Improves patient safety and process efficiency with robotic medication dispensing.

The ROBOT-Rx® automated medication dispensing system prevents medication errors, reduces pharmacy labor, and lowers drug inventory. The hospital pharmacy robot automates medication storage, selection, return, restock, and crediting functions for 90 percent or more of a hospital’s daily medication volume.

Key Benefits

• Increases medication filling accuracy to 99.9%(1), (2), (3).
• Cuts pharmacist checking labor by 90%(1), (4).
• Reduces technician labor by 72%(2).
• Cuts missing medications by 92%(4).
• Trims inventory by 10-20%(3), (5).
• Lowers expired medication costs by 54%.

Product Images

The accuracy of the robotic medication dispensing system is such that, in lieu of a pharmacist check of all medications, users in more than 34 states use random quality checks of ROBOT-Rx-picked medications in lieu of a 100% check. The ROBOT-Rx further reduces checking time by supporting hands-free medication scanning, and recording of quality assurance data.

The medication dispensing robot establishes the essential bar-code-based medication foundation necessary to increase medication safety, improve pharmacy productivity, and lower costs. More than one third of medium and large U.S. hospital pharmacies use the ROBOT-Rx system to collectively dispense more than a half billion medications error free every year. More half of those hospitals are using point-of-care, bar-code scanning (BPOC) systems to verify patients’ Five Rights.

Features

• Dispenses patient-specific medications are into cassettes or envelopes, facilitating cart fill, first dose, stat and now deliveries.
• Supports cabinet restocking and medication deliveries to multiple hospital sites.
• Stores more than 25,000 medications—practical storage for up to three days of inventory.
• Accommodates more than 98 percent of all drug forms, including tablets, capsules, syringes, pre-packaged liquids, vials, ampoules, and patches.
• Provides real-time, enterprise-wide picture of medications stored, dispensed, credited and administered through the system.
• Tracks continuously tracks all online and offline inventory, checks itself for expired and slow-moving medications and generates restocking reports.
• Integrates with the McKesson MedCarousel® system to fully automate central medication dispensing and inventory control functions.

Every year, more than a half billion medications are dispensed error-free by ROBOT-Rx systems installed in hospitals throughout North America. Patient-specific medications are dispensed into cassettes or envelopes, facilitating cart fill, first dose, stat and now deliveries. The ROBOT-Rx also supports cabinet restocking and medication deliveries to multiple hospital sites.

The ROBOT-Rx system provides a real-time, enterprise-wide picture of medications stored, dispensed, credited and administered through the system. The robot continuously tracks all online and offline inventory, checks itself for expired and slow-moving medications and generates restocking reports. ROBOT-Rx integrates with the MedCarousel® system to fully automate central medication dispensing and inventory control functions.

Automated Packaging

The ROBOT-Ready™ PACMED™ interfaces with the ROBOT-Rx system to completely automate unit-dose, bar-code packaging of oral solid medications. The PACMED provides three times the throughput with one-half the labor compared to other automated or conventional methods.

(1) Shack, J., Tulloch, S. (2008), Integrated pharmacy automation systems lead to increases in patient safety and significant reductions in medication inventory costs [Shore Memorial Hospital] (Case Study). Fairport, NY: Shack & Tulloch, Inc.
(2) McKesson Automation (2008), Nursing, pharmacy benefit from ROBOT-Rx medication dispensing solution [Evergreen Hospital Medical Center] (Case Study). Cranberry Township, PA: McKesson Automation, Inc.
(3) McKesson Automation (2008), Patient safety thrives in rural Tennessee hospital following pharmacy automation conversion [Cookeville Regional Medical Center] (Case Study). Cranberry Township, PA: McKesson Automation, Inc.
(4) Shack, J., Tulloch, S. (2008), Integrated pharmacy automation systems lead to increases in patient safety and significant reductions in medication inventory costs [Comanche County Memorial Hospital] (Case Study). Fairport, NY: Shack & Tulloch, Inc.
(5) McKesson Automation (2008), MountainView gains dual benefits of patient safety and significant cost savings through automation [MountainView Hospital] (Case Study). Cranberry Township, PA: McKesson Automation, Inc.