Successfully Navigate Pharmacy Flu Season Staffing Demands

August 12, 2021

Retail pharmacies are expected to become the most popular place to receive both the COVID-19 and flu vaccines this year. Nearly 95% of the population lives within a few miles of a pharmacy, and many people rely on the convenience of local pharmacies for a variety of healthcare services in addition to picking up medication. However, many pharmacies are already feeling the pressure of understaffing, and this intensifies during cold and flu season, so it will be crucial that pharmacies leverage technology to streamline the vaccine delivery process and their overall staff scheduling process as we enter the upcoming flu season.

The COVID-19 vaccine gives pharmacists an important new opportunity to continue ascending to a more prominent role in healthcare. Pharmacies offer patients a high level of trust and unparalleled access to care. This could create lasting change for the industry and profession, but if you’re not ready, this demand could overwhelm you and your staff.

Managing the increased patient needs, processing everything efficiently, and handling the additional reporting registry requirements for COVID-19 can be streamlined by implementing the right software. Particularly, there will be a challenge to pull in all the data elements from the patient, pharmacy, and vaccine administration records that must be combined and reported to the state registry.

Retail pharmacies have risen to many challenges throughout this pandemic and they’re unique capabilities for healthcare delivery have been vital to the ongoing forward progress. However, the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine has also presented significant logistical and operational challenges to retail pharmacists as they try to manage an increased need for patient care and the daily pharmacy workload. This is where technology becomes imperative as you still have normal daily demands to meet and it’s not going to get any easier as this is the new normal.

It’s not too late to implement and get ahead of the upcoming vaccination season with Schedule360’s pharmacy scheduling software. We make it easy, and with our customized features, optimizing your resources will make managing your staff schedule a whole lot easier.

Centralized Scheduling

Centralized scheduling gives you the ability to view your entire workforce with the click of a button. Schedulers can view scheduling by location, or at a regional level, which is ideal for facilities with multiple locations and on-site events that require qualified staffing. Centralized scheduling also allows employees to swap shifts, match up your employees geographically, optimize floats, and more, which greatly improves efficiency in the scheduling process.

License and Credential Tracking

Pharmacies rely on credential tracking to ensure balanced coverage on every shift, but keeping up with the demands, especially in times like these, can stretch your staff to the limits. Gaps in coverage based on lack of credentials can have serious implications. Schedule360’s pharmacy scheduling software tracks and stores employee licensure and credentials and includes system alerts that automatically notify staff 60 days prior to the expiration of their licensure.

Automated Tasks

To achieve optimal efficiency, every resource needs to be optimized, but to do that, you must be able to measure, track, and report time, attendance, and shortages. Automating tasks like employee shift swaps, self-scheduling, time-off requests, credential tracking, OT thresholds reduces the time spent on maintaining the schedule. Free up your admin so they can focus on other tasks by optimizing your workforce without sacrificing your valuable time and resources.

Configured Features

Our scheduling software provides the features you need and nothing you don’t, and we’re always adding new features. With Schedule360 you can add or drop features anytime based on your current scheduling needs. Our features are continually updating and improving to better suit the needs of our users based on real customer feedback. It’s important to find a scheduling software solution that can be configured to fit your needs now with the ability to evolve and adapt to meet your needs in the future.

API Integration

Schedule360 users experience the power of our robust platform to easily exchange data with other software applications. Schedule360 integrates seamlessly with leading payroll, HR and CRM software and services, simplifying your entire scheduling process. Schedule360 uses ORDS (Oracle REST Data Services) to securely transfer employee credentials, time-off requests, schedules, and punch data between our application and many third-party applications.

Easy Deployment

Since we’re a secure cloud-hosted scheduling software, there is nothing to download or install, making setup a seamless and stress-free process. Online training is included, and our customer service is available to assist you 24/7. We do all the heavy lifting for you, as the last thing we want to do is create another task for you to complete.

We Can Help

Retail pharmacies will continue to play a vital role in administering a variety of vaccines and healthcare services. The right technology and software tools can help you meet the demand with an organized solution that’s easy to implement and use. Contact us today to get started.