Commercial Drugs

Commercial drugs, also known as non-PBS drugs, are managed as a distinct category in the Compound Direct, giving you full control over stock, expiry, pricing, and usage. By centralising all information on the Drugs & Batch Stock page, your pharmacy can reduce the risk of shortages, and make better-informed purchasing decisions. Batch tracking also supports highly accurate cost prices, expiry tracking, and tighter control of stock on hand.

With commercial drug management, you can:

• Quickly locate and review stock by searching or filtering by supplier, tags, or archived status, while monitoring stock on hand, expiry dates, and alerts such as Low Stock or Expiring Soon.
• Add and customise new drugs by entering pricing, supplier preferences, minimum stock levels, and stock alerts so profit margins are visible and stock requirements are proactively managed.
• Edit and maintain existing drug records by updating stock quantities, product details, alerts, and images, while reviewing historical usage trends and patient supply history, critical when recalls or safety notifications are issued.

This guide explains how to find, add, edit, track, and archive commercial drugs to ensure stock is well managed and patient safety is always prioritised.

Finding a commercial drug

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Click on the 'Drugs & Batch Stock' button.
3. A list of items is shown under Drugs & Batch Stock including their Stock on Hand and Days until Expiry.
   1. A Low Stock alert will also appear here when relevant.
   2. An Expiring Soon alert will also appear here when relevant.
4. To find your desired commercial drug, you may either:
   1. Begin typing the Name into the search bar and select the desired commercial drug from the list.
   2. Identify each classification by its icon:
      1. Commercial Drugs
      2. External Batch Stock
      3. Internal Batch Stock
   3. Find the name in the list. This can be simplified by clicking the 'More Filters' drop-down menu:
      1. Click on the 'Tagged with' drop-down menu and select a tag from either 'Has Tag' or 'Without Tag' to apply to the search.
      2. Click 'Stock on hand' and tick 'check_box Low Stock' to display low stock items.
      3. Click on the 'Supplier' drop-down menu and select a 'Supplier' from the list to apply to the search.
      4. Click on the 'Stock Type' and select 'Commercial Drugs'.
      5. Click on the 'Schedule' drop-down menu and select a 'Schedule' from the list.
      6. Click 'Archival status' and tick 'check_box Show Archived' to display archived batch stock in the list.
      7. Click on the 'Reset Filters' button to remove all filters applied.
5. Click the sell icon to enter or select Tags, which can then be applied to filter the list.
6. Click the 'Sort By' button and choose to sort the list by name (A–Z or Z–A) or by date created (oldest or newest).
7. Hover over the commercial drug name to see a summary of its Usage History, displayed across different time intervals.
   • Add minimum stock on hand for each drug to highlight stock that drops past the required amount on hand.
8. Once found, click on the drug to view it.

Adding a new commercial drug

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Click on the 'Drugs & Batch Stock' button.
3. Click on the 'New Drug' button.
4. On the Add Drug page, add a drug Name, Quantity, and Form.
5. Add a Description, select a 'Schedule' and 'Labels' from their drop-down menus.
6. Enter a Reference Code (searchable or internal identifier). You can use this code in the product search to quickly locate the corresponding commercial product.
7. Under Pricing, enter the Price, and Compare-at-Price (RRP).
   1. Tick 'check_box Charge tax for this item' if you want to apply tax to this item.
   2. Specify the Cost Per Pack to auto-calculate the profit and margin.
8. Under Inventory, enter the SKU, Barcode and Initial Stock on Hand.
   1. Select the 'Preferred Supplier' from the drop-down menu.
   2. Enter the Preferred Quantity and Purchase Price.
   • Adding inventory details allows you to quickly reorder these items through the purchase order system. To learn more, see the user guide: Purchase Orders.
9. Add the Minimum Stock on Hand desired before a low stock alert is given.
10. Under Batch Tracking, tick 'check_box Track batches' to enable batch tracking for the new drug.
    1. Enabling batch tracking will allow you to create batches for the commercial drug record.
       1. Once enabled, you can choose a batch allocation method:
          1. 'Use the batch that is first to expire'
          2. 'Use the newest batch first'
          3. 'Use the batch with the least quantity first'
11. Add appropriate Tags to the batch stock to help manage inventory and communicate properties to other team members.
    • Tags are used to aid in searching and can also be used as a form of communication to other users. (e.g., indicating a drug is hazardous or in the fridge). To learn more about setting up tags, see: Tags user guide.
12. Click 'Save' to confirm changes.

Creating a batch of commercial drug

You can create a batch for a commercial drug if batch tracking was enabled when the commercial drug record was created.

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Click on the 'Drugs & Batch Stock' button.
3. Select the commercial drug to which you want to add a batch.
4. On the Drug page, click the 'Create Batch' button.
5. Enter the batch Quantity.
6. Select the 'Supplier' from the drop-down menu, then enter the Brand.
7. Enter the Lot/Batch Number and 'Expiry Date'.
8. Under Pricing, enter Quantity Purchased Per Pack, Purchase Price, and Cost Per Pack.
9. Once all details are entered, click 'Create'.
10. Once created, you will be redirected to the Edit Stock Batch page.
11. If the batch is ready for use, tick 'check_box Approved for use'.
    1. The Inventory History for the daily stock on hand for this batch can be viewed on this page.
12. You may upload supporting documents by clicking '+ Upload File' or by file_open dragging files into the space provided.
13. You may add a Note for your team in the space provided at the bottom of the page.
14. Click 'Save' to confirm changes.
    1. If an approved batch is ready for use, select the 'takeout_dining Open' button.

