Sam’s Club Pharmacy

Project:

Pharmacy Layout Improvement

Prepared by:

Todd S. ReesePharmD Candidate

MWU University, 2007

March 21, 2007

Introduction

Sam’s Club pharmacy is a medium volume pharmacy which is very successful. However, the floor plan is not exactly optimal in terms of ease of filling. In observation of the filling process, there are three key areas which may be easily changed which would provide a much more streamlined workflow process for Sam’s Club, thereby reducing filling time and improving customer satisfaction.

Process of Analysis

Sam’s Club pharmacy was observed carefully over a number of weeks to determine the process and workflow. It was evident early on that simple changes could be made to improve the workflow process. Due to the nature of the corporate culture evident at Sam’s Club, ideas for improvement were limited to areas which could be changed with little effort and without cost to the pharmacy.

Areas for Improvement

1. The first area of the pharmacy layout which may be improved is the printer and refrigerator. As is, technicians seeking insulin products often have to ask the pharmacist to move from his/her checking station in order to get the medication in order to scan it and a label it. Additionally, the pharmacist must move from his/her checking station three feet to the right every time a prescription is finalized to obtain the final print-outs (patient information, etc.) prior to their shelving.

2. The second area of the pharmacy layout which may be improved is the shelving for the drugs. As shown in the diagram, the various medications are on the shelves (shown in BLACK). The medications are located in the RED areas, and the filling stations are the BLUE areas.

As such, the pharmacist/technician must not only know where the drug is located, but for multiple fills, the technician must travel in and out of different alleys to obtain the needed drugs. Due to the narrow alleys, technicians are constantly bumping into one another to fill medications. If one technician tries to obtain a medication in an alley where another technician is working, he/she must wait until the alley is clear. This all adds time to the filling process and lowers efficiency.

A measurement of the medication shelving as is reveals that the drugs are dispersed on a total of 339 shelves 16” wide and requires 40 linear feet of shelf space (RED area).

3. The third area of the pharmacy layout which may be improved is the check-out area. As it is now, customers must first go to the “Tasco” check-out area (BLUE at right) where the name and date of birth is required. Then the technician must go obtain the bagged prescription from the prescription waiting area (RED), then back to the Tasco, then to the register (GREEN). At that point, if necessary, the patient should go to the counseling window (YELLOW). As is, the technician and customer must make several movements to sign out and pay for a prescription.

Another problem with this set up is that a large “Pick up” sign exists over the pickup area, but is not centered over the Tasco check-out area or the register, but rather between the two. As such, even regular customers are confused as to where to start the process to pick up their prescription(s). This problem intensifies as multiple people line up to get their prescriptions.

Layout Improvements

1. The simple solution to the refrigerator/printer problem is to swap the two items out with each other. This would allow technicians access to the insulin products without bothering the pharmacist. The printer, closer to the pharmacist, allows him/her to merely reach down to pick up printed pages rather than continually moving back and forth to retrieve the needed documents.

2. By changing the layout of the pharmacy shelving, an optimal situation may be created whereby the filling process can be streamlined. Here is a description of the new layout:

As shown in the figure, shelving is moved such that a long hallway is created. One filling station (far left BLUE) which is hardly used now may be continued to be used mostly for paperwork and new inventory checking.

Note the new PURPLE areas on the front of the two shelves. This area is designated for the top 100 medications sold at Sam’s Club pharmacy (this report is easily obtained from the Connexus system under the reports tab). By having the top 100 medications sold at this Sam’s Club pharmacy out front, technicians do not need to enter the hallway to obtain medications. This reduces the amount of effort required to fill the most commonly dispensed medications at Sam’s Club. The GREEN area is designated for liquids, but enough space exists to add all the opthalmics as well. The RED area is designated for the non-top 100 drugs, arranged in alphabetical order from left to right starting at the second BLUE filling station and circling around.

Similar systems such as this exist in the Scottsdale area and have been instrumental in reducing the amount of time required to fill the most common prescriptions.

3. The third layout design change is at the Tasco/register area. These changes are illustrated in the diagram to the right. In this improvement, the first step is to swap out the register (BLUE) with the Tasco unit (GREEN). Secondly, a queuing line is added and set up as shown with the RED line. A small sign could be added at the corner reading “Wait here.” This creates a natural flow from Waiting line (1) to Tasco (2) to register (3) to counseling window (4).

By implementing the check-out flow in this manner, customers will line up on the end of the building where there is more room instead of in the second aisle. The use of a queuing line shows customers right where to go to begin the process. Further, the Tasco unit is now close to the prescription holding area, reducing the amount of movement for the technicians.

Conclusion

By implementing these layout changes, Sam’s Club pharmacy can become more efficient at filling prescriptions and reduce the burden of workload on the pharmacists and technicians.