Every once in awhile stories about healthcare automation reach the mainstream media. What better time to discuss the impact of automation on pharmacy practice!
From USAToday.com
Even administration of some medications is being done by robots in the US. The entire supply chain for pharmaceuticals is the perfect opportunity for automation companies to develop robotics. We have automation to prepare almost all meds that come from the pharmacy and package them in ready to use containers. We have robots that can deliver (on time) medications to patient’s and document they received the drug. There isn’t a great deal of the distributive process that can’t be done by automation. We continue to cling to an archaic practice that, although important is repetitive and mundane in many ways. These are the types of processes that automation and robotics are great at reproducing. We have seen it in other industries such as banking and automobile. With the push of Meaningful Use and Electronic Health Records, how long before a hospital administrator figures out using robotics and technicians can allow him to lay off 70% of the pharmacists in central distribution? How long before one of the large retail chains lobbies state legislatures to allow technicians to check prescriptions entered by a physician electronically? How long before retail pharmacy is run by robotics and technicians?
The longer we rely on pharmacists to run the entire supply chain, the higher our risk of obsolescence.
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