Best-buy and/or Cheapest Item ordering allows you to use intelligent ordering from wholesalers. You can use it for Generics and/or Parallel Imports.
Best-buy
"Best-buy" items are chosen by the Wholesaler
Best-buy allows
you to order a generic product from a specific wholesaler using their
best buy code; they will choose which manufacturer to supply, being
their Best-buy available at that time.
This option is available to all users. See
Always
use Best-buy Codes notes.
Best-buy Codes
For generic products, there may be a number of different
manufacturers of exactly the same drug.
Some wholesalers will publish their own in-house codes for an item that
already has PIP
codes assigned to it. However, the wholesaler's Best-buy code is (normally)
assigned to the pack size, the strength and the generic type of drug,
not to the manufacturer. This means that when you order an item using
a Best-buy Code, the wholesaler will send whichever make they currently
have in stock as Best-buy (lowest price).
E.g. if you order using their Best-buy code 12345, which is for Diazepam
2mg 28 pack, they might supply the APS version, or the Hillcross, or the
Alpharma one etc., whichever is their Best-buy.
Although the choice of make/manufacturer is out of your hands, you normally
get a better discount/ price when you use Best-buy codes.
However, if you specify a product code for a specific manufacturer
in your order, the wholesaler will supply this item.
Best-buy items will change from time to time, depending on the best deal
that you can negotiate with manufacturers.
Cheapest item
"Cheapest" items are chosen by Pharmacy Manager from the Wholesaler price list
This
option is only available if you have a Wholesaler file loaded.
Only certain wholesalers provide a Wholesaler file, and they do
not use Best-buy codes, so you can set your system to use both "Best
Buy" and "Always Order Cheapest" options without conflict.
The file is normally updated weekly or monthly, depending on wholesaler.
Because this file includes current product prices, Pharmacy Manager can
therefore select the cheapest generic item from this wholesaler. If you
set Always Order Cheapest, it would allow you to order a specific
manufacturer's generic item from this wholesaler.
See Adding
a Wholesaler file.