Pharmacy & supplies inventory

A clinic pharmacy usually carries two constant worries: a drug runs out and nobody notices, or stock is still there but expired. With a notebook or spreadsheet, quantities are recorded by drug name while the expiry date lives on the box. Two boxes of the same drug from different batches get mixed, the older batch sinks to the back of the shelf, and by the time anyone notices it has to be destroyed. A spreadsheet also has no idea what the doctor just prescribed, so the count is only right on the day someone updates it.

Every box of medicine in stock starts from a goods receipt: which supplier the goods came from, on which invoice, which batches, and how long each one stays valid. A receipt moves through Pending approval, Approved and Cancelled, and only when it is approved do goods officially enter stock.

Each receipt also carries a reason: purchase from a supplier, opening balance when a clinic first starts on the software, returned goods, transfer from another branch, in-house compounding, and import. That way you can later tell how a batch entered stock instead of lumping everything into "goods in". Batch number and expiry date are the two fields worth filling in carefully, because every warning and trace downstream runs on them.

The Stock screen answers "do we still have this drug?" with three columns read together: Total, In date and Expired. An item showing total 2, in date 0, expired 2 means the shelf is not empty but not one box can be sold, so you need to reorder and write off the expired ones. The Branch column shows which store the goods sit in.

Beneath that sits the Batch and expiry screen: each row is a batch with its batch number, initial quantity, remaining quantity and purchase price. Expired batches are flagged red on the row, so nobody has to compare dates by hand. The Pharmacy dashboard counts batches expiring within 90 days and drugs running low.

A prescription written during the visit appears immediately on the pharmacy Prescriptions screen, with no retyping or deciphering handwriting. When staff press Dispense, the software searches the batches still in stock for each drug and deducts from the batch with the closest expiry first. If one batch does not cover the quantity, it continues with the next batch in expiry order until the prescribed amount is met. The pharmacy does not have to remember which batch to sell first.

The same prescription can be opened from the Pharmacy module, from Electronic Medical Records and from each customer profile, updated at the same time in all three places. Once dispensed it can no longer be deleted, only cancelled.

Not everyone at the pharmacy counter has just seen a doctor. For direct customers, staff use the Retail sales screen: enter the customer, phone number and branch, add drugs and dosage, optionally start from a prepared template, then save and print the instruction sheet in one step. The drugs sold deduct straight from stock by batch.

If the basket contains a prescription-only drug, the software opens a Prescription basis block and requires you to state which prescription the sale relies on: a national prescription code, or a paper prescription from another facility with the place and prescriber. The prescription date must fall within 5 days up to the sale date, and past that the software will not save the sale.

An outgoing voucher has five types: Write-off for expired or damaged goods, Transfer to another branch, Return to supplier, Adjustment after a count, and Other. A voucher must be approved before stock is deducted. Classifying correctly from the start lets the end-of-period returns and write-off report reflect what really happened.

A stock count is when you recount for real and record it in the software. You pick the branch, the software loads that store's drug list, staff type the actual count per drug and per batch, and the system quantity and difference are filled in and calculated automatically. The record shows who counted, who approved and why. To realign stock, you raise an Adjustment voucher for exactly the difference, which fixes the number and keeps a trace of why.

When the dashboard flags a low-stock item, the next step is a purchase order: supplier, expected delivery date, and each drug line with purchase price and expiry. Orders pass through Draft, Pending approval, Approved, Received into stock and Cancelled, so the status column tells you which orders are still waiting for goods.

Reports in the module fall into three needs: stock (in-out-balance, low stock, batch tracking), business (revenue, best sellers, profit), and statutory ledgers, including the drug receiving ledger and the drug dispensing and sales ledger. For drugs on the narcotic and psychotropic list, every receipt, issue, adjustment or destruction is recorded: who did it, when, how much, which batch, and which patient and doctor were involved. This log cannot be edited or deleted and supports cross-checking when the pharmaceutical regulator inspects the clinic.

Gloves, needles, dental materials and dressings live in the Inventory & Supplies module, separate from the drug store. Receipts carry batch number and expiry, and issue vouchers record supplies used for a patient with three figures: quantity taken, quantity returned and quantity actually used. The gap between taken and used shows the wastage of each item. Current stock separates reserved quantity from what can be taken.

Supply reservation locks what an already booked treatment will need, and can automatically pick batches by FEFO, meaning the batch closest to expiry is used first. When one branch is short and another has spare, you raise a transfer voucher, which has an In transit status so goods do not vanish along the way. When a manufacturer announces a recall, the recall record filters by batch number to show how much remains. The stock ledger (Kardex) shows the in, out and balance path of each supply.

A standalone stock tool usually forces you to re-enter the doctor's prescription to deduct stock. In Cluvix Health, the prescription written in the chart is the same one the pharmacy dispenses, stock is deducted by batch as it is dispensed, and the customer profile shows that same prescription. A voucher must be approved before stock changes, and every change carries a reason and the name of who made it.

The modules are for pharmacists, counter staff, storekeepers, nurses and clinic owners. If your clinic stocks only a few drugs used rarely, a notebook may already be enough; the system pays off when you have many batches, several branches, or need ledgers for cross-checking.