New Technologies

Technology is always changing throughout with world. In the early years of pharmacy, there was no help with the work. They had to count every pill by hand, write every script themselves, make the labels, prepare the vials, dispense the medication, and consult the patient all while serving multiple people. As anyone could imagine, this would not be a very efficient way of working throughout the day. There would most likely be prescriptions not filled for people who would need them immediately. That is why recently in the past few decades, pharmacy technology has become one of the largest growing industries for efficient equipment. Gerald Zlotnik, executive vice president of Medic Discount Drug said, ". "In order to make a living, a pharmacy has to fill 220 to 230 scripts a day. That's a lot, when filling, dealing with third parties and calling doctors. Pharmacists are under constant strain. Technology must free them up. We have to find a way to alleviate the non-essential tasks and get pharmacists out front consulting."

One of the major benefits to an automated machine would be the quantity it can put out. As I have seen in both Walgreens and St. Luke's Hospital, who both have automated output machines, these machines work wonderfully. They are accurate, quick, and prepare the whole prescription for the pharmacists to just check over and deliver. Both the pharmacists and the technicians could be working on multiple prescriptions because this machine prepares some for them. The "robot" as I learned the pharmacists call it, works in an interesting way. It has dozens of cabinets that hold a certain prescription, they usually fill it with the most popular pills that they dispense. When the pharmacists scans the code on the script from the doctor, the robot goes to work. It dispenses the correct number of pills the prescription calls for, dumps them into the vial of the correct size, and runs it down to an output slot where the pharmacist picks it up. Then the pharmacist only has to check the prescription to make sure it's the correct medication, put a sticker label on it, and then the medication is ready for the customer. It is a both simple and efficient way they can output the maximum number of prescriptions daily.

Also, these robots are fixing the one problem pharmacists fear most. They never want to give the wrong prescription to a customer. Facts say that one death per day is caused by a patient ingesting the wrong medication. These robot contribute much high precision rates and are very effective at producing every medication accurately. These machines read numbers, scan labels, and count accurately so that it always fills the exact prescription that is called for. Any pharmacist would agree that these robots are essential for producing all the prescriptions for the day. Humans couldn't put out as many prescriptions and then there would customers that need the medication that can't get it. All this technology has dramatically helped the pharmacy industry and keeps changing to find more efficient and accurate ways to get the maximum number of prescriptions out for the day.