OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- “It’s a wonderful opportunity to open up our new satellite pharmacy,” said Col. Michael Manion, 55th Wing commander. “This BX pharmacy provides readiness and treatment for the Fightin’ Fifty-Fifth and the greater community.
“We are excited to unveil this new capability and I appreciate everybody’s hard work that has brought us this far,” he added.
The five-month long construction project began in November 2018 and was completed in April 2019. The new pharmacy is located in the north side of the BX.
The pharmacy gained approximately 30 percent in square footage, providing additional space to fill and manage prescriptions. It now has six windows available, two windows for prescription drop-off, three windows for prescription pick-up and one window for consultation or questions.
The satellite pharmacy is closed on weekends and federal holidays, while remaining open on wing family days and training days. The new hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
In addition, the new pharmacy provided space for a dedicated phone center utilizing voice-over-internet phones. The new call center can handle multiple phones calls at one time. Patient calls go into a phone queue, patients then receive a message informing them where they are in the queue. With the implementation of the new system, the average wait time for a phone call to be answered is a little more than 8 minutes due to a full-time pharmacy technician answering phones and activating prescriptions for patients.
In the first 19 days of implementing the new phone system, the satellite pharmacy received over 6,500 phone calls from their more than 45,000 beneficiaries. All these calls were answered in the order they were received.
There are currently four options for Team Offutt and retirees to get their prescriptions filled:
- Use a military pharmacy
- Use the TRICARE pharmacy home delivery program
- Use a TRICARE approved retail network pharmacy
- Use a non-network pharmacy
Patients with questions and concerns can contact the satellite pharmacy.
The satellite pharmacy was relocated in order to provide better service and care to patients. There are currently 14 people working in the satellite pharmacy with occasional volunteers from the American Red Cross.
In 2018, Offutt pharmacies processed and filled 324,000 prescriptions, which is 1,401 a day. This volume is more than an average civilian pharmacy fills in seven days.
To activate prescriptions at satellite pharmacy, call (402) 294-3228 or (402) 294-3229 both lines ring on same new call center and are answered in the order they are received.