An In-Depth Analysis of Customer Waiting Times in a Rite Aid Pharmacy and Strategies for Improvement

1. An In-Depth Analysis of Customer Waiting Times in a Rite Aid Pharmacy and Strategies for Improvement Presented By: Najib Sufi Tiemoko Diarra Walter Ray Jeri Shea

2. Phase I: DEFINE PROCESS FOR IMPROVEMENT Part of the Plan Phase of the PDCA cycle

3. House of Quality – Rite Aid Correlation: Strong positive Positive Negative Strong negative Customer Satisf. Scores People at Register Register wait time Rx Waiting time Hours of Operation Competitive evaluation Relative Importance Drive-thru Customer Attributes (5 is best) 1 2 3 4 5 L R W Fast Service 25 W R L Accurate 30 Consulting (Pharmacist) 10 R W L R W L Organized 15 Location 20 L W R L 30min 5min 4 not avail 12hrs No 30min 4min 3 not avail 12-24hrs Yes Competitive Evaluation R - Us W L – Longs Drugs Targets 15min 2min 3 75% 12hrs Yes W - Walgreens

4. Define • DMAIC • House of Quality • Rx Waiting Time • Register Waiting Time • 3 in Line, It’s Time (Register) • Busy Life • Currently, a goal of 15 minutes wait (on average) • How to measure, analyze, improve?

5. Phase II: MEASURE Also part of the Plan Phase of the PDCA cycle

6. Benchmarking • Who are the industry leaders? • Rite Aid • Walgreens • Longs Drugs • What are we doing compared to them? • Customer Satisfaction Surveys • What are our priorities for process improvement? • increase customer satisfaction through decreased customer waiting times in the pharmacy

7. How did we get our data? • Najib’s knowledge and experience as a Pharmacist • Our individual experiences • Customer Satisfaction Surveys

9. Phase III: ANALYZE The final part of the Plan Phase of the PDCA cycle

10. Pt calls Rx in. Dr’s office calls Rx in. Pharmacy No Out of stock Pt drops off Rx in the Pharmacy. No No No Insurance Yes Too early Yes Pharmacy Technician Pharmacist Pharmacy Tech. types the Rx. Counted by robot or pharmacy tech. QA by Pharmacist Rx placed in pick-up/consult area. Payment by Pt.

11. Doctor’s Office • Faxed to wrong pharmacy • Pharmacy faxes to wrong machine at the doctor’s office. • Incomplete information • Dosage strength

12. Patient Call-in • Misplaced • Incomplete information • Too early

13. Patient drop-off • Misplaced • Time of drop off • Patient volume

15. Organized Consulting Accuracy Wrong customer name or spelling Time it takes to count out pills # of new Rx Incorrect Insurance Info Rx form faxed to wrong Rite Aid Wrong Rx Long Wait Time at Pharmacy Playing the blame game Near Hospitals & Dr’s offices Time of the year Community Demographics Time of the day Location Wait lines at Pharmacy

16. Wait lines at Pharmacy • Time of the day • Time of the year • Flu season

17. Organized • Wrong customer name/spelling • Common names • Incorrect insurance information • Results in a denial • Prescription faxed to wrong pharmacy.

18. Accuracy • Time it takes to count pills • Wrong prescription

19. Phase IV: IMPROVE The Do and Act Phases of the PDCA cycle

21. How to Improve Waiting Time?? • Person to person contact • Accuracy • Triage according to urgency

22. Prescription Database • Efficiency & Technology based • Available to Rite Aid customers • Specifications required • Patient volume @ drop off = 0

23. Cashier availability • Focus on peak hours • Goal = 1 per 3 • Brainstorming • Customer’s voice • Fulfilling customer’s expectation • Visible Timer

24. Phase V: CONTROL The Check and Act Phases of the PDCA cycle

25. Control • Customer Surveys • Online, by Phone, In-Store, Informal Meetings, Mail-In Surveys • Employee Feedback • Online, 1-800 Calls, In-House Meetings • Outside Agencies • Sales Figures

26. Any Questions?