Step into Enclara Pharmacia’s Pennsylvania pharmacy fulfillment center, and the first thing you notice is the noise. The rhythmic hum of machinery echoes through the space as plastic pucks with pill bottles inside them glide down a conveyor belt that snakes through the length of two basketball courts. It is a carefully choreographed dance of technology and human expertise. For more than 12 hours a day this hustle continues, quieting only during scheduled breaks.
Located in an otherwise unremarkable industrial park, the facility, along with its counterpart in Tennessee, is a hub of cutting-edge technology and teamwork that fulfills millions of prescriptions each year, shipped directly to patients and inpatient units all over the country.
As the demand for hospice care continues to grow, Enclara is at the forefront of innovation, ensuring critical medications reach patients faster and more efficiently than ever before. At the heart of the transformation is a state-of-the-art fulfillment center where teamwork and technology are driving remarkable change.
Collaboration Behind the Scenes
Enclara’s success isn’t just about technology – it’s about the people behind it. The diverse team of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, IT professionals, engineers and support staff work together to dispense critical hospice medications with speed, safety and accuracy.
“We work as a team, which is what I love about Enclara,” said Sherin Kuruvilla, PharmD., who joined Enclara in 2012 after several years in retail pharmacy settings. “If you’re struggling with something, there is always someone willing to help. In retail, I was by myself or working with just one technician. Here, I have colleagues. It’s just a great environment.”
Leveraging New Technology for Better Care
When the Pennsylvania facility opened nearly two decades ago, it was a model for pharmacy automation. While it received updates over the years, the underlying infrastructure eventually became outdated, requiring a major reboot. Today, the team there is implementing brand new machinery and software to take full advantage of the latest advancements in fulfillment technology while continuing to meet the day-to-day medication needs.
One of the most visible additions is a set of robotic dispensing units that can fill, label and cap a pill bottle in about 30 seconds, but hardware is just part of the story. Enclara is also leveraging software, workflow optimization and training to increase efficiency across multiple service lines including non-sterile compounding, ComfortPakTM processing, prefilled syringes, and special packaging.
Stability and Growth for a Changing Industry
“The stability of our fulfillment sites is of utmost importance for our patients and hospice clients, so we have been very deliberate in our rollout of new equipment and software, said Enclara Vice President of Pharmacy Operations Josh Paire. “By increasing peak capacity at both locations, we can maintain resiliency to local disruptions and accommodate growing demand for our mail order service.”
This careful approach not only prepares Enclara for future growth, but it also ensures that it can continue providing seamless service even in the face of unforeseen challenges, such as regional disruptions. As more hospice providers explore the benefit of mail order services, Enclara’s capacity to deliver next-day shipping becomes an even more attractive solution, particularly in underserved areas where access to medications can be limited.
Patient Centric Solutions and Cost Savings
About half of Enclara’s clients currently source all their medications locally, but many are rethinking how mail order services can fit into their overall strategy. Shifting fulfillment of less urgent medications to mail order provides greater convenience for patients and hospice staff while offering opportunities for savings. Next day and second day mail order service reduces spending on courier delivery and dispensing fees, while specially priced Enclara ComfortPaks provide starting doses of common medications to be available for emergent symptoms. This not only enhances the patient experience but also reduces after-hours needs.
Learn more about Enclara’s flexible medication access options.
