CHALLENGEManually entering addresses for prescriptions filled by VA pharmacies was time-consuming and error-prone.

SOLUTIONUPS and ScriptPro jointly developed a method to print shipping labels from the ScriptPro prescription system that protects patient privacy and automates the process. Once implemented across all VA locations, the new process will reduce labor by 121 hours a day, saving nearly $600,000 yearly.*

Veterans Affairs (VA) pharmacies ship prescriptions to thousands of veterans across the

country every day. These pharmacies use technology from ScriptPro to help automate

each prescription’s documentation.

The problem: Generating the UPS shipping label required that each veteran’s information

be entered manually into WorldShip.® This took a minute per package and risked data-entry

errors. UPS recommended a better approach.

AUTOMATING WHILE PROTECTING PRIVACY

UPS was able to help because UPS and the VA have an existing relationship. UPS was

selected by the General Services Administration (GSA) as winner of the second-generation

Domestic Delivery Services contract (DDS2) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) and is

UPS HELPS THE VA STREAMLINE MEDICATION SHIPPING

JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

CASE STUDY

VETERANS AFFAIRS Provides services and assistance to U.S. veterans

Established: 1930

Based: Washington, D.C.

Veteran population: 22.1 million

Hospitals: 152

the preferred federal government vendor

for UPS Express® and UPS Ground®

domestic delivery.

The UPS team suggested automation to

save time and reduce errors. One way to

streamline the process would have been

to have ScriptPro files integrate into

WorldShip automatically, but since the

ScriptPro files contain personal informa-

tion, that wasn’t an option. “There were

concerns regarding HIPAA privacy laws,

so we could not integrate directly with

the software,” explains Eric Henderson,

UPS enterprise account manager.

So UPS came up with another answer.

The team worked with ScriptPro to rede-

sign a bar-code solution that eliminates

manual entry of address information into

WorldShip. These revamped bar codes

contain the veteran’s address information

but, importantly, maintain patient privacy

and security.

All that’s stored on the bar code is what

was there already in text form – the

name and address. It’s a more stream-

lined way of getting it from ScriptPro to

UPS. Each label includes the patient’s

printed name and address, so it’s easy

to double-check the bar code’s accuracy,

which helps with quality control.

When these bar codes are scanned,

the shipping information populates

WorldShip automatically. Processing

time is shaved from one minute to

10 seconds. WorldShip also defaults

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Delivering on the First AttemptFor some VA medication shipments,

address information comes from a

pharmacy, but packages ship from

a distribution center. Before UPS imple-

mented a return address solution, if a

VA customer’s address was incorrect,

the package was returned to the

distribution center where the address

was corrected. But this information

often didn’t get corrected at the phar-

macy, resulting in the next prescription

shipment going to the wrong address.

Thanks to UPS’s help, now if a package

has an incorrect address:

1. The package is returned to the phar-

macy, rather than the distribution

center.

2. The pharmacy updates the address

in the system.

3. Subsequent deliveries to the same

customer will go to the correct

address.

to the most common shipping settings

used by VA pharmacies to further auto-

mate the process.

“They [the VA pharmacies] can process

more prescriptions faster on a daily basis,

allowing the pharmacy to focus on patient

care,” Henderson says.

ACCURATE ADDRESSES

With the automated system, new

addresses are updated right away. If the

recipient just moved, the prescription

package can be rerouted. It doesn’t have

to be brought back and sent out again.

This is important because a lot of the VA

customers change addresses frequently.

EXPANDED INTEGRATION

The system has worked so well that it

has been introduced to the mailroom for

shipping noncontrolled substances, too.

UPS is now in the process of rolling out

this automation across the 130-plus VA

pharmacies for the 8,700 prescriptions

shipped daily. Once the bar-code scan-

ning is implemented in all locations, total

processing time will drop by 121 hours a

day, saving almost $600,000 per year.*

*Savings based on reduction of customer’s manual processing expenses by UPS automated solutions.

PUT LOGISTICS TO WORK FOR YOUFind out how by talking to Eric Henderson at 202-675-4238 or ehenderson@ups.com

ups.com/government