Health Professionals FAQ
Affordability
No two clients are the same.
A busy Emergency Department in a major metro area and a rural Urgent Care clinic may have very different goals when it comes to dispensing prescriptions to patients via InstyMeds. Their organizations may impose varying technical and business requirements. And they may also be located in states with different pharmacy and physician-dispensing regulations.
Our technology is evolving rapidly and our offerings vary considerably to meet new customer and regulatory requirements.
Before we can give you a quote, we’ll need to learn a few things about what you want to achieve so we can configure the solution that will work specifically for you.
We are confident we can provide you EVERYTHING you need to succeed with direct-to-patient dispensing because we’ve been perfecting our InstyMeds Medication Adherence System for over two decades.
So, let us help you get started and we’ll provide you a quote for an InstyMeds system designed to meet and exceed your goals.
Yes, you can. But maybe not quite the way you are thinking.
After the big players in the pharmaceutical value chain – drug manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacy chains, payers, and prescription benefit managers – agree on who pays what to whom, the margins for dispensing many commonly-prescribed medications are typically slim.
Often, very slim.
Even “negative” slim.
So, how do you make money with InstyMeds?
You do it by elevating your outpatient operation to a level your competition cannot match to give your patients what they want most: A Faster Path to Wellness.
And in return you get
- Better clinical outcomes because many more of your patients will fill their prescriptions.
- Improved profitability as a result of better outcomes.
- Your patients’ love. Which is what will keep them coming back. And bringing their families and friends to your facility.
And that, in a nutshell, is why you do what you do in the first place…
Let us show you how you can become the outpatient destination of choice in your community.
Just like buying a smart phone without a service plan will get you a very expensive paperweight…
buying an InstyMeds dispenser without connecting it to our enterprise software system, will get you a 1,500-pound case of steel occupying your valuable floor space.
Our dispenser is an integral part of the InstyMeds Medication Adherence System and doesn’t work without a live connection to it. That’s why we don’t sell dispensers without a subscription to our services.
The enterprise software suite is the brains that makes automated dispensing of prescriptions possible 24/7/365
with 100% dispensing accuracy…
in compliance with applicable regulations…
while taking only 90 seconds to validate each Rx order, perform safety checks, and attach a personalized patient label before dispensing a drug.
So, unless you want to buy the dispenser by itself because you plan to spend the next couple of years
Writing your own software for highly regulated healthcare processes;
Running a gazillion tests to ensure patient safety;
And managing compliance with regulatory and IT security requirements…
You need the subscription to the InstyMeds Medication Adherence System to succeed with automated dispensing of prescriptions.
Once you start using InstyMeds, you’ll be making a huge difference in your patients’ experience by helping them Feel Better Faster with an easy way to get their prescriptions.
Which, in turn, improves your clinical outcomes because more of your patients start filling their prescriptions.
And it turns your patients into your biggest fans, which means they will keep coming back and bringing family and friends to your facility
This virtuous cycle helps your outpatient operation thrive despite declining reimbursement and growing competition.
To get more value out of InstyMeds, you can follow these 3 best practices developed by some of our biggest and most successful customers:
- Selecting the medication formulary that targets the important disease states based on your treatment goals.
- Making sure as many prescribers as possible are offering InstyMeds to qualifying patients.
- Offer InstyMeds to as many qualifying patients as possible and especially to those who are on Medicaid, Medicare and underinsured.
The 2019 InstyMeds Outcomes Study saw a greater than 50% reduction in return visits for patients using InstyMeds to fill their prescriptions. If your facility experiences unreimbursed costs from return visits and hospitalizations, YOU WILL SAVE MONEY. Avoiding just one unreimbursed hospitalization will more than pay for a year of InstyMeds services.
Let us show you how we can help you elevate your outpatient operation to a level.
Payments
Yes, InstyMeds accepts most private insurance plans. Public insurance plans are also accepted (vary by state rules and regulations), including Medicare Part D and other government programs.
If there is no insurance coverage for medications, the patient will pay standard retail price for their medication. The healthcare facility may also elect to provide the medications at no cost to the patient (compassionate care).
If the patient has insurance information entered in their registration record, an insurance adjudication request is automatically sent through a claims processing system for approval. If automatic processing is not possible, pharmacy technicians in the InstyMeds Patient Service Center utilize basic patient demographic information to access insurance information. A technician may communicate with the patient live via the phone on the dispenser if they have additional questions on the patient’s insurance information. InstyMeds is accepted by nearly all third-party payers that can be electronically submitted.