Editing a commercial drug

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Click on the 'Drugs & Batch Stock' button.
3. Select the desired commercial drug.
4. On the commercial drug:
   1. Available Stock on Hand and Total Stock on Hand is displayed.
   2. Under Collections, add the formulation to any existing collection for easy identification when creating drafts.
   3. Under History, the history of use for the drug is shown including an interactive graph which can be set at different time frames.
      1. Select a time range: 'Week/Month/Quarter/Year/All', to view usage within the selected period.
5. Click on the 'create Edit' button or press E on your keyboard to begin editing the commercial drug record details.
6. Edit the drug Name, Quantity, and Form.
7. Edit the Description, 'Schedule' and 'Labels' from their drop-down menus.
8. Enter a Reference Code (searchable or internal identifier). You can use this code in the product search to quickly locate the corresponding commercial product.
9. Under Inventory, edit the SKU, and Barcode.
   1. Edit the 'Preferred Supplier' from the drop-down menu.
   2. Edit the Preferred Quantity and Purchase Price.
   • Adding inventory details allows you to quickly reorder these items through the purchase order system. To learn more, see the user guide: Purchase Orders.
10. Under Pricing, edit the Price, Compare-at-Price (RRP).
    1. Tick 'check_box Charge tax' for this item if you want to apply tax to this item.
11. Click the 'Add Price' button to add alternative pricing for when multiple packs of a product are dispensed to a patient.
    1. Input the Number of Packs, and Per Pack Price.
    2. Click 'Show More' and place the Name for the Multi-Pack Price, then click 'Done'.
    3. Leave blank if no alternative pricing applies.
12. Under Alerts, edit the alerts for Minimum Stock on Hand.
13. Under Batch Tracking, tick 'check_box Track batches' to enable or disable batch tracking.
    1. Disabling batch tracking after batches have been created will consolidate all stock on hand into a single record for Available SOH and Total SOH.
    2. Enabling batch tracking will allow you to create batches for the commercial drug record.
    3. Once enabled, you can choose a batch allocation method:
       1. 'Use the batch that is first to expire'
       2. 'Use the newest batch first'
       3. 'Use the batch with the least quantity first'
14. Under Tags, current tags can be seen, added, or removed.
    • Tags are used to aid in searching and can also be used as a form of communication to other users. (e.g., indicating a drug is hazardous or in the fridge). To learn more about setting up tags, see: Tags user guide.
15. Under Product Image, edit or add an image for the drug by clicking the file_open icon or by dragging files into the space provided.
16. After all edits are made click on the 'Save' button to save all changes to the drug.

Editing a batch-tracked commercial drug

This applies to editing specific lots or batches under a batch-tracked commercial drug record.

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Click on the 'Drugs & Batch Stock' button.
3. Select the desired commercial drug record.
4. On the commercial drug record, select the 'Lot/Batch' you want to edit.
5. On the Edit Stock Batch page, click the create icon to open the Adjust Stock Batch Quantity modal.
   1. If the quantity is increased, enter the reason for the change.
   2. If the quantity is reduced, select a reason from the drop-down menu, and optionally add a comment for additional details.
   3. Once finished, click the 'Update Stock Batch' button to save your changes.
6. A batch cannot be edited once it has been approved for use.
   1. Scroll down to the Approval section, then click 'Make Changes' or press E on your keyboard to make changes.
7. Edit the 'Supplier', and Brand.
8. Edit the Lot/Batch number, and 'Expiry Date'.
9. Under Pricing, edit the Quantity Purchased, Purchase Price, and Cost Per Pack.
10. Tick 'check_box Approved for use' if the drug batch is ready for use.
11. Review the Inventory History graph to see the Stock on Hand.
12. You may upload supporting documents by clicking '+ Upload File' or by file_open dragging files into the space provided.
13. You may add a Note for your team in the space provided at the bottom of the page.
14. Click 'Save' to confirm changes.

Viewing a commercial drug history

To view the history of non-batch-tracked commercial drugs:

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Select 'Drugs & Batch Stock'.
3. Select the commercial drug whose history you want to view.
4. Click the 'history Stock History' button.
5. On the History of Use page, click the 'Last 30 Days' button to filter the list by your desired date range.
   1. To export the history of use, click the 'Export' button.
   2. Select either 'Excel' or 'CSV' from the export drop-down menu.

To view the history of batch-tracked commercial drugs:

1. Click the 'history Batch History' button to view the list of lots/batches.
   1. To export the entire batch history, click the 'Export' button.
      1. Select either 'Excel' or 'CSV' from the export drop-down menu.
   2. To view the history of a specific lot/batch, select the desired 'Stock Batch/Lot No'.
      1. On the Edit Stock Batch page, click 'Show History'.
      2. Usage history for batch displays the Total Quantity Used, Disp/Reason (Dispensed record number or Reason for change in quantity) Quantity Used, Used By, and Date Used.
         1. To reset the stock adjustment, use the more_vert icon and click 'Reset'.
         2. To export the Usage History, click 'Export'.
         3. To choose the export format, select 'Excel' or 'CSV' from the export drop-down menu.

Archiving a commercial drug

1. Go to the 'Settings' page.
2. Select 'Drugs & Batch Stock'.
3. Select the commercial drug you want to archive.
4. Click on the 'archive Archive' button beside More Actions.
   1. A time-stamp will appear at the top of the page confirming the action.
5. To unarchive the drug, click the 'unarchive Unarchive' button beside More Actions.