2005 Volume 25 Issue 2 Pages 107-116
The percentage of prescription received and dispensed in community pharmacies increases every year so that the number of community pharmacies also tends to increase. The number of pharmacy’s stocks are becoming greater as the prescription of generic drugs gradually prevails and it is an important task to reduce the number of pharmacy’s stocks, especially pharmaceutical dead stocks. At present, a practical system for supporting transfer of drugs among different pharmacies has not been developed, in spite of the increase in the number of community pharmacies. Since it is not possible for a pharmacy to store all drug supplies, a practical and minimal system that is superior to conventional stocks-management systems in its cost-performance and data-sharing capability is desired for a multi-store deploying pharmacy chain. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to develop a practical, community pharmacy-oriented system by which we can promptly search all drug listings and dead stocks in every pharmacy and optimize the delivery schedule of drugs between different pharmacies. Utility of our system will make it possible to supply drugs very quickly and efficiently, thus may help pharmacists in community pharmacies contribute better to patients’ care.
