Commercial Drugs

Commercial drugs are managed as a distinct category in 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 drugs by searching or filtering by supplier, tags, or archived status, while monitoring stock on hand, expiry dates, and alerts such as Low Stock, Expiring Soon, or Expired.
• 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 til Expiry.
   1. • LOW STOCK EXPIRING SOON or EXPIRED alerts will 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 '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 select whether to sort by 'Stock Name' (A–Z or Z–A) or by 'Date Created' (oldest first or newest first).
7. Hover over the commercial drug name to see a summary of its 'History of Use' and select a time range: 'Week/Month/Quarter/Year/All' to view usage within the selected period. This graph is also displayed on the commercial drug record.
   • 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 'Commercial 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, then select a 'Schedule' and 'Labels' from the 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. See the Purchase Orders user guide for more information.
9. Enter the minimum stock on hand to indicate how many units should trigger a reorder.
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, choose the Batch-Allocation preference to determine which batch is used first:
          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.
   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.
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'.
12. The 'Inventory History' for the daily stock on hand for this batch is displayed on this page.
13. You may upload supporting documents by clicking '+ Upload File' or by file_open dragging files into the space provided.
14. You may add a note for your team in the space provided at the bottom of the page.
15. 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 are 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 batch stock 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. On the 'Edit Drug' page, edit the drug name, quantity, and form.
7. Edit the description, then select a 'Schedule' and 'Labels' from the 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. See the Purchase Orders user guide for more information.
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.
    2. Edit the cost per pack to auto-calculate the profit and margin.
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. Enter the minimum stock on hand to indicate how many units should trigger a reorder.
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, choose the Batch-Allocation preference to determine which batch is used first:
       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 making all edits, click 'Save' to apply the 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'.
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.
   1. An alert will appear when a cost price variance is detected, showing the average cost, current cost, and the variance.
10. Review the 'Inventory History' graph to see the daily Stock on Hand.
11. You may upload supporting documents by clicking '+ Upload File' or by file_open dragging files into the space provided.
12. You may add a note for your team in the space provided at the bottom of the page.
13. Click 'Save' to confirm changes.
    1. Tick 'check_box Approved for use' if the drug batch is ready for use.

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. Click on the 'Drugs & Batch Stock' button.
3. Select the 'Commercial Drug' you want to archive.
4. Click on the 'archive Archive' button beside More Actions.
   1. A timestamped notification banner will appear at the top of the page confirming the action.
5. To unarchive the drug, click the 'unarchive Unarchive' button beside More Actions.