A robust Pharmacy Practice Management Solution (PPMS) is essential for ensuring smooth operations in modern pharmacies, helping them run their businesses more efficiently and maximise productivity. By streamlining workflows and simplifying daily tasks, it significantly reduces time and effort, while enhancing overall service quality. 

Pharmacy Magazine spoke to Vexall CEO, Christiaan Stavast to find out what to consider when selecting a system for a retail pharmacy. 

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT  

Effective inventory management is the backbone of a successful pharmacy operation. A good PPMS should offer real-time tracking of stock levels. “You need a system that can alert you when items are running low and automatically place them onto the shopping list, ensuring stockouts are avoided,” Stavast said. “This not only optimises stock levels but also reduces the risk of overstocking, which can lead to expired products. By keeping inventory data up-to-date, pharmacies can maintain a balanced inventory and improve overall cash flow.” 

PATIENT AND PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT 

“The most critical function in retail pharmacies is patient and prescription management. An effective PPMS should optimise this process, ensuring both efficiency and compliance with regulatory requirements. You want a dispensing system that simplifies prescription processing and recording of a comprehensive patient-specific medication profile.” 

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 

“Claim processing, invoicing, and billing as well as transaction processing at a Point of Sale (POS) is pivotal in any PPMS, helping you to keep track of your revenues and expenses,” Stavast said. “The new PPMS system we’re launching in 2025 offers seamless integration with medical aid switches, allowing for Realtime claim processing in the dispensary.” 

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT CRM  

Pharmacies thrive on strong customer engagement, and a PPMS with CRM features play a key role in building customer loyalty. “You want CRM functionality built in with integration capabilities allowing pharmacies to track customer interactions, store medication histories, and provide personalised services, such as tailored reminders for prescription refills. In addition, integration to loyalty programmes encouraging repeat business and offering rewards to frequent customers is important. A CRM integration tool should allow pharmacies to send targeted promotions, health tips, or wellness program invitations, further enhancing the patient experience.” 

INTEGRATION CAPABILITIES 

“In today’s digital landscape, it is crucial that a PPMS can integrate seamlessly with other systems,” Stavast advised. “The PPMS system we’re launching integrates with various third-party software platforms that simplifies tracking and reporting, ensuring amongst other things accurate billing and financial records. Connecting with e-commerce platforms allows customers to order online, while integration with medical aids ensures speedy claim processing and payments. Robust integration capabilities foster greater operational efficiency and reduces the duplication of work across systems.”