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Alden Pharmacy Deploys PharmASSIST Symphony+ System to Handle 50% Rx Volume Increase
New York State Independent Cites PharmASSIST's Small Footprint and Workflow Management for Long Term Care as Keys

JOHNSON CITY, NY - September 2, 2004 - Innovation Associates announces that Alden Pharmacy of Alden, New York, has successfully implemented their PharmASSIST® Symphony+ System to address a one-year 50% increase in prescription volume. Alden Pharmacy's substantial volume increase was the result of their contracting with a long-term care facility for all prescription services. Alden Pharmacy's goals in deploying the automation were to increase capacity to safely handle the surge in Rx volume, to obtain an automation solution that could handle the long-term care filling requirements, and to reduce workflow chaos and employee stress.

"With our acquisition of the long-term care business, I realized I needed to make a decision about automation. The significant increase in volume in a very limited space had created a chaotic environment, and I was concerned about staff stress, dispensing accuracy, and maintaining our customer service levels," says Ronald Smith, R.Ph and owner of Alden Pharmacy. "I looked at various systems and PharmASSIST's small footprint and its ability to handle the various nuances of the long-term care filling were the keys to my decision. In my opinion, there's no way we could handle our increased volume without this system," adds Smith.

Alden Pharmacy was filling approximately 200-225 prescriptions a day before the long-term care deal. They now fill on average 325 prescriptions a day and have peak days of approximately 500 prescriptions. The independent's PharmASSIST Symphony+ System is comprised of 1 PharmASSIST cabinet, 50 dispensers, and 3 workstations for Order Entry/Rx Imaging, Auto-Fill/Manual-Fill, and Rx Verification. The PharmASSIST system is integrated with their QS/1 pharmacy management system, ensuring real-time prescription order flow for all Rx fulfillment tasks.

"When you first implement pharmacy automation, your staff goes through an adjustment period due to the change in process. Once we worked through that we were fine, and my staff now questions how they could do their jobs without this system," says Smith. "Our workflow is now much more efficient and the system's many quality checks have definitely improved our filling and verification steps. We've also cut our patient wait times in half with our customers waiting only 10 minutes tops even in our busiest periods," adds Smith.

Innovation Associates, Inc., a leader in the world of automated prescription dispensing, offers the PharmASSIST family of products to address the prescription growth, quality assurance, pharmacy workflow, and cost control challenges of all size pharmacies. With over three decades of broad-based, business experience, Innovation Associates is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality pharmacy automation products to the pharmacy industry. For more information on Innovation Associates, Inc., visit www.innovat.com.

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