Dispensing Machines like InstyMeds' are taking the place of full-blown pharmacies:

InstyMeds machines

In some small towns where pharmacies have vanished, InstyMeds machines prevent patients from having to make trips to other cities.

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About 200 InstyMeds machines are being used in 25 states, according to Minnesota-based InstyMeds. That includes 45 in Wisconsin, 34 of which are in rural clinics and hospitals.

While the machines fill a gap, an important connection is lost.

“It cuts pharmacists out of the loop, and we lose personal contact with patients,” said Mike Peterson, pharmacy director at Upland Hills.

Video connections

Pharmacists are in the loop but miles away at remote dispensing sites, which use video connections to preserve pharmacy services in some rural communities. They’re also called telepharmacy sites.

Wisconsin approved the sites two years ago, and rules on how to run them took effect this month. Sixteen states allow them, said Ann Rathke, telepharmacy coordinator in North Dakota, which in 2001 became the first state to approve the sites.

So far, four telepharmacies are operating in Wisconsin: at Marshfield Clinic centers in Mercer and Lake Hallie, near Chippewa Falls; and in Gillett and Mountain, small towns northwest of Green Bay where the clinics are owned by Community Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls.

Pharmacy technicians work at the sites. As the tech prepares medications, a pharmacist consults from another location through a video screen. When the tech hands over the drugs to the patient, the pharmacist appears on another video screen to give instructions and answer questions.

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But with pharmacy techs making roughly $30,000 a year, compared with about $110,000 for pharmacists, the sites allow service in rural locations that don’t have enough business to justify having a pharmacist on site. “It’s a compromise,” Wunrow said.

Definitely check out the WSJ article. There are pictures, a flash graphic and a video included as well: