How Did We Get Here? The History of Pharmacy Automation Systems
Summary: This article highlights the evolution and current impact of pharmacy automation systems.
Table of Contents
Pharmacy Automation Systems Over the Years
The Current State of Pharmacy Automation Systems
Beating the Competition with Pharmacy Automation Systems
These days, automation is everywhere—and pharmacies are no exception.
Pharmacy automation systems are improving long-term care (LTC) pharmacies, automating key tasks ranging from filling prescriptions to managing inventory. As a result of automation, today’s pharmacy staff are able to work both more accurately and efficiently, with new approaches to traditionally error-prone tasks.
How? With automation, pharmacy staff can free up time and ensure prescriptions are filled accurately and responsibly. Bill Lockwood, executive director of the American Society for Automation in Pharmacy, said it best when he explained: “Increased efficiency is giving pharmacies the opportunity to offer more services and to provide more drug safety."
It’s no secret that automation is the future of pharmacy, but where did pharmacy automation systems begin? Let’s go back in time:
Pharmacy Automation Systems Over the Years
Pharmacy automation isn’t a new development that came out of the 2000s tech boom. In fact, it has been used in the pharmacy industry for decades:
Groovin’ Through the 1960s and ’70s
Pharmacy automation systems began to take shape in the late 1960s with machines designed to count medications. The first portable and digital pill counter was invented between 1967 and 1970 in Manchester, England by John and Frank Kirby, and it made its commercial debut in January 1971.
Rocking into the 1980s and ’90s
By the 1980s and 1990s, technology improved for pharmacy automation systems. Solutions such as digital tablet counters emerged to count pills and fill medication bottles with improved efficiency and greater accuracy. Such innovations lowered both risks and labor costs for pharmacists, as the updated technology was smaller and more affordable for more operations.
Flash Forward to the 2000s
It wasn’t until 2008 that the pharmacy industry saw another major innovation: features for dispensing and packaging medications after counting them. Pharmacy automation systems were now equipped with a computer interface tied to a pharmacy management system that had both workflow and inventory management capabilities. This upgrade included quality checks and balances to minimize dispensing errors, and the tech was further advanced in 2009 with hands-free dispensing.
The Current State of Pharmacy Automation Systems
Technology has had its hand in the evolution of pharmacy automation systems, however. As a result, each tool is faster, smarter, and more beneficial to your operation, helping to:
Automate Order Fulfillment
Modern pharmacy automation systems are designed to automate workflows throughout each stage of the order filling process, including:
Inventory management
Medication dispensing
Toting and delivery
Boost Workflow Efficiency
By automating manual, time-intensive processes with technology, pharmacies can become more productive and efficient, optimizing prescription filling processes and more. Pharmacy automation systems free up time and resources, so you can focus on more meaningful work and streamline operations to enable scalability without adding staff.
Improve Dispensing Accuracy
The latest systems also help to improve accuracy, minimizing dispensing errors and reducing patient safety concerns. Built-in quality checks and balances enable your LTC pharmacy staff to ensure that the right prescription goes to the right patient at the right facility, in the right dose, and at the right time.
Beating the Competition with Pharmacy Automation Systems
Pharmacy automation is a growing trend, and FrameworkLTC is the best of the best. It’s the most powerful, scalable pharmacy automation system, designed with long-term care pharmacies’ complexities in mind. As a leading solution, FrameworkLTC has unmatched integration capabilities, facility-centric customization, robust reporting, and more.
Outperform your competition, streamline LTC pharmacy operations, and scale your business with a solution that allows you to:
Meet your exact specifications with rules-based design
Streamline vaccine management workflows and reporting
Strengthen partnerships by connecting with 100+ interfaces
Ready to get started? Download The Complete Guide to LTC Pharmacy Software to learn more about the benefits and capabilities of pharmacy automation systems.