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Multi-dose medication cards are growing in popularity for long-term care, assisted living facilities, and independent living, and for good reasons. These large-format blister packs are visual-oriented and make administering patients’ medications easy for the nursing staff. They make taking multiple pills at a specific time of day easier for the patient, which boosts adherence.
Several packaging systems are available, and most of them use a physically larger card than traditional punch cards/bingo cards. This can be a challenge for storing and administering in a typical medication cart. That is why Capsa Healthcare’s specialized lineup of multi-dose medication carts also are growing in popularity. With deeper drawers, fixed rails, and dividers shaped to support these larger cards, Capsa’s carts easily accommodate any multi-dose pill card system, and institutional pharmacies are taking note, especially as they strive to differentiate themselves among local providers.
Medicine Express Pharmacy, for instance, is a growing institutional pharmacy serving 14 states. Headquartered outside of St. Louis, MO, they specialize in medication administration for assisted living facilities and at-home residents (independent living). Their packaging of choice is the FlexRx Lite from Pharmacy Automation Supplies, but they also used Dispill cards for many years. Medicine Express provides its homes with Capsa’s Vintage Encore VE5-DP medication carts with a 3” drawer for PRNs on top and three 12” deep drawers for the PAS blister packs.
“90% of our clients use multi-dose. They are usually private-pay and want a non-institutional look in everything including their carts,” says Emily Powers, PharmD and president at Medicine Express. “The Vintage Encore carts are a perfect match. The large blister cards work for our patient population, the Capsa carts work for our med pass, and our customers love the modern look of the Vintage carts.” Medicine Express offers their clients a choice of two furniture-like finishes, ash or cherry. “Almost everyone chooses the ash. A lot of our communities are newly built or remodeled, so the light gray tones are very popular,” she notes.
There is a quiet benefit to Medicine Express’ usage of the VE5-DP carts: low maintenance. “In my previous life I heard about medication carts constantly because they were always breaking. Capsa carts last forever; I don’t have to hire a full-time employee to deal with breaking carts,” Powers says. “I trust Capsa because they aren’t a headache and if I need them, their service is great.”
Capsa offers two lines of multi-dose blister card carts: Vintage Encore has a wood-like finish and blends with any décor. In addition, the M-Series is classic, lightweight, and offers five accent colors. Both lines are available in a 3-, 4- and 5-wide size and hold up to 180 medication cards per cart. Their deep drawers are specifically designed to accommodate any popular jumbo blister adherence packaging.
One of the reasons behind the rise in popularity of multi-dose adherence packaging is that so many packaging systems have been developed to suit any LTC or assisted living population’s needs and personal preferences. With options like patient photo, color-coding, easy-to-tear blisters and portability, these bingo card systems are proliferating. Here are just a few systems on the market.