Carousel technology article in AJHP

 Automation, Barcoding  2 Responses »
Jun 012010
 

AJHP: “Implementation and evaluation of carousel dispensing technology in a university medical center pharmacy (Am J Health Syst Pharm 2010 67: 821-829)

Results. The estimated labor savings comparing the preimplementation and postimplementation time studies for automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) refills, first-dose requests, supplemental cart fill, and medication procurement totaled 2.6 full-time equivalents (FTEs). After departmental reorganization, a net reduction of 2.0 technician FTEs was achieved. The average turnaround time for stat medication requests using CDT was 7.19 minutes, and the percentage of doses filled in less than 20 minutes was 95.1%. After implementing CDT, the average accuracy rate for all dispense requests increased from 99.02% to 99.48%. The inventory carrying cost was reduced by $25,059.

Conclusion. CDT improved the overall efficiency and accuracy of medication dispensing in a university medical center pharmacy. Workflow efficiencies achieved in ADC refill, first-dose dispensing, supplemental cart fill, and the medication procurement process allowed the department to reduce the amount of technician labor required to support the medication distribution process, as well as reallocate technician labor to other areas in need. ”

Continue reading »

 Posted by Jerry Fahrni at 6:24 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

Cool Technology for Pharmacy

 Cool Technology  1 Response »
Aug 062009
 

ROBOT-Rx® from McKesson is a robotic pharmacy system that automates many of the day to day operations that a technician may perform in a hospital pharmacy, such as medication storage, selection, return, restock, and crediting.

From the manufacturer’s site:

Every year, more than a half billion medications are dispensed error-free by ROBOT-Rx systems installed in hospitals mckesson_robotthroughout North America. Patient-specific medications are dispensed into cassettes or envelopes, facilitating cart fill, first dose, stat and now deliveries. The ROBOT-Rx also supports cabinet restocking and medication deliveries to multiple hospital sites.

The ROBOT-Rx system provides a real-time, enterprise-wide picture of medications stored, dispensed, credited and administered through the system. The robot continuously tracks all online and offline inventory, checks itself for expired and slow-moving medications and generates restocking reports.Every year, more than a half billion medications are dispensed error-free by ROBOT-Rx systems installed in hospitals throughout North America. Patient-specific medications are dispensed into cassettes or envelopes, facilitating cart fill, first dose, stat and now deliveries. The ROBOT-Rx also supports cabinet restocking and medication deliveries to multiple hospital sites.

The ROBOT-Rx system provides a real-time, enterprise-wide picture of medications stored, dispensed, credited and administered through the system. The robot continuously tracks all online and offline inventory, checks itself for expired and slow-moving medications and generates restocking reports.

I’ve recently been moonlighting at a hospital that uses the McKesson Robot-Rx system. It gets a “10″ for coolness, but I haven’t been impressed with its performance. Because the robotic system utilizes barcoded medications designed for storage on peg racks, many medications require additional packaging (over-wrapping) prior to stocking (see images below). The over-wrapping requires a lot of extra technician time and labor, as well as pharmacist time to check. The system is certainly an advance in automation, but I prefer the carousel technology I use at my full-time gig.

Robot-Rx overwrapping - Front (left) and Back (right)

Robot-Rx over-wrapping - Front (left) and Back (right)

 Posted by Jerry Fahrni at 7:37 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Taking advantage of your carousel space.

 Automation, Barcoding  4 Responses »
May 252009
 

gapinshelvesI have posted many times on our system for barcoding medications in the pharmacy. The posts have included reference to our efforts to increase storage space.  Our goals have always been to store as many medications as possible within the carousel to take advantage of the software’s many safety features and inventory functionality. 

Like all pharmacy departments we have several medication items that do not require significant storage space. I am talking about items like ophthalmic drops, otic preparations, small ointments and creams and some injectable items that are stocked in small quantities secondary to expense and lack of use. 

Small bins for storing opthalmic preparations.

During installation of our carousels we noticed small gaps in the shelving units. We approached one of the White Systems engineers on site and inquired about the small gaps. I don’t recall exactly why they were there, but the small size made the space virtually useless. Fortunately for us, the Talyst consultant that was on site to help us with the installation process sat down with us to come up with a solution. It was a simple idea really, but quite ingenious.  We purchased small bins that fit perfectly into the empty spaces. The size of the bin limited their utility for storage, but worked nicely for the smaller items mentioned above. The addition of the smaller bins created several empty spaces in the larger bins, giving us significantly more storage. 

 

 

 


 Posted by Jerry Fahrni at 11:18 am  Tagged with: , ,
© 2012 Jerry Fahrni Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha