AI‑Powered Automated Refill Journeys that Keep Patients Coming Back

Below is a step‑by‑step walk‑through of setting up an automated refill journey for a typical Australian independent pharmacy. The example uses Sunrise Pharmacy, a suburban pharmacy in Newcastle that dispenses chronic‑care medicines such as Amlodipine and insulin.

1. Prepare Patient Records

1. Navigate to the Patients tab from the left‑hand menu.
2. Click Import CSV and upload the latest patient list (Name, Phone, DOB, Address, Medication, Quantity dispensed, Daily dose).
3. Ferbz validates the file and creates a patient profile for each row. On each profile you will see a Medication History table that records every sale and the calculated next‑refill date.

2. Configure the Billing Trigger

1. Open the Billing screen and click New Sale.
2. Select the patient (e.g., Emma Clarke), choose the product Metformin 500 mg, enter 60 tablets, and set the Daily dose to 2 tablets.
3. Ferbz automatically computes the refill due date as 30 days from today (60 ÷ 2 = 30).
4. Click Generate Receipt – a PDF is created and a shareable link appears. The moment the receipt is generated, Ferbz flags the sale as “completed” and enrolls Emma into any automation journeys that listen for the “sale completed” event.

3. Build the Refill Journey in Automation

1. From the main navigation, select Automation.

2. Click Create New Journey and type a plain‑English goal: “Send a refill reminder 5 days before a patient’s medication is due.”

3. Ferbz’s AI instantly proposes a flow:

   • Trigger: Days until due = 5 (calculated from the most recent sale).
   • Wait: 0 days (immediate after the trigger).
   • Message 1: “Hi Emma, your Metformin prescription will be due in 5 days. Tap the link to reorder now.” (uses the receipt link from the sale).
   • Branch: If the patient replies “Done”, end journey. If no reply, wait 2 days.
   • Message 2: “Just a friendly reminder – you can still order your Metformin before it runs out.”

4. Review the visual canvas; drag‑and‑drop to adjust waiting periods or add an extra message for “Ask a pharmacist” if needed.

5. Click Save and Activate. The journey now lives on the Automation board, ready to enroll any patient whose next‑refill date falls within the 5‑day window.

4. Verify on the Reminders Board

1. Open the Reminders board from the top menu.

2. You will see a line item for Emma:

   • Patient: Emma Clarke
   • Sale ID: #10234
   • Trigger: 5 days until due
   • Status: Scheduled (today’s date)

3. After the message is sent, the board updates to Sent → Delivered → Read automatically, pulling the status from the WhatsApp Business API. If a status shows Failed, click the row to view error details and optionally resend.

5. Monitor Performance in Reports

1. Go to Reports and select Automation Effectiveness.

2. Filter by Journey: Refill Reminder 5‑Day and a date range of the past month.

3. The report shows:

   • Total reminders sent: 124
   • Delivered: 119 (96%)
   • Read: 112 (90%)
   • Orders placed via link: 38 (31% conversion)

4. Use these numbers to decide whether to tighten the wait period, add a follow‑up, or adjust message copy.

6. Credit Consumption

Each reminder costs 1 credit, each broadcast costs 0.5 credits per recipient, and each receipt confirmation (when a patient clicks the link) costs 0.2 credits. Sunrise Pharmacy’s wallet shows a balance of 500 credits; after the month’s activity, the balance drops to 382, reflecting the exact usage.

Full Worked Example – Sunrise Pharmacy

Patient	Medication	Qty Dispensed	Daily Dose	Refill Due	Journey Enrolled	First Message Sent	Second Message Sent	Order via Link
Emma Clarke	Metformin	60 tablets	2 tablets	30 Oct 2026	5‑Day Refill	25 Oct 2026 (delivered)	27 Oct 2026 (read)	28 Oct 2026 – $42.50

Emma’s first reminder arrived on 25 Oct, she opened the message on 27 Oct, and placed the order on 28 Oct, three days before the medication would have run out. Sunrise Pharmacy avoided a potential stockout and captured $42.50 of revenue that otherwise might have been lost.

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Time saved – Before Ferbz, Sunrise Pharmacy’s staff spent an average of 12 minutes per patient each month manually checking refill dates, drafting WhatsApp messages, and logging the interaction in a paper ledger. With the automated refill journey, the same 124 patients required only 2 minutes of oversight (checking the Reminders board for failures). That is a reduction of ≈ 242 minutes per month, or roughly 4 hours of staff time that can be redirected to clinical counselling.

Revenue recovered – In the month prior to automation, Sunrise Pharmacy recorded 38 missed refills from chronic‑care patients, equating to an estimated $1,620 of lost sales (average prescription value $42.50). After launching the 5‑day journey, the conversion rate rose to 31 %, delivering $1,615 in additional revenue – essentially recouping the previous loss.

Stock optimisation – By smoothing the refill cadence, the pharmacy can forecast demand for Metformin, Amlodipine, and insulin with a tighter confidence interval. This reduces the likelihood of over‑stocking (which ties up capital and risks expiry) and under‑stocking (which leads to missed sales). In the first quarter of use, Sunrise Pharmacy’s expired‑stock write‑off fell from $1,200 to $450, a 62 % improvement.

Reduced manual errors – Because the reminder clock is calculated automatically from the quantity and daily dose entered at checkout, there is no need for staff to manually count days or set calendar alerts. The system also logs every WhatsApp interaction, eliminating the guesswork around whether a patient received the reminder.

Overall, the automated refill journey turns a repetitive, error‑prone task into a reliable, data‑driven process that directly tackles the core pain points of chronic‑care patients forgetting to return, expired stock sitting on shelves, and evenings lost to manual billing.

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Setting up an AI‑powered automated refill journey takes just a few clicks. Log in to the Ferbz dashboard, import your patient list, create a simple “5‑day refill reminder” journey, and watch the system handle the rest. With every reminder drawing from a prepaid credit wallet, you stay in control of costs while reclaiming lost revenue and freeing up staff time.

Start your trial today at https://dashboard.ferbz.com/ and see how automated refill journeys can keep your patients coming back. If you have questions or need a hand with the initial setup, email support@ferbz.com – our team is ready to help your pharmacy run smoother, every day.