Robotic Pharmacy (Automated dispensing machines pharmacy) cons, pros and uses
Robotic dispensing systems can count pills, cap bottles, label prescription vials, store hundreds of medications, and access patient information to ensure accuracy, They can store & fill prescriptions, They are large storage containers that are computer-controlled using a touch-screen interface, They work much the same way vending machines do, They can dispense medications to customers & staff according to their prescriptions.
Robotic pharmacy advantages
Pharmacy robotic machines have improved how pharmacies operate, They are robotic prescription dispensing systems that are capable of storing, administering, filling, capping, and labeling prescription medications effectively & securely, They can store & manage over 200 medications, plus patient information.
Pharmacy automation systems have transformed the healthcare landscape, They increase efficiency, improve patient care & enhance productivity, They can be a major time-saver for the pharmacy, Dispensing robots offer faster service, Customers do not have to wait as long to receive medication, and the machine can fill a prescription much faster than a human can.
Robotic pharmacy can enhance pharmacy workflow and efficiency, It can create greater convenience for you & your staff, It can reallocate resources to other tasks, So, You can decrease the time spent on tedious tasks and increase the time spent on duties humans must perform.
A robotic prescription dispensing system can help you free up time you once spent dispensing prescriptions, So, you’ll have more time to counsel patients, Automation can improve efficiency because it can virtually eliminate dispensing errors, Careful use & maintenance are needed to ensure that automated systems successfully reduce the risk of medication errors.
Before pharmacy automation systems, The pharmacist had to spend a long time manually counting, filling, capping and labeling patients’ prescriptions, Now dispensing robots can perform this tedious task, Pharmacy automation helps the pharmacists to spend more time with the patients and offer better care.
Pharmacy Automation Systems allow greater productivity, Pharmacy robotic systems can fill the prescriptions after hours & have them ready for the patients to retrieve the next morning, This is very useful for busy and drive-thru pharmacies.
Automation reduces dispensing errors, leading to efficiencies in dispensary throughput and turnaround times, Enabling of re-engineering of pharmacy services, which might include developing a ward-based medicines management service and decentralizing the clinical pharmacy service.
Dispensing robots can lessen human fallibility by limiting reliance on memory, They can reduce the risk of medication errors if the system is properly installed, maintained, and refilled, They can fill prescriptions and make the running of the pharmacy more efficient, They have proved highly beneficial to both patients and pharmacy staff, and they are used nationwide to fill all kinds of prescriptions.
Dispensing robots offer high safety, Pills that look alike may be easily confused or miscounted by pharmacy staff, the automated machine keeps the pills & medications in a sterile environment, that prevents the occurrence of medication contamination.
Pharmacists may be free to talk to the patients about their medications, address possible interactions, and answer questions to improve the quality of a patient’s life, Pharmacists may be able to devote more time to offer basic preventive care, such as administering immunizations and performing health screenings.
Robotic pharmacy offers high security, Medications are securely locked in automated dispensing machines, and all dispensed pills are tracked by the machine’s software, Robotic pharmacy reduces the potential of medication theft or human error, The patient’s needs can be addressed much quicker, thus increasing their satisfaction.
Robotic pharmacy can increase your business’s profits, It can create new revenue streams for your pharmacy, It can enable your pharmacy to add an additional location where you might never be able to start a full-service pharmacy, update your payment process to include mobile pay or chip cards that can help you attract a younger demographic.
Pharmacy automation systems help you avoid error and contamination, Robotic systems store each different drug in separate cells to avoid cross-contamination, Many automation systems have a photo verification feature that digitally records each medication it fills, This increases patient safety, while also reducing the risk of liability for the pharmacies.
Robotic systems reduce costs & waste, Without pharmacy automation systems, The pharmacist who draws three grams from a ten-gram vial has to discard what’s remaining because it can’t be used again, The automated system is sterile and can draw from the same vial twice, This results in reduced waste and substantial long-term savings.
Robotic Pharmacy Disadvantages
Robotic pharmacy drawbacks are all involved with cost, The disadvantages include high startup costs, partly resulting from needed facility renovations, However, these facility renovations lead to more costs, such as high continuing support costs, although the cost of pharmacy robots continues to decrease, information systems and other robotic pharmacy support costs keep increasing.
Although Robotic pharmacies can reduce human errors, it is important to emphasize the fact that machines also commit errors, Besides cost, Robotic pharmacies still lack solutions for some types of products such as blood derivates, flammables, and cytotoxic drugs, So, some robotic pharmacies still need conventional static shelving, And considering the high capital investment required, these disadvantages make robotic pharmacist an unattractive option for many health services.
Robotic pharmacy technologies are expensive, So, the losers of this technology would be the staff that would suffer reductions to offset the price of the technology, hospital pharmacist staff use robotics to reduce cost, and delivery time, So, the use of these robots requires no new staff, as existing personnel incorporate it into their daily routines which makes losers to this technology people who are newly interested in pursuing a career in pharmacy.
Although the addition of robotics can improve efficiency and productivity, Pharmacy automation systems can’t replace pharmacists, If you implement a new technology that limits human interaction, The patients may be reluctant to frequent your pharmacy.
Robotic pharmacy can enhance precision & accuracy but robotics isn’t trained to explain medication interactions or give advice about adding a vitamin to the patient’s medication regimen, robotics can cause disaster in the case of malfunction, If the pharmacy heavily relies on automation, The system breakdown could lead to less work productivity.
Robotic pharmacy can be expensive, It comes with significant start-up & maintenance costs, Some computer software requires continuous upgrades, So, hefty payments each time the product is updated, a robotic prescription dispensing system you purchased last year may be considered out-of-date, So, you need to pay for an upgrade in the next few years.
Pharmacy automation systems can be difficult to implement new changes, It takes many steps to innovate and implement changes, Older automated dispensing machines may be less reliable, while newer ones may have a complicated interface that is difficult to use.
Robotic pharmacy offers many benefits but they do not completely remove the danger of pharmacy errors, automated pharmacy dispensing machines can make mistakes, if the wrong drug is loaded into the machine, So, The patients can receive the wrong medication before the problem is identified.
In case of software problems, automated dispensing machines are run by computer programs that can fail without warning, Installing software updates & hooking the machine to the pharmacy’s record management system can take a long time & should be done properly to avoid errors in the future.
