Pharmacy

Executive Summary

Pharmacy is the dispensary operations centre of Operations. It is designed for pharmacies, hospital dispensaries, and retail medicine outlets that need to serve patients safely, maintain an accurate audit trail, and stay connected to the wider business — inventory, patient records, and payments — without switching between separate systems.

From a single workspace, staff can dispense medicines to walk-in patients, work through a verification queue, manage scheduled refills, maintain patient profiles with allergy alerts, browse medicine stock with batch and expiry visibility, define compound mixture recipes, and configure how dosing instructions appear on printed labels. Every dispense reduces stock using a first-expiry-first-out approach so older batches are used before newer ones, and optional payment collection links each transaction to your sales and accounting records.

Pharmacy shares patient records with the Healthcare (Clinic) module: a patient registered in the clinic appears automatically in the pharmacy patient search, complete with allergies and chronic conditions. Products dispensed are drawn from the same inventory catalogue used in Stock and Accounting, which means stock levels, pricing, and batch tracking stay consistent across the organisation.

The Pharmacy Command Center dashboard gives managers a live picture of today’s activity — dispenses completed, refills overdue, items awaiting pharmacist verification, stock running low, and batches approaching expiry — so problems are visible before they affect patient care.

Who This Is For

Key Capabilities

• Pharmacy Command Center dashboard with operational KPIs and charts
• Quick Dispense workstation (patient search, line items, dosing, refills, payment, labels)
• Dispense queue with table and kanban views (Dispensed → Verified → Collected → Paid)
• Dispensing records — full searchable audit history
• Pending refills worklist with process, reschedule, and cancel actions
• Pharmacy patient register with profile drawer (history, active medications, allergies)
• Pharmacy products view linked to inventory stock, pricing, and batch expiry
• Mixture recipe library for compounded preparations
• Dosage cypher settings for standard frequency codes (OD, BD, TDS, PRN, etc.)
• Five operational reports: Dispensing Summary, Product Movement, Refill Compliance, Expiry Tracking, Patient History
• PDF dispense documents and printable medicine labels
• Optional point-of-sale payment after each dispense

Important Concepts

Before using Pharmacy day to day, it helps to understand these terms:

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
2. Pharmacy Command Center
3. Quick Dispense — The Main Workstation
4. Dispense Queue
5. Dispensing Records
6. Pending Refills
7. Patients
8. Products and Stock Visibility
9. Mixtures
10. Dosage Cyphers and Label Settings
11. Payments and Labels
12. Reports
13. How Pharmacy Connects to Other Modules
14. Daily Routines and Best Practices
15. Troubleshooting Common Situations

Getting Started

Opening Pharmacy

1. Sign in to Operations.
2. Open Pharmacy in the sidebar (available when the Pharmacy module is activated for your organisation, typically for healthcare-related setups).
3. You land on the Dashboard — the Pharmacy Command Center.

![Screenshot: Pharmacy sidebar and dashboard entry — placeholder]

First-time setup checklist

Before dispensing at volume, confirm the following with your administrator:

1. Locations and tills are configured in Stock (each dispense deducts stock from a selected location).
2. Products exist in inventory with correct stock levels, costs, and selling prices.
3. Dosage cyphers are seeded or configured under Pharmacy → Settings → Dosage Cyphers.
4. Payment methods are set up in Accounting if you will collect payment at the till.
5. Patient records exist (via Clinic or Pharmacy → Patients) for regular customers.

Pharmacy Command Center

The dashboard is your operational nerve centre. Open it from Pharmacy → Dashboard.

What you see

The Command Center typically shows:

• Today’s dispenses — count and total value for the current day
• Pending refills — how many refills are scheduled or overdue
• Verification backlog — dispenses saved but not yet verified by a pharmacist
• Awaiting collection — verified dispenses the patient has not yet picked up
• Low stock alerts — medicines below reorder level
• Expiring batches — stock expiring within the next 90 days
• Monthly value chart — dispensing trend over time
• Status breakdown — doughnut chart of dispenses by workflow status
• Recent activity — latest dispense transactions

Date and filter controls

Use date presets (Today, This Week, This Month, This Quarter, This Year, All Time) to change the reporting window. Filter by dispense status to focus on, for example, only items on hold.

