Comments on: Thinking about a better Automated Dispensing Unit (ADU)

By: It may be time to consider robotic IV preparation at the bedside. | Jerry Fahrni

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:21:35 +0000

[...] at the point of care. I still like the idea for several reasons, all of which can be found in the original post. Based on currently available technology the same concept could be applied to preparation of IV [...]

By: Slow progress in pharmacy automation and stale technology creates ho-hum interest | Jerry Fahrni

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:08:41 +0000

[...] cabinets that allow less open access and greater flexibility in dispensing. I mentioned this in June 2009 when I spoke about using a modified unit-dose packager on nursing units in lieu of an open drawer [...]

By: Jerry Fahrni

Jerry Fahrni — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:59:33 +0000

Hi Fred - I agree with your assessment regarding Pyxis and Omnicell. As I mentioned in a post about my visit to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Omnicell does indeed appear to be ahead of Pyxis in available feature and technology at this time. I hope you are correct about the future of Pyxis as our facility makes heavy use of their systems and a change to Omnicell at this point just isn't in the cards. I would like to hear more about which part(s) of my thoughts you do not agree with. I am always interested in other points of view. If there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that there are always better ideas and solutions out there. Finding them is the problem. Thank you for stopping by and putting fingers to keyboard. I appreciate the feedback.

By: fred

fred — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:09:06 +0000

Carla C-
We… well could this be Carla Cockern, CEO, Talyst? She does import JVM equipment.
In the middle of evaluating the three big players in AUD now. Pyxis is incumbent. Omnicell seems to offer the best 10 year total cost of ownership and features that Pyxis, now that they are emerging from under Cardinal Health’s money grabbing hands, is only now starting to develop. Time will tell if Pyxis regains it’s once “top of the game” status. For now I can not agree with you Jerry. Why do single facilities need more than one server to run Pyxis MedStations? Pyxis dropped the ball long ago when they failed to see that they needed to re-write the software that they ride on and move to a more robust infrastructure. They are still very 1990′s.
Thank you for the Blog.

By: carlac

carlac — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:59:07 +0000

@Jerry Fahrni We import JVM equipment. We could probably get any info you need. LMK

By: Jerry Fahrni

Jerry Fahrni — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:36:42 +0000

Wow! The 30 unit box you linked to is about the perfect size for the solution I was thinking about. Thanks for the information.

By: carla c

carla c — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:42:55 +0000

go to http://www.myjvm.com and click on english then look at their product under the “automated dispensing” frame. there is a 30 unit box there. physical dimensions are about the same size as adu.
they don’t offer this product in the us market today but probably would (there is a tieline for compliance testing – twice as long in CA because of oshpd). might work?

By: Jerry Fahrni

Jerry Fahrni — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:01:22 +0000

Good question. A colleague of mine and I were discussing this very issue this afternoon. He liked the idea, but the issue of size was a concern of his as well. Consider this: a packager integrated with an ADU would only need to hold 10-40 canister. The canisters could rest on the outside edge with the guts of the packager in the middle (hidden from view). I don’t even know if that is possible. It would clearly require some creative engineering.

By: K. Bumb

K. Bumb — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:24:50 +0000

How relevant is physical footprint in such a case? An automated strip packager is roughly twice as wide as an ADU, and a few inches deeper.