Pharmacy automation

Any pharmacy task may be involved, including counting small objects (e.g., tablets, capsules); measuring and mixing powders and liquids for compounding; tracking and updating customer information in databases (e.g., personally identifiable information (PII), medical history, drug interaction risk detection); and inventory management.

A typical community pharmacist was working longer hours and often forced to hire staff to handle increased workloads which resulted in less time to focus on safety issues.

[1] The original electronic portable digital tablet counting technology was invented in Manchester, England between 1967 and 1970 by the brothers John and Frank Kirby.

In fact I was Senior House (Casualty) Officer (A&E or ER) in 1970 at North Manchester General Hospital when I filed the patent.

Frank and John Kirby and their associate Rodney Lester were pioneers in pharmacy automation and small-object counting technology.

[4] These early electronic counters were designed to help pharmacies replace the common (but often inaccurate) practice of counting medications by hand.

This substantial investment in new technology was a major financial consideration, but the pharmacy community considered the use of a counting machine as a superior method compared to hand-counting medications.

In England and America, the 1980s and 1990s saw new the development of high-speed machines for counting and bottle filling, Like their pharmacy-based counterparts, these industrial units were designed to be fast and simple to operate, yet remain small and cost effective.

It allowed the opportunity to develop new advanced technology products that met the pharmacy's needs for simple, accurate, and cost-effective ways to dispense prescriptions safely.

[citation needed] In the EU member states legislation was introduced in 1998 which had a major effect on UK Pharmacy operations.

During this timeframe, counting technologies, robotics, workflow management software, and interactive voice recognition (IVR) systems for retail (both chain and independent), outpatient, government, and closed-door pharmacies (mail order and central fill) were all introduced.

Based on the counting technology employed in preceding models, later machines included the ability to help the pharmacy operate more effectively.

Pharmacy management generally sees technology as a solution to industry challenges like staffing shortages, prescription volume increases, long and hectic work hours and complicated insurance reimbursement procedures.

Pharmacies employ advanced technologies that help to handle an ever-escalating number of prescriptions, while making dispensing safer and more precise.

While one tablet is unlikely to leave enough residues to cause harm to a future patient, the risk of contamination increases sevenfold as the machine processes thousands of varying pills throughout the course of a day.

Performing an efficient cleaning of an automated tablet counter significantly increases the amount of time spent on counts by users.

Many critics argue that these problems can easily be prevented by taking the proper precautions and following all cleaning procedures, but the increase in time spent makes it hard to justify such an investment.

Specialty pharmacies that stock and dispense medications on the NIOSH list of Hazardous Drugs must follow strict standards.

Various companies are currently developing a range of remote tablet counters, verification systems and pharmacy automation components to improve the accuracy, safety, speed and efficiency of medication dispensing.

Products that are used in retail, mail order, hospital outpatient and specialty pharmacies as well as industrial settings such as manufacturing and component factories.

The transient or definitive displacement of the solid oral form from the original atmosphere to enter a repackaging process, sometimes automated, is likely to play a primary role in the pharmaceutical controversy in some countries.

Considering these data, a review of the literature for determination of conditions for repackaged drug stability according to different international guidelines is presented by F Lagrange.