Automation has been a buzzword across a wide variety of industries in recent years, and pharmacies are no exception. As the required technologies become more affordable, even smaller pharmacies are starting to invest in automated product packaging systems. Read on to find out why.
Increased Speed
As the average age of Americans continues to rise, patients take more medications and pharmacies do more business. That’s good news for pharmacy owners but it also means they have to adapt to keep up with changing trends. Automating Pharmacy Packaging lets pharmacies of all sizes speed up their operations so they can fill more orders faster.
The ability to fill a larger number of orders in the same amount of time benefits both pharmacy owners and patients. Patients appreciate quick access to the medications they need, while pharmacy owners find that it’s much more cost-efficient in the long run to purchase automated packaging equipment than it is to hire and train enough new employees to keep up with increasing demand. It’s a win-win situation.
Improved Accuracy
Even trained and experienced pharmaceutical techs make mistakes and those mistakes can have serious ramifications for patients. Automating medication packaging reduces the chances that human error will cause potentially serious or even fatal medication mix-ups.
Those who want to go the extra mile may want to purchase automation equipment that doesn’t just count, fill, dispense, and package medication but also provides medication interaction alerts. This further reduces the chances of medication errors, stress for employees, and potential liabilities for pharmacy owners.
Attract More Business
There are several ways that automating pharmacy packaging can attract new customers. It’s often possible for pharmacies using automated systems to reduce their costs substantially, and that helps them offer competitive pricing. Pharmacies that automate medication packaging can also benefit from increased patient trust and satisfaction, which drives more business to the pharmacy via recommendations and positive reviews.
Greater Security
Automated prescription packaging systems keep a detailed and accurate log of every medication accessed by staff and packaged for sales, including the date and time that the medication was accessed. This offers a greater level of security than manual data entry or paper logs, helping to reduce drug diversion and waste in addition to preventing medication mix-ups.
Reduced Operating Costs
Since it costs less to use automation equipment than to hire new employees, pharmacies with growing customer bases can often substantially reduce their operating costs. Eliminating medication diversion and waste cuts back on unnecessary expenditures, as well, and automating the tedious process of counting and filling medication orders frees up time for the pharmacists.
Pharmacists who use automated packaging equipment can also spend more of their time helping customers or performing other work that can’t be automated instead of filling their days with the busywork of counting pills. The ability to devote more time to patient consultations doesn’t just save money for the company by eliminating the need for hiring extra employees but also increases patient satisfaction rates and employee satisfaction rates. Those factors can also contribute to improvements to the company’s revenue stream.
The Bottom Line
Pharmacy automation is the way of the future, and automated packaging is the backbone of this growing industry. This completely scalable technology can be used in just about any pharmacy, so learn more online and place an order today.
