Pharmacy Newsletter - Spring / Summer 2013 - TELUS Health

Spring / Summer 2013

TELUS Health Pharmacy Team eNewsletter Table of Contents 2

TELUS Pharma Space launches its mobile

2

Great progress connecting to the

3

Market News and Figures –

application

Saskatchewan DIS

3 4 5 5 6

IMS Brogan Report

The TELUS Health Tour

Rx Vigilance Update

Assyst Point of sale Tips and Tricks

Customer Service

Training News

TELUS Pharma Space launches its mobile application In February, TELUS Health announced the launch of the mobile

The application is offered free of charge to all patients of

TELUS Pharma Space application, which provides users of

pharmacies subscribed to TELUS Pharma Space’s mobility

iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices with anytime, anywhere

option, and is widely available to iPhone, BlackBerry and Android

access to their own personal medication record.

users through their devices’ respective app store.

The TELUS Pharma Space mobile application enables patients

For more information on the platform, consult our

to access the solution’s most popular functionalities, including access to users’ prescription drug records and refill histories, the ability to submit prescription refill requests directly to their pharmacy, and more.

A major milestone for TELUS Pharma Space TELUS Pharma Space achieved a major milestone recently.

The solution’s proven efficiency and ease of use have enabled

To this day, 1.5 million prescriptions have been renewed

thousands of Canadian patients to quickly and accurately renew

through the web platform!

their prescriptions, and is particularly appreciated by elderly, frail

This milestone represents a significant benchmark for the TELUS Pharma Space team’s strategic desire to enable user-friendly,

and chronically ill patients, for whom prescription renewals can be a taxing process.

secure access to prescription renewals via its web (and now,

Congratulations to the TELUS Pharma Space team, and now –

mobile) platforms.

onward and upward!

Great progress connecting to the Saskatchewan DIS TELUS Health has been very active helping Saskatchewan

Training videos were also provided to help staff members

pharmacists connect to the province’s DIS (Drug Information

and relief pharmacists. At the end of March, almost all Assyst

System). A new version of Assyst Rx-A, the TELUS pharmacy

Rx-A customers in Saskatchewan were connected to the

management solution, was made available to current customers.

Saskatchewan DIS. Benefits for the pharmacists include being

Weekly online meeting sessions explaining the new DIS-related

able to access e-prescriptions in the system as well as having a

features were available for all sites to attend before going live on

complete drug profile for their patients.

the DIS. Additional support was provided to the stores on the first day to ensure a smooth transition.

Spring / Summer 2013 2

Market News and Figures – IMS Brogan Report Nearly 557 million prescriptions were dispensed from community pharmacies across Canada for the 12 months ending October 2012, according to an IMS Brogan report issued recently. During this period, branded purchases totalled $13.95 billion,

In terms of market share, chains and banners account

while generics accounted for $4.4 billion.

for approximately 76% of the market, with food and mass

The report further forecast that the Brand share of prescriptions will continue to decrease, given that major insurance companies

merchandisers at 15%. Independents round off the top 3, representing approximately 9% of the market nationally.

like Sun Life and Great-West Life have introduced policies to

Now available from IMS Brogan and TELUS Health: the ability to

reject claims for branded medications if generic options are

monitor banner and pharmacy performance, based on demand

available

data, relative to the competition within a small geographic

For the third consecutive year, Synthroid was the most prescribed drug, with 14.7 million prescriptions dispensed. Crestor sits in the second spot with 8.4 million prescriptions, a strong showing given that it lost patent protection last spring and weathered increasing competition from generics.

area. The reports can also benchmark client performance and identify therapeutic and product trends within the industry. This new business intelligence solution will drive analytics and help users gain a clear insight into payer splits, the generic vs. brand portion of the retail market, and the acute vs. chronic prescription component of each pharmacy. Contact your TELUS representative for more information on this new service.

