The 72nd Medical Group Pharmacy has seen some changes over the past year, one of the most notable changes are the availability of certain medications in the pharmacy.
With this change, there are certain non-formulary medications that the pharmacy is no longer carrying.
“There are certain medications that are considered non-formulary and we’re unable to fill those medications even if we were able to fill them in the past,” said Maj. Karl Bituin, 72nd Medical Group pharmacy manager.”
According to Tricare, “non-formulary” medications are drugs in a therapeutic class that aren’t as clinically effective or cost-effective as other drugs in the same class.
“Prescription coverage could be changing for beneficiaries, so the best thing to do since it’s so case-by-case and patient-specific is to talk to the pharmacy,” Bituin said.
Another change within the pharmacy, which took place in 2019, are the check-in kiosks. Bituin said the kiosks have been beneficial for patients as well as pharmacy staff.
“The biggest benefit for patients is that the kiosks display a wait time and can send out a text message when the prescriptions are ready,” Bituin said. “Since they’re checking in, we can do real-time analytics of where that prescription ticket is. We can prioritize better and move pharmacy technicians in real time to where they’re needed to help process prescriptions.”
The kiosks have reduced prescription pick-up wait times for patients from 3 hours to 30 minutes.
“It helps when we’re short man powered and can direct that to areas where it’s needed,” Bituin said.
For questions about changes within the pharmacy or prescription coverage, contact the 72nd Medical Group Pharmacy at 582-6317 and select option #2.The pharmacy formulary list can be accessed at tinker.af.mil.