McKesson's New Bar-Code Packager Drives Enhanced Efficiency Of The ROBOT-Rx System
Pittsburgh, PA - McKesson, the healthcare services automation and information technology company, recently announced the general availability of ROBOT- Ready™ PACMED™. According to McKesson this new PACMED high - speed packager exclusively enables hospitals using the McKesson ROBOT-Rx® dispensing system to produce unit-dose, bar-coded packages for oral solid medications at a rate three times faster than other packagers with one-half the labor, and to reduce medication inventory. ROBOT-Rx, installed at more than one-third of the nation's medium and large hospitals, is the only successful robotic system to automate the storage, dispensing, returning, restocking, and crediting functions for inpatient hospital pharmacies.
Company adds that the high-speed, intelligent ROBOT-Ready PACMED is another world-class tool within McKesson's advanced automation solutions for pharmacy and nursing. The solution enables the hundreds of U.S. hospitals using the ROBOT-Rx system to completely automate their packaging operations, improve packaging accuracy and pharmacy workflow efficiencies, and to more quickly transition to bar-code scanning medications at the point-of-care.
According to McKesson the ROBOT-Ready PACMED solution successfully completed rigorous Beta evaluations—including package performance and workflow impact testing—at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, Ill., and at Hillcrest Hospital, Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The ROBOT-Ready PACMED produces packages of multiple sizes, accommodating ROBOT-Rx, carousels, medication dispensing cabinets, and other automated and non-automated solutions. Additional models of PACMED, accommodating from 100 to 500 different medications, are available for hospitals that use other automation systems for dispensing medications. For instance, current PACMED users report 75 percent decreases in the time required to restock unit-based medication cabinets, 65 percent decreases in labor required to package oral solid medications, and cost savings ranging from $0.02 and $0.50 per dose by enabling bulk medication purchases.
It is believed to be multi-tasking PACMED Server+ software delivers unmatched security, power and flexibility compared with other packagers. PACMED interfaces across all systems and databases, and promotes complete formulary management. It receives and fulfills packaging orders directly from carousels and unit-based cabinets and for multiple sites, and works virtually unattended to produce bar-coded medication packages in patient-specific, batch and multi-dose modes.
SOURCE: McKesson