When Marshfield Medical Center-Park Falls wrapped up phase one of its $35 million renovation project last summer a new pharmacy was part of the upgrades.
“We did not have any pharmacy services for outpatients, so those prescriptions would be directed to other local pharmacies, either in Park Falls or Phillips, or wherever the patient wanted to go. This is kind of a new venue for the Marshall Medical Center here in Park falls,” said Pharmacy Manager Sarah Bablick.
Now outpatients can pick up their prescriptions filled at the hospital. Though, it may be a bit different of an experience than people are used to at other pharmacies.
“When patients come in, you'll be greeted by the technician, but you won't actually see a physical pharmacist on site,” said Bablick.
The hospital is a remote dispensing pharmacy site.
This means the technician will fill prescription orders on site and when it’s time to hand it over, the patient will talk with a pharmacist at another Marshfield location through a computer.
Bablick says the decision to go this route was partial cost saving, not having to hire a pharmacist for the site, and partly because they were unsure how many people would use the service.
“It's gone pretty smoothly. We had a couple patients the first day, and we've kind of grown our volume since,” said Bablick.
The pharmacy technician on site has more training than a typical pharmacist.
There’s also checks in place to make sure everything is processed correctly.
“She actually has a camera on her counter where she'll take a picture of everything. The pharmacist that’s verifying could be from Marshfield, for example, will see all that in the computer system, and will be able to check that prescription remotely. Once that pharmacist gives the okay, the pharmacy technician can hand it to the patient, check them out, and then just before leaving, that patient can do a touch base with the pharmacist remotely,” said Bablick.
The pharmacy is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. With a half hour closure at 1:00 for the technician’s lunch.
It’s closed weekends and holidays.
