Smartscript

[johnep]

Any skilled BTC computer experts out there? Pharmacy Manager and Mediphase both have useful pt notes system which flashes up when you identify pt. ie ( Likes APC brand of Co-dydramol) etc.

is it possible to do this in Smartscript?

[silnarnin]

Smartscript is a very difficult system, and also very slow. To put useful notes you should go into the patient record, and click on notes, and write there. However, you can only write around 5 lines of text and that's it, and anyone can erase it.

If I remember right you have to do a patient search. So click in Work queue, and then in bypass. You put surname,name, like smith,john or smith,j or smi,jo, and the matches appear. You select the one you want and double click it, and then the window with his medication appear. If you double click in the patient's name, that is located on top of the window, you can go to the patient individual record. The different dividers start with the general information (name, address), then you have more things, like the notes.

However, as a pharmacist, you should have a sign on code. If you work regularly in the same store you have to ask in the dispensary for them to set up a code for you. If they don't know how, ask for the instruction manual of smartscript, and says there how. You'll need your code for ETP too. With the pharmacist code, you can go into the processed prescription section in the work queue and add notes in the clinical checking place. Theoretically, all pharmacists should sign off prescriptions as checked in this screen, but I don't know anyone that does it.

Anymore questions, feel free to ask.

[Steve G]

The mere mention of smartscript brings me out in a cold sweat. When I was a student I had the misfortune to work in two stores when they got switched from the old system. It was absolute chaos. At one time there were waiting times of over two hours! That was a really relaxing Christmas break.

[johnep]

What really amused me was that Nigel Reathorne wrote self congratulatory article in C&D. I wrote long illustrated critique of smart script cf pharmacy manager, but no one wanted to know at the time.

Perhaps we could start complaints blog here.

1) I hate the difficulty in simply entering new pt. Takes ages to search online which we are supposed to do even if newborn or live locally.

Then have to enter date of birth fully eg 02/07/1934 whereas in PM only need enter 020734.
Have to choose from pop up list re pts title and then later have to put in sex.
In PM, as soon as enter Mr, sex identified as male.

then after all this, past history screen flashes up instead of drug entry screen.

Still it will not allow you to start. popup list for exemption, pcs etc. Whereas simple key press in PM.

All this adds extra seconds, important if doing 300+ scripts a day.

No last pt entry key, have to put in full name again.

I could carry on at length re every stage of producing a label.
johnep

[Jeff]

My Smartscript problem is the warnings appearing on separate labels.
So many of the Boots systems are irritatingly different that I don't feel at all secure working there.

Jeff

[silnarnin]

I agree, it's an awfull system. A dispensary needs a computer per 100 items, while with pharmacist manager you can easily do 500 with only one computer.

The story that I was told is that Tesco refused it, and Boots bought it because they had an ultimatum from the Dep. of Health. The old system, APECS, was very easy to use but didn't record the information required by law.

I was the pharmacist in charge when my old store changed to Smartscript. What a horrible week! We had a big bowl of sweets for the costumers. It doesn't get much better, because in a high street pharmacy you get loads of new patients or patients that haven't been in for a while, so you end up spending loads of time doing a patient search. So you can't really say that I'll do it in a few minutes, because sometimes it can be half an hour. And if you try to do the search in another computer, you might end up with two computers showing a little paper going from left to right.

However, I think the ordering system even worse. When I saw it, just fresh from Portugal, I only laughed! The small card system is ridiculous and a big waste of time.

[johnep]

Well of course, if you are working in a rival store then you soon hear the old refrain 'Boots have'nt got it, have you?'.

Jesse Boots once claimed to know the stock levels in several stores, when I started in BTC 57 yrs ago, the staff spent more time on stock books than in attending to customers.

They stopped checking off stock from their own warehouses several years ago, and then claim to lose upto £200 in 'shrinkage'.

Smartscript at present does not seem to have built in ordering system and returning from holiday is always a nightmare of o/s.

Most sophisticated ordering system IMO is Eclipse where you can set up each individual product so that gradually a monthly order is accumulated for a short line high discount wholesaler, yet still keep stock topped up in meantime via AAH etc. Owings were very rare in the days before mcs.

An independent I worked for and known for over 20 years put in EPOS in the very early days and reckoned it saved a member of staff and ensured stocks were at optimum. He employed a Saturday boy/girl with interest in cptrs to do a physical stock and adjust levels on cptr. Naturally he is now a millionaire.

Just bought a farm to reduce inheritance tax.
johnep

[Pharmanaut]

Could it be that how Smartscript works was specified by people working at desks in Boots in Nottingham?

[johnep]

Of Course! Usual experience is that important buying decisions are always made by people without practical knowledge. The govnmt lead the field in this area.
johnep

[johnep]

Working with smartscript this week. Both Pharmacy manager and Mediphase can produce a list of scripts dispensed in chronological order. Very useful if you are trying to think of a previous pt.

Is it possible to do this in Smartscript? and how?
johnep