Tech

The impact of Robotic Dispensers in Pharmacies

A medical dispensing robot is used in the pharmacy to automate all tasks including counting pills, sorting, packaging, dispensing and retrieval of medicine. The medication stored in the dispensing robot is secure and can only be accessed by people with access rights.

The Robotic process of dispensing medicine

The first step that takes place is when the patient goes and sees the doctor and after consultation the patient receives the prescription.
The prescription is electronically transferred to the smart pharmacy within a very short time.
Then with a click of a button, the pharmacist instructs the dispensing robot to dispense the medicine.
The pharmacist then checks the prescription given by the doctor for any clinical information and If everything is okay then the medication is at that point dispensed.
The medicine then gets to the pharmacist who checks them again and gives them to the patient with consultation and counselling.

It is crucial to note that the dispensing robot knows exactly where the medicine is kept and therefore it does not have to keep searching for it. This saves a lot of time otherwise wasted when searching for medication.

Automation Requirements of a Pharmacy dispenser

The following are some of the pharmacy requirements of a dispensing robot:

Dispensing and Repackaging Products: A dispensing robot should have the capacity to dispense and repackage medication from bulk bottles and also handle an enormous amount of non-compounded products.
ADC Replacement and Specific Doses for patients: The robotic technology should be in a position to manage patient dispensing for the first dose as well as cart-filling and replenishment of ADC.
Reporting, Bar Code Scanning and Management of the Inventory:A top requirement is Bar code scanning for validating dispensing accuracy. Another key consideration would be the inventory management ability that will assist in building a daily purchase medication order.

Pharmacy automation Trends

Smart technologies are rapidly transforming how pharmacies operate and dispense medication as compared to the traditional and manual methods of dispensing medicine. The following are the latest trends of automation in pharmacies.

Flexible configurations in a small space: The biggesttransformation that has taken place in the last ten years is that the medicine dispensing cabinets have become more customizable and efficient.
The dispensing cabinets can now fit in much smaller spaces and without the need for additional equipment hence cutting on costs.
Smart Drawers:The modern design of the cabinets increases security of the medication since the nurses only have access to the pockets for the required patient medication.
Virtual control: The latest dispensing technology comes with smarter management tools that provide access to the system from any location as long as there is internet connectivity.
Smart inventory management: The current inventory and restocking system is automated therefore there is no longer the problem of running out of medication or not being available by the fifth or sixth day of the cycle.

Benefits of using robotics in the pharmacy

Robotic machines used in dispensing safeguards the patient by ensuring that the right medication goes to the right patient and in the right dosage each time.
A Dispensing robot is able to increase accuracy and reduce waste through the use of the in-built force torque sensors.
Technicians are able to monitor the safety standards for the prescriptions by using cutting-edge workflow systems.
Robotic pharmacies are a major time saver and effective and therefore customers do not have to keep waiting in long queues for their medication to be dispensed.
Dispensing robot takes care of the manual and tedious work hence giving the pharmacists time to focus on preventive care and attend to the requests of the patients.