Background:

A hospital pharmacy was facing challenges in dispensing medication to patients in a timely and accurate manner. The manual process of counting and dispensing pills was time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to delays in medication delivery and potential patient harm. To address these challenges, the pharmacy decided to implement a robotic pill dispensing system with a very specialized vendor using HL7 standards.

Solution:

Rite Technologies assisted in understanding the specifications, integration plan with the vendor and got our Client (Pharmacy Management Product) to help their client pharmacy the specific robotic pill dispensing system in a very crucial timelines that automated the process of counting and dispensing pills. The system consisted of a robotic arm that could accurately count pills and fill prescriptions in a fraction of the time it took to do so manually.

The system was integrated with the PMS, which allowed pharmacists to enter prescriptions electronically and retrieve them from the system. Once a prescription was retrieved, the robotic arm would count the pills and dispense them into a vial or blister pack, which was then labelled and delivered to the patient.

The system was also equipped with various safety features, such as barcode scanning to ensure accurate medication dispensing and automated error checking to prevent over or under dosing.

Results:

The implementation of the robotic pill dispensing system had a significant impact on the pharmacy’s operations. It improved medication dispensing accuracy and reduced dispensing time, leading to faster medication delivery to patients. It also reduced the risk of errors and increased patient safety.

The system was able to fill up to 300 prescriptions per hour, which was a significant improvement over the manual process. It also reduced the need for manual labour, which allowed pharmacists to focus on other tasks such as patient counselling and medication therapy management.

The system also had a positive impact on patient satisfaction. Patients reported receiving their medications faster and with greater accuracy, which led to increased confidence in the pharmacy’s services.

Conclusion:

The implementation of a robotic pill dispensing system in a hospital pharmacy proved to be a successful solution to address the challenges of medication dispensing. It improved medication dispensing accuracy, reduced dispensing time, and increased patient safety. The system was able to fill a large volume of prescriptions per hour, which was a significant improvement over the manual process. The system also had a positive impact on patient satisfaction, as patients reported receiving their medications faster and with greater accuracy.

At Rite Technologies we have integrated with multiple vendors and multiple standards and are easily able to understand the needs from PMS side as well as EHR systems.

MORE CASE STUDIES