The Description of a Fully Automated Pharmacy

Due to the ever-rising costs of health care, many branches of the health care industry are being forced to find innovative ways to reduce costs while providing adequate service and facilities. One new method is using a fully automated pharmacy. Because it can help reduce the costs associated with prescriptive medications, automated pharmacies are growing in popularity across the United States and other countries.

System Details

• An automated pharmacy uses computers and bar codes to automate how people receive their prescriptions. An automated pharmacy gives each patient an exclusive bar code. This bar code would be placed on a hospital bracelet or in a similar application. Nurses and caregivers also receive individual bar codes. A bar code is also attached to each medicine. Every patient's, nurse's or caregiver's and medicine's bar code is indexed, usually, inside a computer system where the information is readily available.

Application

• As all patient medicine records become stored in a paperless, computer format, a nurse has the ability to access and edit each patient's electronic medical record. The information can be updated and changed within this system. The nurse can then scan the bar code of a patient, and this retrieves the patient's prescription and medical history. A nurse would then access an AcuDose-RX, or similar, computer system. This device stores prescriptive medicine within cabinets, multiple drawers and numbered compartments. When it is time for a specific patient to take medication, a specific drawer and compartment within the AcuDose-RX will open, relieving the proper medication and dosage.

Re-stocking

• The ROBOT-Rx system scans each bar-code peg and matches the medication with the prescription. The robot then selects a packet and carries it to a chute, where it drops the packet into an envelope that has a patient's information printed onto it. The envelope is delivered to a pharmacy technician, where it is prepared and sent back to the patient.

Background

• According to Drug Topics news magazine, in 2009 more than 700 hospitals in the United States were currently equipped with an AcuDose-RX system and database; Pennsylvania itself has 56. The ROBOT-Rx, and similar systems, are still being developed, and currently only about one-third of medium to large hospitals are equipped with the technology. To ensure errors are avoided, for the first month, every prescription filled by the system is checked. After the first month, if complete accuracy is achieved, the system is then checked at random.

Opinion

• Proponents of automated pharmacies claim the system helps ensure accuracy as well as security and safety when dealing with prescriptive medications. Katherine Lee-Mosio, assistant director of the University Village Pharmacy, writes, "Ultimately, an automated dispensing system is a valuable tool to standardize the prescription filling process by preparing prescriptions exactly the same way every time, and this automation helps us maintain high levels of accuracy, efficiency, safety and productivity." Problems include the high cost of implementing the system, though over time the system may save money for the health care industry and patients. Problems can also still occur if drugs or patient information is not properly labeled.