Q&A: Pharmacy Modernization Through Use of AI, Micro-Fulfillment

Through the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI), micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs), and omni-channel care, retail storefronts like Walgreens are streamlining the future of pharmacy to be modernized and patient-focused.

“Pharmacy is really at a turning point,” Rick Gates, chief pharmacy officer at Walgreens, told Drug Topics. “We're focusing, quite honestly, on modernizing our model for the long term, and that means investing in the next generation of pharmacy; that's both people and infrastructure but really rethinking how we operate.”

Gates touched on AI, micro-fulfillment centers, and how omni-channel care is connecting with patients before they enter the pharmacy. | image credit: pkproject / stock.adobe.com

From pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to new technology and modernized processes, Gates discussed the ongoing developments at Walgreens and how they are asking the important questions necessary for operating a sustainable pharmacy business.

Read through part 3 of our interview with Gates, and stay tuned for the full-length conversation posting to Over the Counter podcast channels this Thursday afternoon.

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Drug Topics: With new technologies like AI, there are lots of talks surrounding innovation and modernization within pharmacy practice. Can you explain what this looks like right now?

Rick Gates: I've been in pharmacy for 30 years now, and I can tell you, pharmacy hasn't evolved as quickly as it has needed to over time. But pharmacy is really at a turning point. We're focusing, quite honestly, on modernizing our model for the long term, and that means investing in the next generation of pharmacy; that's both people and infrastructure but really rethinking how we operate. At Walgreens, we ask ourselves 3 questions as we look at how we modernize pharmacy. One is how do we get more efficient with our teams so that they can deliver more care to the patients and communities that they're in? The second question is how do we design scalable clinical programs that support chronic care management while driving sustainable growth? The third, and probably the most important, is how do we elevate the pharmacist’s role, truly empowering them to fully participate to the top of their education and see community pharmacy as a rewarding long-term career path to really help with some of the staffing challenges we've had?

I'll walk you through some examples that hit on the 3 of those. The first is AI. If you think about AI, we leverage it for sometimes simple things. How do we optimize our store operations by using the data that we have on our stores to streamline processes like inventory management, staffing, and prescription fulfillment. We're also using data to better engage our customers by identifying things like gaps in care. An example there could be patients could be due for a vaccine, they haven't refilled medications at appropriate rates, or they're eligible for a screening through their insurance that we can queue up and have that relevant conversation when the patient is actually in our stores. Data really helps trigger our systems so that patients will receive personalized outreach via email, phone, app notifications, really helping them stay on track with their health care plans. I think it's how we leverage data and leverage AI to really help us optimize the backend of what we're doing.

Beyond AI, we’re investing a lot in the infrastructure, and one of those key ones is micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs). That's really in direct response to the workload concerns that we've had for our team members in our stores. But actually, we've learned a lot from MFC rollout that's enabling so much more for us than just that. Our team members [who] work in stores supported by MFCs are spending less time filling prescriptions and more time on direct patient care. Those things can be things like medication therapy management, adherence support so that they get in and stay on their medication, administering vaccines or health screenings, all of which are really important to strengthen the health of the communities that we're in, and a lot of the times because we're the only health care provider in those communities. The other thing about MFCs is they really do help eliminate routine tasks and excess inventory from our pharmacies to add efficiency. That's really making a better environment for health care workers and where they want to work. I like to put some data behind it. MFCs to date have generated about $500 million in savings by cutting excess inventory and boosting efficiency. I think what's most important, as a pharmacist myself, is that these stores, that are supported by our micro-fulfillment sites, are administering 40% more vaccines than stores that are not supported by micro-fulfillment sites. It's really having an impact on direct patient care with what we're doing.

The last example I'll give you is we really have to look at omni channel and meeting customers where they are. I think that's something that you hear lots of things about, people going mail order or go into different areas. We really have an omni-channel experience where we're looking at things like digital check-in to improve the experience in the store. We're really optimizing our home delivery for patients that may want that, even though we're seeing a very small uptake in-home delivery, or virtual care. We're really just trying to understand what consumers are looking for and then investing in the things that will really make them want to come and engage with their pharmacy and with Walgreens more often.

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