No, it doesn’t whirl around the pharmacy with the personality of R2-D2 from the “Star Wars” movies. It doesn’t even speak, yet it’s become such an integral part of the “team” at the Andrew Rader Army Health Clinic Pharmacy on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, that it has been affectionately nicknamed “the pig” by the staff, said medic and noncommissioned officer in charge, Sgt. Tyson Gadell.
The newest team member is a Script Pro pharmacy automation robotic system. Rader Clinic is the first Army medical facility in the National Capital Region to acquire the system. The robotic system has been in use at Rader Clinic since mid-May.
Just seconds after entering a Department of Defense beneficiary military identification card and prescription information into the computer system, an audible whirling sound inside the pharmacy can be heard from the customer service windows. The robot is already filling the prescription, explained Gadell.
When a customer comes to the pharmacy, they come to the desk and present their ID card, their third party insurance card [to ensure their third party insurance is getting properly billed] and the hard copy prescriptions. A pharmacist runs the desk where this information is put into a database.
“The pharmacist is out here to clear warnings,” said Gadell.
“For example, if someone brings in a prescription and they’re already on another medication of the same type as their prescription, the system says “hold on” and the pharmacist has to clear that warning in the system before the robot will dispense the medication to fill the prescription.”
The pharmacist will put their prescriptions in the system to get them filled and provide customers with a number to be called when their prescription is ready, Gadell explained. “At that point, pharmacy personnel [including the robot] are already filling the prescriptions,” he said. There are a few new features to the pharmacy, including the refill window. “When someone calls the 800 number listed on the prescription bottles of every prescription we issue it connects you to a Walter Reed prescription number. You press the prompts and that will take you to the refill number located here,” Gadell said. “Your prescription is ready to be picked up within 48 hours.” This call-in refill feature at Rader Clinic has been in effect for about two months.
Despite how long the refill line is, if a customer has phoned in their refill, Gadell said they don’t have to wait in a line at all but can go right to the pick-up window to receive their medication.
“It’s a great system,” he said. The robot does not fill all the medications since there are thousands available for dispensing in the pharmacy. Some medicines don’t fit in the robot or they’re too chalky. The robot also can’t fill liquid medication.
The robot fills a large majority of what pharmacy staff call “fast movers” - medication which is commonly taken “for the therapeutic dose or range, or it could be that’s the only or best medicine available for treatment,” Gadell said. “We stock the robot with about 164 different medications daily.”
The entire pharmacy automation robotic system cost the Army about $500,000. “There are currently about 26 of these robots in use at pharmacies throughout the Army,” Gadell said. The robot is an integral team player, working in conjunction with all the various stations and a centralized computerized system within the pharmacy. Once a prescription the robot is filling is in the system, the data is sent to the robot, dispensing the correct quantity of pills into its container using an electronic arm device. Next, the robot places the medication through a window and onto a conveyor that electronically passes the prescription to a tray where the customer’s name lights up when the prescription is ready to be capped. Data confirming the prescription has been filled is entered into the system prior to giving the medication to the waiting customer.
“Along with the robot, we use a centralized program in the NCR used by medical providers and pharmacies,” Gadell explained. “We use it to fill the prescription and ensure the information on the prescription label is accurate.”
Pharmacy personnel, who serve as fillers are still needed to complete filling the prescription. “I grab the medication off the conveyor belt once the robot has dispensed it, cap the meds and scan information in the system, verifying it has been filled and noting the information in the system,” said Ginger Cobren, a pharmacy technician.
“Our job is to service our beneficiaries quickly and accurately - getting them in and out of the pharmacy as quickly as possible with a smile on their face,” said Gadell.
Social Sharing