How to Digitalize Your Pharmacy: Steps in the Digital Transformation of the Pharma Industry

If you are relying on outdated legacy systems for your pharmacy business – hard to update, slow to run, and lacking essential functionalities – then you cannot expect to leave your customers satisfied or to remain competitive. Legacy technology is a setback for all businesses regardless the industry. However, the pharmaceutical industry is often too reluctant to such changes and advancements as there are more requirements to cover. In the pharmaceutical industry it is necessary for companies to meet specific legislations and regulations, and this also becomes a leading consideration when choosing a software solution. Most pharma businesses prefer to maintain their outdated technology – a costly decision that prevents them from upgrading to a newer system. 

Digital transformation of pharmacies: The direct path to modernization 

The digital transformation of your pharmacy should begin with a detailed plan for a business development strategy. How can you make your goals turn into reality? What kind of changes should you embrace? What specific software system do you need?  

This is when our work as consultants comes in: we can support you in creating the digital transformation plan suited specifically for your business’s needs as part of the pharma industry. We perform analysis of your current management system, what it lacks and what we can offer to fill these gaps.  
 

Clear goals and objectives 

Before implementing a software solution, you should be aware of your goals and objectives: What do you want to achieve with this upgrade? Many pharmacies do not only aim to sell their items, but also turn into a trusted healthcare provider.  

Start with the outline of what you want to achieve, for example whether your goal is to automate daily pharmacy operations, connect seamlessly to all data sources, use customer behaviour data to optimize your offering and services, reduce operational cost or simplify compliance with the Pharma industry regulations. You may be considering growing the number of your loyalty members, managing prescriptions more easily and effectively or incorporating an omnichannel strategy to align with modern customer behaviour. When you have clear goals and objectives, you can choose the right software solution, one that is effective and worth the investment.  

Choose a solution that will support your goals 

A robust ERP system for the management of finances, sales, inventory, manufacturing, human resources, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), a specialized pharmacy management system with retail functionalities, an eCommerce platform for selling 24/7, a Business Intelligence tool for data reporting – no need to have several separate systems to achieve all this magic. Developed by the established leader on the market LS Retail, LS Central is an all-in-one pharmacy management solution that extends the capabilities of Microsoft’s #1 ERP system – Dynamics 365 Business Central.  

LS Central unifies the features of dispensing, retail software and pharmacy ERP into one single software solution. With LS Central for pharmacies, you can manage prescriptions, handle medications, monitor pharmaceutical stock across all stores. However, LS Central also allows you to control all retail management processes – pricing, replenishment, campaigns, promotions, loyalty programs, as well as reservations, appointments and POS. LS Central has a modular design which means that all the separate components work seamlessly as a single system - financials, dispensing, customers, retail and pharmaceutical items are all unified into one platform. 

LS Central allows you to handle all types of prescriptions, track expiry dates to reduce waste, register insurance plans, find products based on different dimensions – substance, ATC group, strength, classification, product descriptions, daily dose, etc. Using the same platform, you also manage retail items. Create loyalty programs, send rewards to your loyal buyers, track your best-selling over-the-counter medications or beauty items and send personalized offers to customers.  

This is your sign to start getting in line with the recent innovations in the pharma industry. If your business is in the medical field, what are you waiting for? Still relying on Excel spredsheets or hard to maintain ERP systems is your biggest setback. Contact us to learn how modern solutions like LS Central drive growth and success.

Source: How to digitalize your pharmacy processes (lsretail.com)