IMVO has held webinars for pharmacies and hospitals explaining the causes of FMD alerts. We are liaising with IMVO on how to improve communication and highlight these issues in a more efficient manner.
The less alerts you have in your pharmacy the better, and with that in mind, the below points will assist you in keeping alerts to a minimum:
Do not scan Unlicenced Medicines (ULMs)
Under the FMD, you are not required to scan ULMs and doing so will cause an alert in your pharmacy.
Do not scan Utrogestan
In Ireland, Utrogestan 100mg and 200mg capsules are used as exempt medicinal products. They are technically ULMs and you are not required to scan them. You would have received communication from the HPRA regarding these products.
Watch out for multiple scans of the same pack
Double or multiple scanning of the same pack is another activity that causes alerts in pharmacies, therefore, you should have a system in place for this situation. Eg., split packs – if the pack is open then it has already been scanned. For full packs, you might consider marking the box in case you need to return the pack, but not over the barcode.
If you are lending a pack, make sure it is not marked as supplied
When lending a complete pack, the lending pharmacy should verify the medicine before it leaves the pharmacy, and the borrowing pharmacy should authenticate the medicine during the dispensing process. When part of a pack is being lent, the lending pharmacy will ensure the original pack is authenticated before it leaves the pharmacy and will let the borrowing pharmacy know that it has been authenticated.
Software and Hardware
IMVO approves the IMVS Interfaces in use in this country and are best placed to advise on scanner configuration. You can call them on 01 571 5320.