The TELUS Health Tour TELUS Health will be in attendance at many industry events this spring, including: April 12-13

Peoples Drug Mart show

Vancouver, BC

April 27

Humber Pharmacy Technician Conference

Toronto, ON

May 2-4

Pharmachoice show

Halifax, NS

May 9-10

Uniprix show

Montréal, QC

May 16

Wal-Mart show

Lac-Leamy, QC

May 26

Pharmachoice show

Saskatoon, SK

May 30-June 1

BCPhA Annual Conference

Kelowna, BC

June 12-14

CACDS

Halifax, NS

Feel free to drop by our booth and test our latest applications and solutions! Spring / Summer 2013 3

Rx Vigilance therapeutic advisor Meaningful alerts The Rx Vigilance therapeutic advisor is a safety net that alerts

The Rx Vigilance therapeutic advisor provides meaningful alerts

health professionals to potential problems detected in their

with the associated severity levels to guide health professionals

patients’ profiles. Each problem is flagged with level of severity

in their problem-solving process.

based on its potential impact. To enable health professionals to accurately assess the alerts they receive, severity levels were established according to the level of clinical invention required to manage the problem. For instance, a Level 1 alert refers to a situation that should be avoided at all costs and that would definitely require clinical intervention.

Alerts prority levels

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Avoid completely

Avoid if possible

Use with Caution

Avoid involved medication. The risk

Avoid concurrent use unless its effects

of serious problems outweighs any

are desired or no alternative is available.

potential benefit.

If the combination is used, increased

Assess risk and take action as needed.

monitoring may be necessary.


Assyst Point of sale Tips and Tricks Using the Information Panel At the left of the Assyst Point of Sale window is a panel which

This area is referred to as the Information Panel or The Panel.

may be used in conjunction with other system functions.

What’s In The Panel? The Panel provides access to Reminders, additional information

Messages created by the system for users may be reviewed or

about displayed records, maps, and graphs.

modified from the Reminders tab.

The Reminders tab on the panel may be accessed to display

The Information tab displays applicable notes attached to a

all system messages. Reminders are available to users of Assyst

record as well as links to file Attachments (where applicable).

Point of Sale version 3 using the Shift-F2 command.

New Feature: Show Map Assyst Point of Sale version 4 now offers the ability to generate

This function will access the Google Maps website and

driving directions to a customer’s address of record. This

search for driving directions from the store address configured

function refers to the address on a customer file.

in Settings and the customer’s address configured in their

Click on the Show Map button on the Information tab to access the integration with GoogleTM Maps.

Accounts Receivable file. These maps may be printed from the web page containing the map using the Print button.

New Feature: Graphs The Panel offers the capability of creating graphs to represent

The graph may be limited to a single department or family,

sales or profitability information for a category in the form of a

or to include sales or margins of products in all categories.

chart.

At the bottom of the Graphs tab are options which indicate the

The Data option in the Graphs tab may be set to display:  Monthly

Sales by Department

 Monthly

Sales by Family

 Monthly

Margin by Department

 Monthly

Margin by Family

type of graph which will be displayed. 3D effects may be applied to any graph type by selecting the 3D option. Use the Copy button to copy the displayed graph to the Windows Clipboard. An image on the clipboard may be pasted into documents such as emails using the Paste command.

Monthly Sales by Department 140000

Use the Save button to save the displayed graph as a file in

120000

Windows. The file will be saved as a JPEG image.

100000

Use the Print button to print the displayed graph. Graphs are

80000

printed in portrait orientation on a full letter-size page on the

60000

printer selected in the application.

40000 20000

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Customer Service The customer service team implements new processes to serve you better on an ongoing basis:  A

new telephone messaging system for callers with non-

 A

major project has been launched to track and follow up

urgent situations was recently implemented. The system

on open tickets resulting from suggestions and conclusions

prevents callers from being put on hold for extended periods

generated from our continued improvement initiatives. So far,

of time while waiting for an agent to respond. After 2.5 minutes

the project includes a series of recommendations surrounding

of hold time, an automated message will offer customers the

solution assessment, the implementation of a team of experts

option of leaving a voicemail message with a contact phone

to handle legacy software, a daily follow-up of unresolved

number, and receiving a return call within a reasonable time

customer issues, and weekly coaching sessions.

frame.

Training News New on the training front: We are almost there ! Our new e learning portal will soon be available for our pharmacists to use! This e-learning platform will grant users a significant degree of flexibility, offering sessions at times and locations that are convenient for them! Students can even choose to follow their training courses on their iPads or similar tablet devices. Moreover, this platform allows pharmacists and/or pharmacy managers to track each of their employees’ progress and learnings throughout their training period. We are pleased to pursue our mission of providing users with the greatest possible flexibility and access to our learning tools, thus ensuring that the instructional experience is as constructive and pleasant as possible!

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