It has been an interesting few weeks here at Beehive Farmacy – at both our Salt Lake City and Brigham City locations. As many of you know, the state launched a brand-new electronic verification system (EVS) on August 11. Many of you also know that the new system did not work so well in its first few days.
We understand the frustration of visiting Beehive Farmacy and not being able to purchase your medicines due to our inability to check records in the EVS. You rely on your medicines daily. To have to go without is both inconvenient and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, sometimes the technology on which our medical cannabis program operates gets in the way.
Rest assured the state has offered medical cannabis pharmacies a workaround while it implements a permanent fix to the glitch. If there is any good news in all of this, it is the fact that only about 20% of the state’s medical cannabis patients were affected by the glitch.
What Happened With the Software
The new EVS was scheduled for launch on Sunday, August 11. It did, but by Monday morning it was clear that something in the software was preventing pharmacy access to some patient records. Over the next couple of days, hundreds of patients were turned away without their medicines.
The glitch put pharmacies, like Beehive Farmacy in a bad position. We are required by law to verify patient eligibility through the EVS. Selling to patients we have not verified is not only illegal, but also punishable with a fine of up to $5,000 and the loss of our pharmacy license.
We pharmacy operators did not want to turn patients away. But we had no other choice. Fortunately, some patients were able to wait a couple of days until the state implemented a workaround. As for those who couldn’t wait, we don’t know what they did. The glitch did not impact just Beehive Farmacy, it impacted every pharmacy across the state.
No System Is Perfect
Believe us when we say that our staff was just as frustrated as those medical cannabis patients who had to leave without their medicines. We are here to serve patients. We cannot do our jobs when the software we rely on isn’t working. For us, the glitch was just as painful.
On the other hand, we recognize the fact that no system is perfect. Software glitches are never ideal. But there is no way to create a piece of software that will never crash. Software that never malfunctions doesn’t exist. It is something we need to live with in the digital era.
Up and Running Again
At any rate, the EVS is up and running once again. Patients can visit either Beehive Farmacy location in Salt Lake City or Brigham City to obtain up to a 30-day supply of their medicines. On your next visit, take advantage of our on-site pharmacist who is there to answer your questions and offer qualified advice.
If you are new to medical cannabis in Utah, perhaps none of this makes sense to you. Needless to say, the EVS is the engine that drives medical cannabis in our state. Patients obtain their medical cannabis cards through the EVS. Doctors and pharmacies use the system to keep track of patients.
The EVS has a pretty good record of uptime. Do not let this one glitch discourage you. In fact, the new system should make life easier for everyone once the state’s permanent fix is implemented. A year from now, we will all look back on what happened in mid-August and laugh.
