The primary goal of this project is to develop the pharmacy logistics and inventory management system from scratch to optimize the process of medication delivery for patients in correctional facilities, covering the stages from the initial creation of an order and monitoring its status to understanding the level of available stocks at the point of purchase. This back-end solution is integrated with the existing EHR system and supports logistical coordination from external third-party suppliers.
Correctional Pharmacy Logistics and Inventory System
The primary goal of this project is to develop the pharmacy logistics and inventory management system from scratch to optimize the process of medication delivery for patients in correctional facilities, covering the stages from the initial creation of an order and monitoring its status to understanding the level of available stocks at the point of purchase. This back-end solution is integrated with the existing EHR system and supports logistical coordination from external third-party suppliers.
Business Challenge
The implementation of the unified pharmacy logistics and inventory system is aimed at overcoming the challenges that are related to the delivery of parcels with medications across several correctional facilities:
- Most of the work related to ordering, tracking, and receiving medicine packages was done manually (e.g., placing an order, checking the status of the package directly on the delivery service’s website, etc.), which could lead to miscommunication or delays
- Medical staff needed real-time updates to predict treatment without delays or pauses in patient medication
- The need to have audit trails and document every shipment event
- Manually updating inventory records could lead to discrepancies between actual inventory and system data
Solution
The back-end .NET developers implemented an application that acts as a mediator between the EHR system and *UPS. As a legal client, the system utilizes the UPS API to be able to monitor all orders, archives, current, and future deliveries. The application writes a query and stores the data in the main app’s internal SQL database. The solution tracks the status of the order and its location. The doctor sees the status updated every 15 minutes.
*UPS or United Parcel Service is the leading delivery and logistics company in the United States, which is used in the correctional healthcare branch for medication delivery from pharmacies or third-party vendors.
Technical Implementation Details of the Solution Divided by Used APIs
UPS Shipping API:
- Generation of shipment record
- Assignment of a tracking number
- Attachment of the shipping label to the parcel
- Shipment cancellation before the parcel is handed over to UPS
UPS Pickup API
- Scheduling the pickup from the pharmacy, which means the notification of the UPS service for parcel readiness at an exact time
UPS Tracking API:
- Tracking the parcel status by the tracking number (in transit, out for delivery, etc.) after the shipment is accepted by UPS
- Tracking the location based on the last known location
- Facility notification about the incoming delivery
- Automatic update of the on-site inventory to ensure the display of actual inventory levels (after the assignment of the “Delivered” status)
- Logging the shipment’s history by saving timelines of each action
- Updating the status of the several parcels every 15 minutes
Business Impact
The pharmacy system for logistics and inventory management enables the business to achieve the following results:
- Process automation and the ability to see the information on medication delivery from one place
- Reducing delays or lateness in treatment through process optimization and timely delivery of medications
- Reducing the need for manual actions
- Full compliance with regulatory requirements related to the medication orders, tracking, and deliveries
- Better coordination and cooperation efforts between the correctional facilities and pharmacies
