Riley County Commission approves 60-day trial switch of jail pharmacy services to Clinical Solutions

The Riley County Commission approved a request on Jan. 13 to transition the county jail’s pharmaceutical supplier from Diamond Pharmacy to Clinical Solutions for an initial trial period.

Britney Phillips, the county’s budget and finance officer, told commissioners the change was recommended to reduce the amount of staff time spent preparing medications and to lower costs. The shift is structured as a trial: Clinical Solutions would provide services on a 60-day pilot basis without an immediate long-term contract, Phillips said. County staff must give 30 days’ notice to Diamond Pharmacy before switching permanently.

A county staff member who described work inside the jail's medical operations explained the operational driver: medications presently arrive in blister packs that require corrections officers to remove pills and prepare daily doses, a process that can take "about an hour to an hour and a half" for a single medication pass and pulls a corrections officer away from other duties. The Clinical Solutions packaging is intended to reduce preparation time and the burden on staff. The presenters said other Kansas jails that transitioned reported similar reductions in staff time.

Commissioners moved and seconded the recommendation; the vote to approve the transition on a trial basis was recorded as unanimous. No formal long-term contract was executed at the Jan. 13 meeting; staff said a contract would be considered only after the trial and only if evidence demonstrates the change achieves savings and operational improvement.

The change also required coordination with the county’s correctional medical contractor and stated vendor approval for handling the jail’s medication-management workflow. County staff emphasized that some medications remain on hand for immediate needs and that Clinical Solutions' system is compatible with the jail management system used by other Kansas counties.