Two Strips From the Same Box, Two Different Batch Numbers

A medical store that tracks quantity but not batch cannot answer a recall, cannot claim a return, and cannot prove what it dispensed. Quantity is not enough.

When the recall notice reached Faiz’s medical store in Hyderabad, it named a manufacturer, a product and a batch number. His software could tell him he had 46 strips of that product. It could not tell him which batch any of them came from, or which of them he had already sold, or to whom.

He pulled all 46 and quarantined them. Thirty-one were from other batches and perfectly saleable, and he lost the value of them because he had no way to prove otherwise. The recall cost him about ₹9,400 in stock he did not have to lose, and two days he could not spare.

Quantity Is the Wrong Unit for Medicine

A grocery shop can treat 46 packets of biscuits as 46 identical things. A medical store cannot, because in pharmacy the meaningful unit is not the product — it is the batch.

• Every batch has its own expiry date, so "46 strips" may hold four different expiries
• Recalls are issued by batch, never by product
• Distributor expiry returns are accepted by batch, with the batch printed on the claim
• Pricing can differ between batches when MRP changes between manufacturing runs
• Dispensing records need the batch to be traceable at all

Software that tracks a single quantity per product is not slightly imprecise for a pharmacy. It is structurally unable to answer the questions a pharmacy gets asked.

What Batch-Level Actually Records

Each receipt into stock is its own line, not an addition to a running total.

• Batch number exactly as printed, because a transcription error is the same as no record
• Expiry date, usually month and year
• MRP for that batch, which may not match the previous one
• Quantity received, and the distributor and invoice it came on
• What was dispensed from that specific batch, and when

The last line is what would have saved Faiz. With it, the recall is a query rather than a quarantine — pull the 15 strips from the named batch, prove the other 31 are unaffected, and check whether any of the named batch was already dispensed.

I had the medicine. What I did not have was the ability to prove which medicine it was.

Expiry Returns Are Where the Money Is

Most distributors accept expired stock for credit within a window — commonly somewhere between three and six months before expiry, varying by distributor and company. The claim requires the batch number and usually the original purchase invoice.

Faiz had been writing off expired stock as a loss for four years, because assembling a claim from a paper register was more work than the credit was worth. His first properly prepared quarterly claim came to ₹27,000.

• Know each distributor’s return window, because they differ and the difference decides your timing
• Flag stock entering its window rather than stock that has expired — after expiry the credit is usually gone
• Keep the purchase invoice reference against the batch, since the claim needs it
• Reconcile credit notes received against claims sent, because partial settlement is normal

With batch tracking, the counter should be told which batch to dispense — the nearest expiry first. Left to reach, staff take the front strip, which is usually the newest. This one rule converts most would-be expiry losses into ordinary sales.

Schedule H1 and the Register You Must Keep

Certain drugs require a separate register recording the prescriber, the patient, the drug, the quantity and the date, retained for three years. This is a legal requirement rather than good practice, and it is checked.

A store already recording batch-level dispensing has most of this as a by-product. A store recording quantity only is maintaining a second paper system that agrees with the first by coincidence.

Starting Without Re-Entering Everything

Faiz did not enter four years of history. He started at the receiving table: every new box entered with batch, expiry and MRP from the day he switched, and existing shelf stock entered only as it was touched.

Within about five months, nearly everything on his shelves had been through the process at least once. The recall he received the following year took eleven minutes.

Mapis tracks stock at batch level with expiry and MRP per batch, flags stock entering a distributor’s return window, and dispenses nearest-expiry-first — so a recall is a search, and a return window is a reminder rather than a missed one.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a medical store need batch-wise inventory?

Because expiry, recalls, distributor returns and MRP all attach to the batch, not the product. A store holding 46 strips of one medicine may hold four different batches with four expiry dates. Without batch records a recall forces you to quarantine everything, a return claim cannot be filed, and dispensing cannot be traced.

How do medicine expiry returns to distributors work?

Most distributors accept stock for credit within a window before expiry — commonly three to six months, though it varies by distributor and manufacturer. The claim needs the batch number and usually the original purchase invoice. Stock flagged as it enters the window can be claimed; stock discovered after expiry usually cannot.

What records must a pharmacy keep for Schedule H1 drugs?

A separate register recording the prescriber, the patient, the drug and quantity dispensed, and the date, retained for three years. A store that already records dispensing at batch level produces most of this as a by-product rather than maintaining a parallel paper system.

How do I start batch tracking without re-entering all my stock?

Start at the receiving table. Enter batch, expiry and MRP on every new box from the day you switch, and enter existing shelf stock only as you handle it. Within about five months nearly all shelf stock has passed through the process at least once, with no bulk data-entry exercise at any point.