A growing number of pharmacies are turning their attention to automating original pack dispensing having already transformed the way they dispense monitored dosage systems. Shelley Dyer, Head of Marketing at Centred Solutions, takes a look at the rise of the robots and what’s next for community pharmacy.
A little over six years ago I was part of a team tasked with developing a marketing campaign to launch a new “small footprint” robotic dispensing system for monitored dosage systems (MDS) in the UK. At the time there was barely a handful of community pharmacies across the UK using robotic technology. The picture wasn’t too dissimilar in hospital pharmacies, although several had invested in large original pack dispensing robots following the Spoonful of Sugar report.
Fast forward to today and there has been an explosion in the use of robotic technology in community pharmacy. Perceptions have shifted, views have changed – this isn’t about robots replacing staff it’s about robots freeing up staff time from logistical and administrative tasks for face to face patient care. The proof has very much been in the pudding.
Anyone who has ever worked in pharmacy will know how incredibly labour-intensive it is to put together MDS trays for patients and as blister packs are not funded across most of the UK (the exception being Scotland) it’s a service that is usually provided at a loss. It was of course then a no-brainer for MDS automation to be the first wave in the rise of the robots. A growing number of pharmacies have and are continuing to turn to this technology which fills, packs and, in some cases, checks MDS trays. The reward is countless hours saved in pharmacy – hours that have been redirected back into revenue generating services.
What then if there was a way to realise the same efficiencies for original pack dispensing in community pharmacy? It is another area of the pharmacy workflow that takes up a considerable amount of staff time. And often this is time spent on logistical and manual tasks that are ripe for automation. Pharmacy staff time is currently being under-utilised by checking orders, putting items into stock, labelling and bagging, not to mention all the time spent walking to and from shelves to pick medication.
Centred Solutions award-winning technology, fulfils repeat prescriptions for patients on original packs using state-of-the-art robotic, RFID and barcode technology. Unlike other robotics, the solution is fully scalable so you have the option to start small and then add further automation as your business grows.
Our gold standard solution is the automated FLOWRx Hub which labels, sorts, bags and totes original packs for patient prescriptions accurately and at speed. It includes the piece that has been missing for some time – an automated labeller which has the ability to label up to 25 packs per minute or 1500 packs per hour.
For pharmacies not yet ready for end-to-end automation, then we also have our manual FLOWRx Hub solution with software and hardware that guides staff through the labelling, sorting, bagging and toting of patient medication. As the solution is scalable you can add an automated labeller at any stage. Both solutions use barcode and RFID technology for checking and for end-to-end tracking and recording at every stage of the dispensing process. They can interface with any PMR and can integrate with your WMS, RDS, wholesaler or a combination of suppliers.
Just like MDS automation, original pack automation can help you:
Over 75% of our existing customers automated their MDS process first before then moving on to automate their original pack dispensing process to realise greater efficiencies and growth. And recently two of our customers have won nationally-recognised industry awards for innovation and entrepreneurship for implementing the solution.
So if you have already tackled MDS then now is the time to make original packs your next step.
At Centred Solutions, we offer a range of pharmacy automation software to support your pharmacy. Whether you are a standalone pharmacy that could benefit from your own mini hub or you need support managing patient medication from a wholesaler or warehouse, we have the solution for you.
Contact us today to arrange a demonstration of any of our products.