Quick actions

From the dashboard you can jump directly to:

• Start a New Dispense
• Open the Dispense Queue
• Review Pending Refills
• Browse Products or Reports

Refresh the dashboard periodically during busy periods, or rely on the auto-updating queue screen for live workflow status.

![Screenshot: Dashboard KPI cards and charts — placeholder]

Quick Dispense — The Main Workstation

Quick Dispense (Pharmacy → Quick Dispense) is where most dispensing work happens. The screen is organised in three columns: patient on the left, add-line form in the centre, and the current dispense basket on the right.

Step 1 — Select location and patient

At the top of the screen, confirm the stock location (and linked till) from which stock will be deducted. This is critical — dispensing from the wrong location will affect the wrong branch’s inventory.

Find a patient:

1. Click in the patient search box (keyboard shortcut: P).
2. Search by name, phone number, or national ID.
3. Select the matching patient from the results.

If no patient exists, click Add Patient to register a new one. You will enter first name, last name, ID number, phone, and email. The new patient is immediately available for dispensing.

![Screenshot: Patient search and selection — placeholder]

After selecting a patient, review:

• Allergy alerts — displayed prominently; never dispense contraindicated medicines without prescriber confirmation
• Chronic conditions — context for counselling
• Pending refills panel — medicines due for renewal; click Go to process a refill directly
• Dispensing history — past dispenses; use Repeat to copy a previous line

Step 2 — Add a medicine line

In the centre column:

1. Product — search inventory by name or stock code (shortcut: M). Only products with available stock appear.
2. Quantity — use the stepper or type the amount to dispense.
3. Dosing — Frequency — select from dosage cyphers (OD, BD, TDS, etc.) or type in the directions field.
4. Dosing — Route — Oral, IV, IM, Topical, and other standard routes.
5. Directions for label — free-text instructions printed on the medicine label. Tips:
   • Type a cypher code wrapped in underscores (for example _BD_) to expand to full frequency text on the label
   • Type a route wrapped in asterisks (for example *Oral*) for route formatting
   • Double-space or use the arrow key to open the cypher picker inline
6. Schedule refills (optional) — tick the checkbox, set number of refills (1–12), and interval (7, 14, 28, or 30 days).
7. Click Add to Dispense.

![Screenshot: Add line form with dosing fields — placeholder]

Attach a prescription script (recommended):

Use the script attachment area to upload or photograph the prescriber’s prescription. The system warns if you attempt to save without an attached script — follow your organisation’s policy on when a script is mandatory.

Step 3 — Review the dispense basket

The right column lists all lines added:

• Edit quantity or dosing on any line
• Remove a line if added in error
• Review subtotal, optional fees and taxes, and total
• Confirm currency

Step 4 — Save, print, and pay

1. Click Save & Print (shortcut: Ctrl+S).
   • The dispense is saved with status Dispensed
   • Stock is deducted using FEFO batch allocation
   • Refill schedule rows are created if you scheduled refills
   • A dispense PDF downloads automatically
2. The Process Sale payment modal opens:
   • Select payment method
   • Enter amount tendered
   • Confirm change due
   • You may skip payment if the patient pays later
3. After payment (or skip), click Print Labels to generate medicine label PDFs for each line.

![Screenshot: Save and print with payment modal — placeholder]

![Screenshot: Printed medicine labels — placeholder]

Editing an existing dispense

Open a dispense from the queue or dispensing records to edit it. The URL includes the dispense ID (/pharmacy/dispense/:id). Make corrections, re-save, and re-print as needed.

Keyboard shortcuts

Press ? on the dispense screen to view available shortcuts. Common ones include P (patient search), M (medicine search), and Ctrl+S (save).

Dispense Queue

The queue tracks each dispense through your internal workflow. Open Pharmacy → Dispense Queue.