Patients eligible for Worker’s Comp can fill their prescriptions with InstyMeds. We will provide regular reports to your facility with all of the information required for your reimbursement submission
Patients also have the option to pay for the medication at the InstyMeds dispenser and submit a receipt to their Worker’s Comp program for reimbursement.
InstyMeds calculates the amount due from the patient, if any. The patient is prompted to make a payment for the amount due using their credit, debit, or HSA card (cash acceptance module is available as an add-on feature if needed). InstyMeds processes the payment on the facility’s behalf and prints out a receipt for the patient.
Other
Yes! InstyMeds operates under a legal framework called “physician dispensing” which allows for prescribing, counseling and dispensing of medications to patients by prescribers and at prescribers’ locations. We have been successfully dispensing in the US since 2001 and hold licenses and accreditations in most US states.
But InstyMeds goes beyond simply complying with physician dispensing regulations. With our core competence in direct-to-patient dispensing, technology excellence, and vertically-integrated drug distribution we offer an unmatched combination of patient safety and provider security.
From supplying pedigree drugs compliant with serialization requirements, to providing personalized, state-approved patient labels with every medication, to preventing dispensing of expired and recalled medicines and safeguarding patient health and payment information, InstyMeds often exceeds regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions we operate in. Click here to learn more.
Patients given a full course of an antibiotic treatment are much more likely to finish the medication then those given a starter pack.
Choosing InstyMeds for your facility ensures your patients always receive a full course of medication, reducing the threat of antibiotic resistance in your community.
Using InstyMeds is much safer than using loose pills to treat them in an Emergency Department, Urgent Care, or outpatient clinic setting.
For starters, our proven 100% dispensing accuracy guarantees that patients always receive the exact medications ordered by their prescribers. We dispense a full course of each medication with a personalized label that includes requisite safety warnings and complies with the state’s Board of Pharmacy requirements. And we eliminate the possibility of dispensing expired or recalled medications. Leveraging technology to ensure patient safety is our #1 priority!
Yes. We print a personalized medication label and attach it to every container dispensed. Label contents are mandated by each state’s Board of Pharmacy and typically include drug and provider information, patient information (including PII), and requisite safety warnings.
We comply with all applicable HIPAA data storage requirements including the HITECH Act. We have a SOC2-compliant data center and route data traffic through VPNs. Click here to learn more about safety and security.
Ease of Use
The InstyMeds system has been traditionally used for dispensing the following types of medications in the US:
- Acute medications
- 1st fill of chronic medications
- Any other non-refrigerated medications that meet regulatory requirements for direct-to-patient automated dispensing in the customer’s jurisdiction.
As a physician-dispensing system InstyMeds must be located in the same physical facility as the prescribers in the United States. Therefore, our system is not suitable for placement in retail pharmacies and shopping centers.
Powerful and easy to use? While everyone promises that, the InstyMeds system was actually designed from the ground up to reduce staff workload.
- Your staff doesn’t need to be at the dispenser to dispense a medication! Patients are guided through self-service transactions by following instructions on the touchscreen and collect their medications with personalized labels at the end.
- InstyMeds manages medication inventory in your dispenser and ships replenishments before you run out.
- Drug expiration dates and recalls are are tracked automatically to prevent dispensing of expired and recalled medications.
- The only work your staff will need to do involves restocking the dispenser with new prepackaged medications received from InstyMeds. This is typically done by a pharmacy technician or a clinic nurse and takes no more than 15 minutes per week.
The InstyMeds Medication Adherence System was designed to fit seamlessly into standard patient workflows. The provider-patient interaction is not affected by the prescriptions sent to InstyMeds. View the detailed process overview here.
Yes. We integrate with almost all major EMRs allowing prescribers to place orders for InstyMeds in their favorite e-prescribing tools. Please contact us with any specific questions related to EMR integration.
As a physician-dispensing system InstyMeds must be located in the same physical facility as the prescribers in the United States. Therefore, our system is not suitable for placement in retail pharmacies and shopping centers.
We recommend putting our dispenser in places with high patient foot-traffic and easy accessibility such as waiting areas or lobbies. The dispenser is designed to fit all standard doorways. For more information about dimensions, power requirements, and network connectivity please view the dispenser specifications page.
