High-speed unit dose packagers for pharmacy

There are a lot of pharmacies out there that utilize high-speed packagers for one reason or another. Sometimes medications aren’t available in unit-dose packages from the manufacturer, or in one case that I came across recently, a pharmacy may elect to package from bulk bottles for efficiency and/or cost savings.

I haven’t given much thought to high-speed packagers in a while because they seem to be a low priority in many pharmacies these days. But I had reason recently to give them some thought. Someone sent me an email asking me about the various high-speed packagers on the market, who sells them, who they’re made by, etc. So I put together the table below. It covers the basics.

With so many on the market it may be difficult to pick one. Just do your homework. Start with the vendor you’re familiar with, i.e. if you already have some of their products. Then move on to looking at the company’s track record, service reputation, integration with other system in your healthcare system, etc. Most importantly, make sure to go visit pharmacies that are already using the product that you’re considering. In fact, visit more than one. Trust me when I say that the vendor will be happy to provide you with a list. Those lists can be quite helpful, but make sure to talk with pharmacies that are not on the list as well. That’s where you’ll find the most useful information.

*Of note: McKesson announced in 2012 that they would be exiting the acute care pharmacy space.