Workflow stages

Table view

The default table shows all dispenses with search and status filters (Dispensed, Verified, On Hold). Actions per row:

• View / Edit — opens the dispense screen
• Verify — moves from Dispensed to Verified (pharmacist sign-off)
• Hold — pauses with a reason prompt

The queue auto-refreshes approximately every 30 seconds.

Kanban view

Switch to kanban for a visual board with columns for each stage. Drag cards between Dispensed and Verified or On Hold columns. Other moves may require using the action buttons rather than drag-and-drop.

![Screenshot: Dispense queue kanban board — placeholder]

Starting a new dispense from the queue

Click New Dispense from the queue banner to open a fresh Quick Dispense session without leaving the queue context.

Dispensing Records

Pharmacy → Dispensing Records is the complete audit trail of every dispense ever recorded.

Searching and filtering

• Search by patient name, dispense reference, or product
• Filter by status — Dispensed, Verified, Collected, Paid, On Hold, Cancelled
• Filter by date range — narrow to a specific week or month for audits

Actions

From each record you can:

• View — read-only summary
• Edit — opens Quick Dispense for corrections
• Re-print — download dispense PDF or labels again

Use this screen for regulatory audits, patient queries (“when did I last collect this medicine?”), and internal quality reviews.

Pending Refills

Scheduled refills appear under Pharmacy → Pending Refills.

How refills are created

Refills are created automatically when staff tick Schedule refills on a dispense line and specify count and interval. The system calculates due dates and lists them here.

Filter tabs

Processing a refill

Option A — From Pending Refills list:

1. Find the refill row (patient, medicine, quantity, due date).
2. Click Process Refill.
3. A new dispense is created pre-filled with the medicine and patient.
4. Verify quantity and dosing, then save and complete as normal.

Option B — From Quick Dispense patient panel:

1. Select the patient.
2. In the Pending Refills panel, click Go next to the due item.
3. Confirm when prompted — the refill is processed through the dispense workflow.

Rescheduling or cancelling

• Reschedule — pick a new due date and enter a reason (patient travelling, prescriber changed dose, etc.)
• Cancel — enter a reason; the refill is closed without dispensing

![Screenshot: Refill detail drawer with reschedule — placeholder]

Refill statuses

Patients

Pharmacy → Patients lists every patient registered for pharmacy use.

Patient list

Search by name, phone, or ID. The list shows key identifiers at a glance. Click a row to open the patient profile drawer.

Registering a new patient

1. Click Add Patient.
2. Complete: first name, last name, national ID (if applicable), phone, email.
3. Save — the patient is immediately searchable in Quick Dispense.

Patients created here are also available in Clinic → Patients (and vice versa) because both modules share the same patient register.

Patient profile drawer

The drawer has several tabs:

From the drawer, click New Dispense to start dispensing for this patient immediately.

![Screenshot: Patient profile drawer with history tab — placeholder]

Products and Stock Visibility

Pharmacy → Products shows the medicine catalogue as the pharmacy team sees it — linked directly to inventory.

What each product shows

• Product name and stock code (SKU)
• Category
• Current stock quantity at your locations
• Selling price
• Batch details and expiry dates (open the batch drawer)

Using products during dispensing

Products are searched from Quick Dispense, not usually from this list — but this screen is valuable for:

• Checking stock before promising a patient a medicine
• Identifying batches nearing expiry
• Confirming pricing before dispensing

Low-stock and expiring-batch alerts on the dashboard originate from this inventory data.

![Screenshot: Product batch and expiry drawer — placeholder]

Mixtures

Pharmacy → Mixtures maintains a library of compound preparation recipes.

Creating a mixture recipe

1. Click Add Mixture.
2. Enter Name (for example “Paediatric Cough Mixture”).
3. Enter Label text — instructions printed if this mixture were dispensed as a named compound.
4. Add Components — each row is an inventory product with quantity and unit.
5. Save.

