Plugging Into The Cloud: The Future Of Pharmacy Technology

Pharmacy is an ever-advancing field, with many trends. Some trends fade away and become obsolete. Yet some trends, such as using computers in the pharmacy, stay and make the job easier. With the advancement in technology, there are bound to be new trends that can lead to the future and make pharmacy life easier.
One trend that is already starting to take off is robotics in the hospital pharmacy. The new robots are TUG robots. According to the website aethon.com TUG can service many needs around the hospital from pharmacy to cleaning. In the field of pharmacy TUG is used to deliver medication from the pharmacy to the nursing units. Even though there are many obstacles from the pharmacy unit to the nursing unit TUG knows how to get there. The

The cloud is a type of Internet-based computing used to store information. In the online article “Plugging into the Cloud: Is This the Future of Pharmacy Technology?” Will Lockwood states, “Many pharmacies don’t have in-house IT resources.” This is important to note because without the in-house resources if something minor happens to the computers in any way there is a chance of losing patient data or information regarding stock intake or outtake. With the could the pharmacy will keep a backup of this and other important information. Mr. Lockwood continues later in the article with “Not only is an effective data backup process a good idea, but having the right plans and procedures in place is a legal and regulatory requirement in many cases as well.” With the use of the cloud the pharmacy will have a lower risk of an audit or even a lawsuit from a patient whose information has been lost. The cloud will be a very valuable and useful tool in the foreseeable future in

Intellicab makes handing out prescriptions safer and faster. The short story “Long lines a thing of the past at one Fresno medical center pharmacy” on ABC news showcases the uses of Intellicab nicely. The story shows that by filling prescription as they come in the pharmacist or technician assigns the prescription with a code and places the prescription into the shelf with that code. Later when the patient comes to pick up the prescription the technician can scan the code for the patient and the Intellicab will show which cabinet the prescription is in. This eliminates digging through bags with the different orders and show exactly where the prescription is at pick up. In the story the Pharmacy Director of Kaiser Fresno, Scott Shimamoto states “This actually speeds up the process about three minutes per prescription.” Three minutes may not seem like a lot of time to the average person, but to a pharmacist or a pharmacy technician that is three more minutes that can be used for checking for errors in written prescriptions, cleaning necessary equipment, inputting stock, or even just to breathe. Not only does the Intellicab show where the prescription is but if the person pulling the prescription grabs a prescription with a different code than the one that is entered the Intellicab will let out a noise letting the person know that they have grabbed the wrong medication. This gets rid of a very common and