TCGRx Rapidly Deploys Beacon Turnkey Pharmacy to Aid North Dakota Flood Victims


POWERS LAKE, WI--(Marketwire - Jun 30, 2011) - TCGRx (TCG) -- Historic flooding of the Souris River divided Minot, North Dakota and forced a well-known regional pharmacy chain in the flooded Arrowhead Shopping Center to close its pharmacy serving northern Minot. Facing a threat to patient care and revenue loss, Thrifty White Drug Pharmacy called upon TCG to rapidly deploy a turnkey pharmacy to a temporary location to aid residents cut off from access to medications by the flooding.

"The Beacon system is ideal for this type of emergency response. It is a modular and pre-built pharmacy that can be set up in under 24 hours and within a few hundred square feet. It is possible to setup a pharmacy and be live in a matter of days at any location," said TCG President Duane Chudy. "Organizing the medications based on use in high density storage makes the Beacon system space and labor efficient." A Beacon system with 100 percent of the formulary can be as small as 400 square feet. This new technology allows us to standardize processes and install very quickly in order to respond to an emergency.

Behind the medication storage and retrieval software is a powerful inventory control and reporting function. This software tracks inventory level, medication use, returnable inventory, expired inventory, and will-call expiration. Beacon can be customized to individual pharmacy needs no matter what the size or prescription volume.

Beacon replaces the traditional method of alphabetized medication organization with an efficient, computerized system based on usage. Low power LED lights quickly direct the pharmacist or technician to the medication stock location or will-call location, which is then verified by barcode scan. Wireless barcode verification at stocking, filling, checking, placing in will-call, and customer pick-up ensures a level of accuracy unmatched in the industry.

"We recently installed the Beacon system in an 800 script per day pharmacy," Thrifty White, President Robert Narveson said. "The TCG Beacon inventory management system's efficient design allowed us to implement a temporary 200 square foot pharmacy serving 200 scripts per day in response to this disaster within 24 hours. With only a couple hours of training our staff was able to provide important medications to the residents of north Minot. The response from TCG's team is incredible and the capabilities of the Beacon system are unique in the marketplace having a significant impact on patient care."

The Beacon system is acknowledged by industry leaders as a significant and important development in retail and outpatient pharmacy. The system is sold in the United States by TCGRx and distributed in Canada by Healthmark.

About TCGRx

Backed by decades of experience, TCG utilizes the latest in technology to offer the most reliable pharmacy automation solutions on the market. The staff designs and integrates pharmacy automation into every aspect of packaging devices, workflow software, and other individual products to improve the overall process in pharmacies. TCG is dedicated to providing superior customer service and support by offering the most cost-effective methods to give pharmacies safe, efficient, and accurate solutions.

TCG is an industry leader in automation and designs services for hospital, long-term care, retail, outpatient and specialty pharmacy markets. The company has a strong presence in all pharmacy markets throughout the United States and Canada. TCG headquarters is located in Powers Lake, WI. For more information, visit www.tcgrx.com, call 262.279.5307 or find us on Facebook.

Contact Information:

Media Contact:
Jennifer Dooley
262-877-4769