Drones, robots and automated technologies are increasingly deployed across the healthcare landscape to speed workflows and improve efficiency. For pharmacists, amid a nationwide staffing shortage, tech is allowing them to work at the top of their license and serve more patients.
ChristianaCare's Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., St. Elizabeth Fort Thomas (Ky.) Hospital and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., are three systems now utilizing new technology to free up pharmacists' time, according to a Nov. 14 news release from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
At Christiana Hospital, the pharmacy shares a task robot with other departments, including nursing. When its services are needed, like for delivering prescriptions across the hospital, a pharmacist can request it using an iPad. To date, the bot has been used to make more than 7,000 prescription deliveries, according to the release.
In Fort Thomas, Ky., the hospital pharmacists are also using a robot to assist with drug deliveries across departments. In its first 12 months of use, it delivered 24,185 prescriptions.
"The big thing for us is that it’s allowed us to keep an extra body in the department," R.J. Frey, PharmD, pharmacy coordinator at St. Elizabeth Fort Thomas Hospital stated in the release. "Instead of that person being out walking around, just dropping off drugs, they can stay down here and do the physical tasks that a robot cannot do."
Pharmacists at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center echo the above and noted in the release that they have seen the biggest benefit using medication delivery robots and technologies in how much time it saves — even allowing its staff to take advantage of their breaks.
"It’s hard to step away to deliver something and then come back and pick up that task again," Pranati Kuchimanchi, PharmD, lead clinical pharmacist for medication systems and operations at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center stated. "It allows our staff to focus, and even frees up their time to take a break."
Systems are also beginning to deploy new technology to aid with prescription deliveries outside hospital walls. In recent weeks, other health systems including Cleveland Clinic, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health, and even Amazon's pharmacy service have made headlines for using drone technology to test prescription deliveries directly to patient homes in local regions.