The Pharmacy product search tab is the same search tab that is available under the Navigation window. The only difference is that the Back button will return to this tab.
The tab is composed of three parts: The Presc Search panel to look up products based on certain parameters or keywords, the Presc List that outputs the results, and the Product Details screen.
Product Details contains subtabs where you can customize the product pricing, associate generics, and build out interaction warnings.
The presc search panel allows you to search by the product name, the line and sequence number, the category, and the product type. You can also filter by active or inactive products.
Clicking on the Search button will generate a list of all products in the system that match the requested parameters. Reset Search will clear all the fields.
The Presc List is a display of all products in the system that match the selected criteria in the search. if ASAQ is enabled for your hospital, you can modify ASAQ attributes on the products and save them directly from this screen.
In the example above, the search criteria was for all products matching Line 21.
Products can be sorted by Line, Seq, Product Name, Active Flag, Unit Price, Unit Cost, Last Updated Date, and Last Updated User.
To view Product Details for a product, click on the Product Name in the list.
Product Identifiers
The Product Details screen contains two major sections at the top, and a series of tabs at the bottom.
The first section at the top is basic product identifiers. This includes the Product Name, the description, the product name as you wish it to appear on patient orders, the standard code (if used), the Product Type, Product Category, any associated Service Units, and whether the unit can be changed on an Order. The Active flag to disable a product in the system is also here.
These options are the same for all products in the system.
Product Setup Options
This section controls which tabs are available on the bottom portion of the screen. For all products, the screens that will appear at a minimum are the Product Details, Inventory, and Medical Record screens.
Multi-Item, Prescription Setup, Control Drug Machine Setup, and ASAQ Eligible are all optional tabs that you can turn on for any product.
Basic Tab Set
The Product Details section contains many sections outlining specific circumstances for product charges.
This tab controls the most basic product pricing for this product.
The actual unit cost is how much your vendor charged you for this product. The Pricing Basis is your initial resale value before any mark ups are added. You can choose a pre-defined markup, as well as a volume discount for prescriptions.
The Fractional Quantity flag indicates that this product contains a fixed volume that can be sold in parts (e.g. 1/2 a bottle.) If this flag is unchecked, then only the whole unit can be sold.
Client Type discounts allow you to give a percentage discount to students or staff.
Auto Update price ensure that the price will be accurate on the bill at the time of order. (Otherwise the Recalculate button must be pressed on older orders.)
The minimum price is recommended for small volume products that may be sold in quantities that would not on their own produce enough revenue to justify the time for your staff to prepare the product for sale, e.g. inexpensive liquids such as prednisalone.
The Selected Taxes section allows you to choose which pre-defined tax percentages are applicable to this product.
Depending on your state laws, certain types of products may not require state or local taxes. These taxes can thus be customized on a per product basis.
The price calculator tool is a small feature that lets you get a precise amount that a product will be charged based on the current settings.
This tool will pull in any volume discounts, any service fees, taxes, and other charges that are applicable for a given quantity.
The Reorder Quantities section lets you define at which stock levels the Inventory Reorder system will prompt you to order more of this product.
For products whose sales to stock ratio, or whose stock to order ratio is not 1:1 this section also allows you to differentiate between what is a critical Sales level vs a Stock level, and how much you should actually order to account for usage between when the PO is placed and the order is shipped.
If a vendor has been set as the default for this product under the Vendor tab, then this section will display the stored information regarding the product.
Otherwise, if there is no default vendor, it will display each field as grayed out.
If this product has been previously ordered, the results and status of the last two purchase orders associated with the product will display in this section.
This panel allows you to add other products that have been added as a type of "service fee" to the system.
This is an alternative way of defining a minimum price, or can be used in conjunction with the minimum price to account for the time and efforts of your staff to prepare a product for sale.
The synonym section allows you to define additional search strings in the product lookup that will reach this box. For example, "saline" for brand names of various saline solution products.
Note that the synonym is not the same as a generic which is used to link pharmacy products together as a family and apply bulk attributes to them. The synonym is only used for search purposes, and can be used for products that are not necessarily defined as a pharmacy product. See the Generic tab for more information on how to define and link generic families to products.
Alternate IDs are additional product numbers (besides the line and seq number) that you can associate with a product. This includes barcode numbers, CDM numbers, lab product numbers, or any other custom number you wish to link to this product.
The notes section allows you to add any free text notes regarding this product that you wish. This could be anything from a preferred color by certain clinicians, to the last time the vendor's sales representative sent you a new catalog.
The Inventory tab is comprised of two subtabs, a main inventory tab, and the vendor tab.
The Inventory subtab gives detailed information regarding the known stock quantities of this product. If you expand the row for an inventory area, it will also display the most recent transactions for this product. (For full inventory transactions, you must visit the Inventory pages - this is only an overview.)
You can also add inventory directly from this page by clicking on the Add Inventory button and entering in the information for that particular order of the product.
The Vendor subtab allows you to add vendors associated with this product, edit or update their information, and also set one vendor as the default.
Basic vendor information can be added from this page as well. To add detailed vendor information, including contracts and alternate contact information, you must visit the Vendor page instead.
The Medical Record options tab allows you to control how this information will appear in an episode for the patient.
The default is as a Medication, but the other options are Antiparasitic, Over the Counter, Vaccine, and Euthanasia.
Medication will mark the product as a medication given during the course of the episode that is not a vaccine, anti-parasitic, or a prescription product. However, medications can have labels printed out like prescriptions.
Antiparasitic should be used to indicate the patient was treated with a prescription product within the office, e.g. a flea bath, or a de-worming medication, but a prescription for take-home was not issued.
Over the Counter is intended for non-medicinal products sold during the course of the episode, such as treats, toys, etc. Labeling information can still be printed for these products, including expiration dates and instructions.
Vaccine will add the product to the patient's printed Vaccine report.
Euthanasia will automatically update the patient to be deceased and the date of the order as the date of the patient being euthanized.
For products dispensed through a Controlled Drug Machine, you can further customize these routing rules on the CDM tab.