Overview

VA Pacific Islands serves approximately 50,000 Veterans across 12 locations in Hawaii and the Pacific, including the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center in Honolulu and CBOCs on Oahu, Hawaii (Hilo and Kailua-Kona), Maui, Kauai, American Samoa, and Guam.

Experienced care teams focus on the needs of Veterans, their families, and caregivers, offering a full range of services—from primary and specialty care to mental health and social programs.

Before PickPoint^®’s Remote Dispensing System, prescriptions for the American Samoa CBOC were filled in Honolulu and flown in, a multi-day process that delayed care and negatively affected patient outcomes.

“VA Pacific Islands and the American Samoa CBOC were having challenges in fulfilling the needs of our Veterans residing on remote islands. They turned to the PickPoint^® Team to improve their pharmacy operations and we are proud to have done just that!”

—Kevin Delaney, Vice President, PickPoint^®

Solution

It is with these challenges in mind that the PickPoint^® Remote Dispensing System was selected by VA Pacific Islands to be installed at the American Samoa CBOC.

The American Samoa CBOC  immediately improved medication security, accountability, and dispensing while their patients enjoyed a much higher standard of care. Prescription medications were dispensed at the clinic immediately—eliminating the traditional wait time of days or even weeks.

PickPoint^® Remote Dispensing System accommodates for most common bottle and package sizes – the large cabinet they selected stores up to 90 rows (1,080 individual SKUs) of prepackaged items. (Smaller cabinet available stores up to 54 rows (648 individual SKUs) of prepackaged items.) Plus, it provided these immediate benefits:

•   Improved medication security, accountability, and dispensing
•   Pharmacists reviewed all prescriptions before loading & dispensing
•   Took care of patients at the clinic immediately
•   Increased Rx capture rate with direct point-of-care dispensing
•   Provided pharmacy services at a fraction of the cost
•   Improved inventory management and turns

Tested & Approved

While the concept of the PickPoint^®’s Remote Dispensing System was a simple decision for VA Pacific Islands, picking a proven partner was an even easier one! Thanks to the PickPoint^®’s Remote Dispensing System proven track record of success, it has delivered vastly improved pharmaceutical care to remote locations worldwide.

•   Joint Commission and HIPAA-compliant
•   Meets the Same Standard of Care
•   Available on ECAT
•   DoD Certified Security Protocols

Service & Support

VA Pacific Islands required a partner who would be there every step of the way – including system planning, delivery, installation, training, and ongoing support. PickPoint^® exceeded expectations and subsequent rollouts are planned.

“We’re there every step of the way—from installation to systems integration, from training to best practices and process optimization. PickPoint^® isn’t just a solutions provider. We are your partner in delivering better outcomes for the patients you serve.”

—Marca Graves, Business Manager, PickPoint^®

Results

More than 13% of VA Pacific Islands Veterans received some form of telehealth services in 2019, a 168% increase over 2018.  A large part of that increase was due to implementing PickPoint^®’s Remote Dispensing System at American Samoa, which allowed the dispensing of pre-packaged medications. With the ability to store up to 1,080 individual pre-packaged medications, the majority of requested prescriptions by providers were available for dispensing to patients, alleviating any wait time.

Since our initial Remote Dispensing System installation at American Samoa in 2016, our footprint has expanded to Hilo, Kona, Guam, and Akaka CBOCs, with additional Remote Dispensing Systems slated for installation at Maui, Kauai and Saipan.