# Pharmacy management for the dispensary inside your clinic or hospital > Dispensing tied to the prescription and the bill, earliest-expiry-first batches, a controlled-drug register and RRF/IFRR reports for facility pharmacies. Source: https://www.medicine.et/for/pharmacy Site: Bloom Medicine — https://www.medicine.et --- Dispensing that knows the prescription, the stock and whether the visit is paid. The earliest-expiring batch goes out first, the shelf and the screen agree, and the RRF, IFRR and controlled-drug register come out of work you have already done. ## Measured in Ethiopia - **78.5%** — bin-card accuracy across primary health care units in Gamo Zone — records matching a physical count ([Research note · Stock records](https://www.medicine.et/research/inventory-management)) - **4.87%** — medicine expiry across nine Jimma Zone hospitals, against a 2% national target ([Research note · Stock records](https://www.medicine.et/research/inventory-management)) - **60%** — of tracked essential medicines in one general hospital went out of stock at least once in six months ([Research note · Stock records](https://www.medicine.et/research/inventory-management)) - **76%** — mean accuracy of RRF reports across 102 public health facilities in Amhara (2022) ([J Multidiscip Healthc, 2025](https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S498995)) ## The problems we hear from pharmacists - **The bin card says 40, the shelf says 12** — When receiving, dispensing and counting live in different books, the record drifts from the shelf — and the gap is found at the stocktake, not when it happened. - **Expiry you discover at the stocktake** — Old batches sit behind new ones. By the time anyone looks, the medicine is waste and the money is gone. - **Medicine handed over before anyone paid** — A busy window, a patient who says the cashier is next — and the visit closes with medicine out and nothing in. - **Prescriptions you cannot read** — A handwritten script means a phone call to the doctor, a guess, or a patient sent back upstairs. - **RRF and register paperwork every month** — The RRF, IFRR and controlled-drug register are rebuilt by hand from bin cards and dispensing books — the same numbers counted twice. - **Patients sent away for what you do not stock** — When an item is out, the patient leaves with nothing they can use elsewhere. ## What changes - **No payment, no release** — Medicine is not released until the visit is paid, and the pharmacy counter sees only its own money — so there is nothing to argue about at the window. - **First expiry, first out** — Stock is held by batch and expiry, and dispensing picks the earliest-expiring batch automatically. - **Reports from the work you did** — RRF and IFRR logistics reports, the controlled-drug register, pharmacist interventions and compounding records — produced from dispensing, not rebuilt from it. - **One ledger from purchase to patient** — Purchase orders, goods receipts, transfers between stores, stocktakes, bin cards and Model 22 vouchers, all on the same record. ## The modules pharmacists use - [Pharmacy](https://www.medicine.et/features#pharmacy) (add-on) — A dispensing window that knows the prescription, the stock and whether the visit is paid. - [Inventory & Stock](https://www.medicine.et/features#inventory) (add-on) — Purchasing, receiving and consumption in one ledger, so the screen matches the shelf. - [Billing & Payments](https://www.medicine.et/features#billing) — One balance per visit, however many counters and bills it passed through. - [Consultation & Clinical Records](https://www.medicine.et/features#consultation) — Structured charting the facility shapes itself, filled in during the consultation. - [Data Exchange](https://www.medicine.et/features#interoperability) — Records that can leave the building in a standard shape when the patient or the system needs them to. - [Reports & Analytics](https://www.medicine.et/features#reports) — Clinical, financial and operational reporting — for one site or every branch side by side. ## From prescription to report 1. **Prescribe** — The doctor prescribes in the chart; interactions, dose and allergies are checked before it is saved. 2. **Queue** — The prescription appears in the pharmacy queue, grouped by visit — no slip to carry or read. 3. **Pay** — The patient pays at the pharmacy counter or the main cashier; the visit shows one balance. 4. **Dispense** — The earliest-expiring batch is picked, partial supply or substitution is recorded, and stock comes off the shelf record. 5. **Report** — RRF, IFRR and the controlled-drug register are produced from what was dispensed. ## Questions ### Can it produce RRF and IFRR reports? Yes. Both logistics reports are produced from the stock and dispensing records. ### Does it stop dispensing before payment? Yes. Medicine is not released until the visit is paid. ### Does it handle batches and expiry? Yes. Stock is held by batch and expiry, and the earliest-expiring batch is picked first. ### Can we sell over the counter? Yes. Over-the-counter sales run at the drug window, through a point-of-sale register with barcode scanning. ### Is there a controlled-drug register? Yes, alongside pharmacist interventions and compounding records. ### Can we dispense prescriptions written elsewhere? Yes. The pharmacy accepts prescriptions written at other facilities, and prints a prescription an outside pharmacy can verify by QR code when you do not stock an item. ### We are a standalone retail pharmacy — is this for us? Bloom is built for the pharmacy inside a clinic or hospital, where dispensing follows the prescription and the bill. A standalone pharmacy can run counter sales, the POS register and full stock control, but if all you need is a retail till, a simpler pharmacy POS may suit you better. Talk to us and we will say so. ## Cited research - [Stock records in Ethiopian health facilities: what the studies measured](https://www.medicine.et/research/inventory-management) — Ethiopian facilities do not mainly run out of medicines because nothing was ordered. They run out because the record of what is on the shelf disagrees with the shelf. The published measurements are consistent, and unflattering. - [What actually drives outpatient satisfaction in Ethiopia](https://www.medicine.et/research/outpatient-waiting-and-satisfaction) — Pooled satisfaction with outpatient care in Ethiopian public hospitals is 61.95%. The meta-analysis findings are not what most clinics assume: getting all your prescribed drugs and having your privacy respected outweigh almost everything else. - [Who pays: out-of-pocket, insurance, and why billing accuracy is a supply problem](https://www.medicine.et/research/who-pays-for-care) — The most-quoted figure for Ethiopian out-of-pocket spending is 31%. The WHO-sourced series puts it at 46.3% for 2023. Both are cited here, because the gap between them is the whole point about dated statistics.