The healthcare industry overall, is fighting a losing battle to maintain enough staff to provide for patients and perform all the tasks related to healthcare. Staffing was already a concern, and today, as we dive into the third year of the COVID pandemic, staffing shortages have reached new highs and patient care is suffering significantly.
This is no less true in the pharmaceutical field. Within just the next 4 years, the healthcare industry will have lost 6.5 million workers and only 2 million new healthcare workers will have filled those positions, leaving a huge staffing gap.
For pharmacies, many of these losses could be filled by automation rather than additional people. While one staff member can fill approximately 120 medications per hour at a cost of 15 cents per medication picked, an automated dispenser could pick 700 medications per hour at only 2 cents per medication picked.
Other processes that could be filled by automation are things like inventory management, tracking medical history, narcotic and controlled substance monitoring, and medicine identification. Not only would this free up the need for manual processes, but pharmacy automation also reduces common medication errors, which also means better patient care.
Many hospital pharmacists believe that operational technologies are paramount to pharmacy success.
