Physician Dispensing Frequently Asked Questions

1. How will in-office dispensing benefit my patients and my practice?

Providing your patients with medications during an office visit will benefit your patients is many ways:

• SAVE YOUR PATIENTS TIME: Patients who are hurt or in pain will appreciate the convenience that comes from receiving their medications from their physician.
• IMPROVE TREATMENT COMPLIANCE: Published estimates indicate that many patients do not fill their prescriptions. By dispensing medications directly to your patients you will be certain your patients have the medications they need.

2. Is dispensing right for my office?

Dispensing is typically done in offices which prescribe heavily for acute conditions needing a single course of therapy. Typical medications include antibiotics, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory, pain, and gastro related medications.

3. Will I be a full service pharmacy?

No! We recommend that you stock anywhere from 5 to 15 of your most commonly prescribed generic medications. This way, you can cover up to 80% of your patients' medication needs while keeping inventory costs and overhead low.

4. Will I have to count pills or label bottles?

No! All medications are delivered to your office pre-counted, prepackaged and labeled - ready to dispense to your patients. There are no pills to count and each bottle is labeled with professional, easy-to-read label that comply with all State and Federal packaging and labeling requirements.

5. Is in-office dispensing time consuming?

No! Using the EqMD software your staff should be able to dispense and record a prescription in seconds because EqMD has done most of the work for you.
Medications are prepackaged, labeled and ready-to-dispense. All your staff needs to do is complete a single entry in the software, scan the bottle with a barcode scanner that is provided and apply a patient label to the back of the medication bottle. It's that easy.

6. Can my staff handle most of the workload?

Yes. Rules vary state by state, but in most cases office staff can dispense medications you order under your supervision. Apart from legal requirements, the extent of office staff involvement is completely up to you. For example, some offices will delegate the dispensing process to their nursing staff.

7. Is physician dispensing legal?

Yes. In most states physician dispensing is legal. A few states like New York, Texas and Utah do not permit physician dispensing. As long as a doctor has a valid DEA and state medical license they can provide a point-of-care pharmacy dispensing program.