Jerry Fahrni

This week’s Cool Technology for Pharmacy is the OnDemand 400 for RxMap from MTS, a company that specializes in adherence packaging systems.

According to the MTS website:

OnDemand ® 400 for RxMap ® is the first pharmacy automation equipment system designed specifically for multi-med adherence packaging.

This efficient system uses OnDemand technology to dispense multiple medications for a single patient quickly and accurately and in a fraction of the time it would take to do it manually. This pharmacy automation equipment system utilizes a custom interface to work with your existing information systems, enabling automated workflow management in the pharmacy. This single data input process reduces input time and the possibility of data entry errors. OnDemand ® 400 for RxMap ® uses bar-code technology to accurately dispense multiple medications into one compartment – as many or as few as needed. RxMap ® Adherence Packs vary in size and shape to meet the needs of the customers you serve. The finished product is a patient – specific adherence package filled “just-in-time” for your customer.

The OnDemand 400 system uses some of the same technology as our AutoPack system from Talyst. I’m speaking specifically about the use of bar-coded drug-specific canisters to house and dispense bulk medications.

I’m not necessarily a big fan of dispensing multiple medications into a single unit dose compartment, but this is very popular among nurses taking care of patients in the long-term care setting with multiple medications all due at the same time. I can certainly see where packaging multiple medications this way would save space in nursing carts and reduce the amount of waste associated with using multiple blister cards to package the same number of medications.

Thanks to Todd Eury over at PTR (Pharmacy Technology Resources) for pointing me toward the OnDemand 400 system via his post on LinkedIn.

For more information about the OnDemand 400 system see this case study or the product prochure (PDF)