October 11, 2011 | Categories: Clients
Medco Health Solutions has broken new ground in pharmacy homecare services by providing delivery time windows on days that are suitable for the patient while actively optimising fleet resource. The unique service for NHS patients has been made possible using special home-delivery logistics software from Paragon. With Paragon HDS, Medco is able to meet patients’ needs for receiving their therapy at a particular time on a particular day. This highly efficient service is enabling the delivery of therapies such as infusions to the patient just an hour before a nurse arrives to administer the drugs.
“Paragon HDS has been instrumental in enabling us to offer this service. If you want to promise tight delivery windows in this type of home delivery operation, you must have instant access to routing intelligence to do it cost effectively and with minimal environmental impact and this is what Paragon HDS provides for us. Without it, we simply couldn’t achieve this level of service within the financial constraints the NHS is currently operating under,” says Chris Clowes, Medco’s Head of Supply Chain.
Medco patient services advisors simply enter the patient’s postcode into the system via a user-friendly computer screen to see which days and times are available for the patient whilst also ensuring the needs of the patient are met. The system checks routing options and resource availability to see which routes can efficiently accommodate the new order and displays those time window options to the advisor.
Once the patient has agreed the delivery window and it is booked on the system, the advisor enters the patient’s ID into the system and this automatically links to the patient record, which contains the address and drug/treatment details. The procedure takes about five seconds, which means that patients’ telephone contact time is kept to a minimum. As more orders are taken the software regularly re-optimises the route structures to maximise overall efficiency, while always respecting promised time windows.
In other sectors home deliveries tend to be one-offs or infrequent events. In Medco’s case, however, it can mean deliveries at regular intervals to the same address, often within the same two-hour time window. With the home delivery system always looking ahead for available delivery windows, Medco has the capability to allow patients to block book delivery days and times with one telephone call. For example, it is possible to create repeat bookings on a typically monthly schedule to meet the specific delivery needs of some homecare patients.
Chris Clowes says: “Paragon HDS gives Medco visibility across the business. This has huge benefits for the company and the patients. We can plan ahead and react to changing requirements, which is allowing us to make more deliveries each week. The system also provides an early warning of potential issues to the plan so that we can bring in additional vehicles and drivers as necessary. It also helps with the long term planning as it gives a clear view of how the demand on our services is growing, which allows us to look at expanding the business with new depots and a bigger fleet.”
“Paragon worked closely with us to configure the software so that it would enable us to meet our demanding home delivery service requirements. The system was installed in 12 weeks and four weeks later, we were fully operational as the first homecare provider to offer a dynamically planned home delivery service with two-hour delivery windows,” adds Chris Clowes.
Notes to Editors:
Paragon Software Systems is a market leader in transport optimisation with over 1,500 routing and scheduling systems installed in more than 33 countries. Paragon helps companies reduce transport costs by up to 20 per cent through more efficient deployment of vehicles and drivers. Headquartered in Dorking, UK and with US offices in Dallas, Paragon is a respected pioneer in routing and scheduling with over 30 years of know-how.
Paragon is employed by transport operations ranging from just 10 vehicles at a single site to hundreds of vehicles operating from several sites. The system is used for routing and scheduling optimisation; managing transport resources; strategic planning; scheduling home deliveries continuously as orders are being confirmed; and managing the execution of the transport plan in real time using vehicle tracking technology.
Paragon assists many leading companies with their logistics including ASDA, Royal Mail Group, Harrods, Sainsbury's, AB Agri, CEVA Logistics, Wincanton, DHL Exel, Norbert Dentressangle, Linde, Fuller's, John Lewis, Tesco, Keystone Distribution, Raleigh and many others.
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