US Pharm. 2010;35(2):HS-33-HS-34.
Many hospitals are providing health care coverage for their employees, and ScriptPro’s SP 200 Robotic Prescription Dispensing System and SP Central Workflow offer several advantages in this environment. First, the system makes the process incredibly efficient, which is very important when the pharmacy is filling hundreds of prescriptions per day. Secondly, the SP Central Workflow and robotics help hospitals hold down the costs associated with filling the prescriptions while reducing errors.
The SP Central Workflow System and SP 200 robot provide bar-code safety and controls to ensure increased dispensing accuracy. The system stores prescription processing data and electronic signatures for prescription dispensing. HIPAA compliance forms are provided as system reports, and electronic signatures are available for form acknowledgement, supporting fast and reliable retrieval of information.
“The University of Louisville Hospital employee insurance is self-funded, therefore we try to keep employee/patient care in-house for cost efficiency as well as optimizing the continuity of care. With 700 to 800 prescriptions coming through our pharmacy every day, we have to be efficient with product, time, and costs,” said Jessie Morgan, RPh, outpatient pharmacy manager, University of Louisville Hospital.
Another key benefit of using ScriptPro in pharmacies that fill employee prescriptions is tracking capability. A pharmacy can find out almost instantaneously where any prescription is at any given moment. Therefore, before an employee leaves his or her post to pick up a prescription, a call can be made and the pharmacy can tell that person instantaneously if the script is ready.
“The biggest advantage of SP Central Workflow,” said Morgan, “is having information about every prescription at our fingertips. The employee doesn’t waste time coming to the pharmacy if the prescription isn’t ready, and we in the pharmacy don’t spend 15 minutes searching to find out where the prescription is at that point in time.”
An additional benefit to using the ScriptPro system is that the hospitals can prioritize prescriptions at the point of entry. If a person is in the pharmacy waiting, the system fills his or her prescription immediately. Conversely, if the prescription will not be picked up until later in the day or even the next day, the system fills it at a later time when the pharmacy is not as busy.
Morgan added that hospitals can also improve efficiency by placing the most frequently prescribed medications closest to the robotic arm of the robot. Prescriptions are filled rapidly, and multiple prescriptions can be dispensed and then collated at the control center.
“We also save money on inventory because the ScriptPro system maximizes inventory control. We set par levels for each drug, and through inventory reports we know exactly how much product we have used and only order the drug stock we need,” he said.