Viewing and editing

Open any mixture in the side drawer to view components, edit quantities, or delete obsolete recipes.

Important note

Mixtures are maintained as a recipe catalogue. Today, dispensing still uses individual products line by line in Quick Dispense rather than selecting a mixture as a single dispense item. Use mixtures as reference recipes and dispensing guides until full mixture dispensing is integrated.

Dosage Cyphers and Label Settings

Pharmacy → Settings → Dosage Cyphers manages the short codes used on labels and in the dispense form.

Standard codes

When first opened, the system may seed common codes:

Managing cyphers

• Add — create a new code and its full description
• Edit — update description text (what expands on the label)
• Delete — remove unused codes

You can also open Manage Codes from within Quick Dispense without leaving the dispensing screen.

How cyphers appear on labels

When directions contain _CODE_, the label PDF expands the code to its full description. Routes wrapped in *Route* format consistently on the printed label.

Payments and Labels

Payment collection

After Save & Print, the Process Sale modal connects the dispense to your accounting sales flow:

1. Select payment method (cash, card, mobile money, etc.)
2. Enter amount tendered
3. Review change due
4. Confirm — status moves toward Paid
5. Or click Skip if payment happens later (patient collects on account)

![Screenshot: Process sale payment modal — placeholder]

Dispense PDF

A formal dispense document downloads on save — useful for patient records and audit. Re-print from Dispensing Records if needed.

Medicine labels

Click Print Labels after save (or after payment) to generate label PDFs — one per medicine line with patient name, product, quantity, and expanded dosing directions.

![Screenshot: Label print preview — placeholder]

Reports

Open Pharmacy → Reports to run operational reports.

Available reports

Running a report

1. Select Report type.
2. Set From date and To date.
3. For Patient History, enter the Patient ID.
4. Click Run.
5. Review the on-screen table and record count.

How Pharmacy Connects to Other Modules

Inventory & Stock

• All medicines dispensed come from the inventory product catalogue.
• Stock is deducted on save using FEFO batch allocation (earliest expiry first).
• Location and till selection determines which branch’s stock is affected.
• Low-stock and expiry alerts on the pharmacy dashboard read from inventory batch data.

Healthcare (Clinic)

• Patients are shared — clinic registers patients; pharmacy dispenses to the same records.
• Allergies and chronic conditions entered in clinic appear as alerts during dispensing.
• Clinic does not push prescriptions into the pharmacy queue automatically today — attach script images manually or process clinic-generated requests through your local workflow.

Accounting & Sales

• Each dispense is recorded as a dispense-type sale.
• Optional POS payment after save posts to sales with payment method and till.
• Finance teams reconcile dispensary revenue through Accounting → Sales.

Daily Routines and Best Practices

Opening routine (start of shift)

1. Open the Pharmacy Command Center — scan KPIs and alerts.
2. Check Pending Refills — process overdue items first.
3. Open the Dispense Queue — verify any items left from the previous shift.
4. Review Expiry Tracking report if batches are flagged on the dashboard.

During the shift

• Always confirm patient allergies before adding lines.
• Attach prescription scripts per your organisation’s policy.
• Select the correct location before saving — wrong location means wrong stock deduction.
• Verify dispenses in the queue before patients collect — pharmacist sign-off is your quality gate.
• Use Hold with a clear reason when information is missing — do not guess.

Closing routine (end of shift)

1. Clear or hand over On Hold items with notes for the next shift.
2. Run Dispensing Summary for the day.
3. Reconcile Paid vs Collected statuses in the queue.
4. Check for low stock items dispensed heavily today — flag for reordering.

Troubleshooting Common Situations

![Screenshot: Pharmacy help and support footer — placeholder]

Related Documentation

• Pharmacy Home Delivery — home delivery fulfilment with Logistics and the Rider app
• Inventory & Stock — product catalogue, locations, batches
• Healthcare (Clinic) — patient registration and clinical records
• Accounting & Sales — payment methods, sales register, reconciliation
• Logistics — trips, drivers, vehicles, Command Center