Inventory Management
First, we work with every new customer to assist them in selecting the right formulary that meets their goals and can be successfully dispensed by our robotics. We make sure that we can procure all the drugs through RedPharm Drug, our wholly-owned and VAWD-accredited pharmacy wholesaler. From that point on, RedPharm Drug will continuously monitor inventory levels in every dispenser and ship new medications in prepackaged magazines BEFORE customers run out of any product.
We have perfected our drug supply chain management over the years so that our customers:
- Don’t have to spend their time on it;
- Never run out of drugs in the dispenser;
- Can dispense medications in their preferred forms and quantities;
- Will never dispense expired or recalled drugs through InstyMeds;
- Can create reports to view dispensing history, inventory levels and other metrics in the InstyMeds system.
We do ask that our customers restock the dispenser with new magazines. This is typically done by a pharmacy technician or a clinic nurse and takes no more than 15 minutes per week.
And because we want our customers to succeed with InstyMeds, we offer to conduct periodic formulary reviews should there be changes in clinical, business or patient needs.
We can dispense the vast majority of unit-dose outpatient medications subject to regulatory requirements and compatibility with robotic handling.
Our customers in the United States have generally made the following types of medications available through InstyMeds:
- Acute medications including pain relievers, antibiotics, antihistamines, inhalers, eye drops, etc.;
- First fill of chronic medications;
- Any other non-refrigerated medications that meet regulatory requirements in the customer’s jurisdiction.
Dispensing controlled substances is an option available to our customers. InstyMeds has the tools to control and monitor the dispensing of opioids, ensuring that only those who really need them receive their prescriptions. This tracking system is proven to reduce abuse and diversion.
Restocking is the process of filling the InstyMeds dispenser with new magazines containing prepackaged medications. The magazines are packaged with medications by InstyMeds and shipped to our customers with sufficient lead time to prevent inventory stock-outs.
Restocking should be done by an authorized facility staff member, such as a pharmacy technician or a nurse, by following simple instructions on the dispenser touchscreen. It should not take more than 15 minutes per week.
Patient FAQ
In the United States InstyMeds dispensers are typically located in hospital emergency rooms, urgent care clinics, and specialty outpatient clinics that want to make prescriptions available to patients at the point of care.
By law, our dispensers must be at the same physical facilities as their prescribers which is why you will not find InstyMeds at retail pharmacies or shopping centers.
Yes. You must have a valid prescription to receive medications from an InstyMeds dispenser.
After treating a patient, the provider must consult the patient on the medications prescribed and submit an electronic prescription order to InstyMeds. Patients can fill their prescriptions only at the dispensers located at the prescribers’ facilities.
Your healthcare provider decides which medications should be available in InstyMeds dispensers. Typically these are drugs used to treat acute conditions such as antibiotics, pain relievers, antihistamines, inhalers, eye drops and muscle relaxants. In some cases providers may select to offer first fills of chronic medications through InstyMeds.
A typical dispense takes a couple of minutes. With a short stop at the InstyMeds dispenser you will collect your medications before leaving the healthcare facility and get better quicker! InstyMeds saves patients 1-2 hours by eliminating the travel and waiting involved in filling prescriptions at other locations.
Yes. We accept most private insurance plans and majority of our healthcare clients allow their patients to use insurance with InstyMeds. We also accept public insurance plans including Medicare Part D and other government programs, subject to state rules and regulations. When a medication is not covered by insurance, the patient will be asked to pay the standard retail price for it.
Our patented triple-barcode safety check ensures that patients will always get the exact medications prescribed. 100% accurate, 100% of the time.
We also provide detailed drug information to patients and dispense each container with a personalized label with requisite safety warnings. If you have any questions, just lift the handset on the dispenser to speak to a representative at our 24/7 Patient Service Center.
No. To comply with physician dispensing regulations in the United States, InstyMeds has been designed to dispense the first fill of a prescription only.
You can request a copy of a receipt from the InstyMeds Patient Service Center by calling 1-866-306-3502 or by emailing them at [email protected].
The InstyMeds Patient Service Center is available 24/7 to answer questions about your transaction. You can speak directly with a representative by lifting the handset on the dispenser. You can also reach them at 1-866-306-3502.
