Robotic dispensing improves patient safety, inventory management, and staff satisfaction in an outpatient hospital pharmacy

Background: Medical robots are increasingly used for a variety of applications in healthcare. Robots have mainly been used to support surgical procedures, and for a variety of assistive uses in dementia and elderly care. To date, there has been limited debate about the potential opportunities and risks of robotics in other areas of palliative, supportive and end-of-life care. Aim: The objective of this article is to examine the possible future impact of medical robotics on palliative, supportive care and end-of-life care. Specifically, we will discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of this technology. Methods: A SWOT analysis to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of robotic technology in palliative and supportive care. Results: The opportunities of robotics in palliative, supportive and end-of-life care include a number of assistive, therapeutic, social and educational uses. However, there are a number of technical, societal, economic and ethical factors which need to be considered to ensure meaningful use of this technology in palliative care. Conclusion: Robotics could have a number of potential applications in palliative, supportive and end-of-life care. Future work should evaluate the health-related, economic, societal and ethical implications of using this technology. There is a need for collaborative research to establish use-cases and inform policy, to ensure the appropriate use (or non-use) of robots for people with serious illness.

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“…24,45 Robots can potentially support pharmacy processes by improving efficiency of medication dispensing. 42,46…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robotic technology for palliative and supportive care: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

et al. 2019

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“…Medication storage and packaging is likely to be an ongoing source of error in the dispensing process involving manual selection of medicines. Whereas automation has been shown to reduce some of the errors associated with dispensing, 31 other aspects of the medicines management process from prescribing to administration will undoubtedly continue to be subject to human error.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mixed methods analysis of lithium-related patient safety incidents in primary care

Young

Deslandes

Cooper

et al. 2020

Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety

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Background: Lithium is a drug with a narrow therapeutic range and has been associated with a number of serious adverse effects. This study aimed to characterise primary care lithium-related patient safety incidents submitted to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) database with respect to incident origin, type, contributory factors and outcome. The intention was to identify ways to minimise risk to future patients by examining incidents with a range of harm outcomes. Methods: A mixed methods analysis of patient safety incident reports related to lithium was conducted. Data from healthcare organisations in England and Wales were extracted from the NRLS database. An exploratory descriptive analysis was undertaken to characterise the most frequent incident types, the associated chain of events and other contributory factors. Results: A total of 174 reports containing the term ‘lithium’ were identified. Of these, 41 were excluded and, from the remaining 133 reports, 138 incidents were identified and coded. Community pharmacies reported 100 incidents (96 dispensing related, two administration, two other), general practitioner (GP) practices filed 22 reports and 16 reports originated from other sources. A total of 99 dispensing-related incidents were recorded, 39 resulted from the wrong medication dispensed, 31 the wrong strength, 8 the wrong quantity and 21 other. A total of 128 contributory factors were identified overall; for dispensing incidents, the most common related to medication storage/packaging ( n = 41), and ‘mistakes’ ( n = 22), whereas no information regarding contributory factors was provided in 41 reports. Conclusion: Despite the established link between medication packaging and the risk of dispensing errors, our study highlighted storage and packaging as the most commonly described contributory factors to dispensing errors. The absence of certain relevant data limited the ability to fully characterise a number of reports. This highlighted the need to include clear and complete information when submitting reports. This, in turn, may help to better inform the further development of interventions designed to reduce the risk of incidents and improve patient safety.

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“…The fact that the three studies referred to compared the incidence of COVID-19 cases in countries where the BCG vaccine is used with countries where it is not used and inferred that countries that routinely used the vaccine in neonates had less reported cases of COVID-19 to date [3] may suggest the protective effect of BCG at birth in countries where almost universal BCG vaccination is practiced. VOLUME 57 __ JUNE 15, 2020 CORRESPONDENCE outpatient care is time tested, however, automated dispensary systems, or pharmacy robots would reduce patient contact at the pharmacy [7]. Establishment of a telemedicine system; however, requires a robust information technology infrastructure, training of healthcare staff, receptionists, attenders, cleaning staff and security personnel; and introduction of the modifications to integrate hospital workflow.…”

Section: Telemedicine During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) With Relevance to Pediatrics

Unni

2020

Indian Pediatr

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Robotic dispensing improves patient safety, inventory management, and staff satisfaction in an outpatient hospital pharmacy

Abstract: The implementation of a robotic original pack dispensing system substantially decreased the rate of dispensing errors and optimized stock management. Minimizing the number of drugs out of the dispensing robot is critical when attempting to maximize the benefits of its implementation.

Cited by 50 publications

References 9 publications

Robotic technology for palliative and supportive care: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Robotic technology for palliative and supportive care: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

A mixed methods analysis of lithium-related patient safety incidents in primary care

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) With Relevance to Pediatrics

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