The staff at Jones Drugs, front, from left, are Haley Rublee, Joan Shackleford, Pat Magnusson and Will Harris. Back, from left, are Billy Holt, Bradley Thompson, Sharon Wales and Jerry Dollar.
Fiber and pharmacies W Jones Drugs celebrating 100 years in Ardmore hen Billy Holt started at Jones Drugs, he had just finished pharmacy school, and dial-up internet was the newest technology. More than 20 years later, dial-up is a thing of the past, and the pharmacy operations depend on fast and reliable high-speed internet.
“When we first started using dial-up internet, we had to file each insurance claim one at a time,” Holt says. “If you had 20 prescriptions, you had to do them one at a time. It took forever.” Now, Jones Drugs has an advanced pharmacy computer system, and the staff accesses data through Ardmore Telephone’s fast, reliable fiber internet. Just about every facet of pharmacy operations requires high-speed internet. “We couldn’t operate without it,” he says.
BY LISA SAVAGE
“It’s simultaneous.” The fast internet reduces the time it takes to transmit claims to insurance companies. The system will automatically send a notification if an insurance company doesn’t cover a particular drug. Many doctors now send e-prescriptions to the pharmacy. This practice saves a lot of time for the patient and the pharmacy. “It’s much more efficient now,” Holt says. “We can fill the prescription, and by the time the patient gets here, it is usually ready to pick up.”
TIMES HAVE CHANGED These days, pharmacies use the internet for just about everything. The system tracks automatic refills and accepts prescriptions online. Insurance companies authorize prescriptions immediately, and pharmacists can stay up to date on changing drugs. “Now we can file dozens of claims at once,” Holt says. 8 | May/June 2019
Ardmore Telephone Company
