One of the oldest pharmacies in the U.S. faced the same modern problem that irks almost all community pharmacies: the “doubting customer.”

The site of Mitchell’s Park Street Pharmacy in Calico Rock, AR, has been continually open since 1879. Every so often, a customer would accuse the staff of mis-dispensing their medications – almost always narcotics. The problem was infrequent but disruptive and costly. Now, this 135-year-old pharmacy has a high-tech solution: Mitchell’s uses the Kirby Lester KL1Plus computerized pill counting machine. 

KL1Plus: The Accountable Counter Machine

Every script the staff fills through the KL1Plus is captured and easily retrievable – like a pill counter taking a picture in time of every order. When proof is needed, the customer can be shown a data snapshot

This snapshot includes: 

• Date and time of the Rx fill 
• Medication and photo 
• Prescribed quantity 
• Counted quantity 
• 2nd count quantity and stock bottle back-count (if controlled substance) 
• Staff member who filled the script (optional) 

Minimizing Human Error – And Stress Among Staff

Before bringing in the KL1Plus, business manager Steven Mitchell, who owns this historic pharmacy with pharmacist and spouse Sarah Mitchell, says these customer challenges (usually groundless) were just plain bad for business.

“You want to dispense every prescription correctly and you hate to think our staff made an error. But you don’t want to be taken advantage of. We were doing the human being double-count on all controlled substances but we were still vulnerable. We had no proof.” 

A Decades Worth of Accurate & Reliable Reporting

When the Mitchells switched their pharmacy management system to PioneerRx, they made the decision to also upgrade from their old Kirby Lester KL15e to the device that interfaced with PioneerRx. The KL1Plus was ideal for many reasons. The interface with PioneerRx is simple to use and a time- and step-saver. The device does not allow the wrong NDC, strength, or quantity to accidentally be filled. The KL1Plus keeps a record of every fill for 10 years, and sends a confirmation to PioneerRx. In these ways, Mitchell equates having the KL1Plus onsite as “like being a member of the staff; it’s that valuable.” 

An Ironclad Defense Against Accusations of Mis-Dispensing

Yet, Mitchell goes back to his personal #1 feature of his KL1Plus. “That electronic record of dispensing controls makes us ironclad. We have undisputed proof of what we fill. Once word got around town that we were using a counter that tied in to our computer system, we stopped getting challenged,” he says.  

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