Unlocking Central Fill for All: How a Shared Network Model is Changing Pharmacy Automation
[PODCAST] Independent pharmacies and small health systems are often priced out of high-volume central fill automation. iA’s Chief Automation Officer, Alicia Lashier, explains how a "shared network" model is democratizing efficiency, cutting inventory costs, and returning pharmacists to patient care.
Overcoming the Pharmacy Desert: The Case for Shared Automation
The pharmacy landscape is facing a perfect storm. Prescription volumes continue to climb, yet the industry is simultaneously battling severe staffing shortages, pharmacy closures, and the rise of geographic "pharmacy deserts." For many community pharmacies and smaller health systems, the traditional answer to these pressures — building a dedicated, multi-million dollar central fill facility — is financially out of reach.
In this episode of the Pharmacy Technology and Management Review podcast, host Will Lockwood talks with Alecia Lashier, Chief Automation Officer at iA, about a paradigm shift in the industry: the shared central fill model.
With 25 years of industry experience under her belt, Lashier explains how smaller pharmacies can now lease the power of massive automation networks without the heavy capital expenditure.
"Smaller health systems and independents may not have the opportunity to build their own central fill... But they can gain access to the efficiencies that central fill allows, without necessarily having to purchase their own system, by gaining access to an existing network." — Alecia Lashier, iA
What is Central Fill (And How Does it Become "Shared")?
At its core, a central fill system moves highly repetitive, time-consuming dispensing tasks away from the retail counter to an off-site, highly automated facility. For standard operations, medication refills are transmitted, filled, packaged, and shipped back to the local pharmacy within a 24-hour window.
The Shared Central Fill model leverages the physical footprint of iA’s existing NEXiA network. Today, there are approximately 73 central fill facilities across the U.S. running iA technology, putting 75% of all domestic pharmacies within a 24-hour delivery radius.
Through this infrastructure, large commercial retail pharmacies or health systems with excess automated capacity can essentially "rent" space and labor to smaller, independent pharmacies.
Key Benefits of the Shared Model:
- Customized White-Labeling: The central fill facility dispenses medications using the precise branding and packaging of the participating independent pharmacy.
- Inventory Optimization: Instead of holding high-cost, low-turnover medications across multiple retail locations, inventory is centralized. Pharmacies still maintain their own negotiated rates with manufacturers and distributors.
- Shift to Clinical Care: By shifting fulfillment off-site post-adjudication, pharmacists are freed up from manual labor to focus strictly on patient consultation and clinical support.
Assessing the ROI: Is it Right for You?
A common misconception is that central fill only makes sense for high-volume operations. According to Lashier, the shared model lowers the barrier to entry significantly. iA works alongside pharmacy operators to evaluate current fulfillment volumes, local labor costs, and inventory handling expenses to calculate a precise Return on Investment (ROI).
"We really want to provide this service to all pharmacies across the United States regardless of their volume," Lashier notes, emphasizing that a favorable ROI can be achieved whether a pharmacy routes 10 or 100 prescriptions a day to the network.
As patient demands shift toward tighter turnarounds—with some networks targeting fulfillment windows as short as two hours—the capacity to scale through a shared network may soon shift from a competitive advantage to an operational necessity. PTMR
