Thanks for the reply SharkHe must be a member of one of the...

Thanks for the reply Shark

He must be a member of one of the pharmacy groups that have come on board with Corum Clear as part the recent partnerships to develop a better software platform for group management. (see previous ASX announcements and HC posts). So the change was probably "forced" by his Group's Management rather than Corum. I don't believe Corum are forcing independent pharmacy or other group pharmacies to change, in fact they are still supporting the older products like "Lots". It may also be that his dispensary computers were running MS Windows 7 which is no longer being supported so maybe the need to upgrade was triggered by new operating systems and hardware requirements.

The problem you mention ' "simple things such as updating details will cause you to re-do the ENTIRE script", sounds like he didn't like the time wastage.'

As I am now retired after 40 years working from the days of type writers and manually recording prescriptions through to the advent of computers and dispensary, POS and back office software. So I have not actually worked with Corum Clear myself, but I would be surprised if during the dispensing of a scrip you could not go back to any of the input fields to make an alteration! (by Mouse clicks or Tab back etc). That is a pretty basic requirement. I am therefore basing my comments on standard workflow practices and viewing Corum's series of training videos.

https://corumhealth.com.au/corum-training/training-videos-clear-dispense-series/

The most relevant video is the one for dispensing and editing a new script.

"Updating details" during the script processing sounds possibly like he was needing to update a patients new address, new medicare number, pension or concession card details shouldn't be an issue as it is a work flow issue...change of details can be made before, during or if not done then, after dispensing and is a simple step to "edit" the script and reprint labels with a correct price (e.g. general -> Pensioner) or reprint repeat form with correct address etc.

Same applies to changing the brand of product (e.g. to dispense a generic instead) or dosing instructions. That can be done during the dispensing process or after finishing (edit facility). Generally if you have the right procedures in place you rarely have to go back and re-do a prescription completely unless you have finished dispensing it and then discover errors or inaccuracies at the final check or even when handing out to the patient (occasionally the patient only decides to give you new details then or changes their mind regarding wanting a generic or brand name product etc etc). The advent of E-Scrips had reduced most of the transcribing errors or omisions that can happen with paper scrips.

No one likes time wastage and one of the supposed advantages of Corum Clear was its speed and ease of accessing other functions via a multi-panel screen display. Certainly quicker than "Lots Dispense" and other dispense software where the screen displays menu tabs and you have to move between functions....the multi-panel screen and the programs processing speed is probably the greatest advance.

I would be interested to hear comments from any Pharmacists that are on HotCopper who have used Corum Clear.

Yes Fred NXT is the largest competitor (Telstra Health (50% holding) and The Pharmacy Guild are major shareholders. They are the dominant company in the industry and there are quite a few smaller pharmacy software suppliers. Corum with about a 20% share is probably no 2.