April 18, 2007
Domo Arigato Pharmacy Roboto
Hy-Vee has a new worker filling prescriptions at its pharmacy in Marshalltown, Iowa, and he’s making quite an impression on the boss, co-workers and customers.
The new guy, it turns out, isn’t a guy at all. It’s a pharmacy robot that takes electronic orders for prescriptions, counts out meds, labels bottles and sends them on to technicians for verifying before customers come to pick them up.
Jim Merulla, a store director for the Hy-Vee, told the Times-Republican that the robot is able to do the job of two pharmacists and it takes some of the stress off of technicians.
“It frees up employees to go help customers,” he said. “And it eliminates human error.”
Hy-Vee helps the robot stay ahead of the game by having the top 200 drugs purchased by consumers in stock. Those items represent 57 percent of all prescriptions filled by the store. Pharmacy staff steps in to fill the exceptions.
“A customer can walk in and in five minutes it’s ready to go – as long as it’s one that’s in the machine,” he said.
Vicki Tice, a pharmacy technician with Hy-Vee, said, “By 10 a.m. we’re filling 100 prescriptions. Usually counting them takes three to four hours, but now we keep right on top of it,” she said.
The customers have also noticed the difference, said Ms. Tice. “They can’t help but like the fact that they’re getting it quicker. It’s a win-win situation,” she said.
Discussion Questions: Will robotics become commonplace in retail pharmacy operations? How will robotics impact other aspects of the retailing business in the future?
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Including the benefits and taxes, a licensed pharmacist can easily cost over $80,000 annually. Any technology that makes pharmacists more productive is well worth looking at. And customers don’t want to wait for anything. As the number of chain drug locations grows, it’s easier for manufacturers to justify investing in this technology. The drug chains have the capital to buy the drug dispensing machines and they have the motivation, too.
The pharmacy robot is a good concept to improve speed, accuracy, and efficiency, and also–ironically–to improve customer service. It’s also a benefit to the public that the robot probably doesn’t have any moral issues with certain drugs that he or she will, or will not dispense. However, we need to be very careful to watch for malfunctions. Remember what happened to poor George Jetson?
As long as the robot has a human face manning the counter in front of it, it seems like a savvy move. It’s certainly interesting to look deeper into the driver and realize that we have so many pharmacy prescriptions being filled that we need robots to speed it up…kind of scary!
I know many aren’t fans of technology taking the place of humans, but I’m looking forward to the day that I can walk into Macy’s and a fashionable robot with a sweet disposition does a body scan on me, taps into my CRM history and presents me with a list of “fashion must haves” just for me to go in search of. Just give me a real human being to say thank you when I buy at the counter. Hey, since we’re talking Jetsons, why not dream big? 🙂
Speaking with some pharmacy experience, the article misstates that it does the work of the pharmacist. Most likely, it does the tasks that are currently done manually by the technician and will still need manual verification by the Pharmacist (mandated by law).
Also, there are other robotic dispensers widely available and used by the large chains…I don’t know how this is different.
In short, the article does not give enough info to define how this is different for existing robotic dispensers or how it has helped speed up the Rx filling process….
I suspect that the pharmacist will oppose this automation. This threatens the livelihood of pharmacists who are the only people (other than doctors) licensed to dispense prescription level drugs. All they have to do to stop this is to walk off the job. As there is a shortage of pharmacists today, I don’t expect to see the widespread use of any type of robotic assistants.
Yes! The largest area of concern in pharmacy prescription accuracy is human error. This minimizes human error, ensures that the right prescriptions are filled and keeps the pharmacy safety a focus of a systems and control integration for the company, rather than relying upon an outdated model of using physical persons to check every prescription (and provide for mistakes). Robotic assistants are finally becoming affordable and their presence in the pharmaceutical industry cannot come fast enough. Our health depends on this.
Absolutely. The important thing is to define the future. Next year–probably not–but five years and ten, absolutely. There are several direct mail prescription filling companies that are using the robotic process today.
As we look into the crystal ball, robotic technology will become more prevalent in our lives in every aspect. Robotic grass mower, robotic sweeper and a robotic translator will all become commonplace. Jetson’s, here we come!
This could also address the issues/concerns about pharmacists not filling certain prescriptions based on their moral or religious beliefs.
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Including the benefits and taxes, a licensed pharmacist can easily cost over $80,000 annually. Any technology that makes pharmacists more productive is well worth looking at. And customers don’t want to wait for anything. As the number of chain drug locations grows, it’s easier for manufacturers to justify investing in this technology. The drug chains have the capital to buy the drug dispensing machines and they have the motivation, too.
The pharmacy robot is a good concept to improve speed, accuracy, and efficiency, and also–ironically–to improve customer service. It’s also a benefit to the public that the robot probably doesn’t have any moral issues with certain drugs that he or she will, or will not dispense. However, we need to be very careful to watch for malfunctions. Remember what happened to poor George Jetson?
As long as the robot has a human face manning the counter in front of it, it seems like a savvy move. It’s certainly interesting to look deeper into the driver and realize that we have so many pharmacy prescriptions being filled that we need robots to speed it up…kind of scary!
I know many aren’t fans of technology taking the place of humans, but I’m looking forward to the day that I can walk into Macy’s and a fashionable robot with a sweet disposition does a body scan on me, taps into my CRM history and presents me with a list of “fashion must haves” just for me to go in search of. Just give me a real human being to say thank you when I buy at the counter. Hey, since we’re talking Jetsons, why not dream big? 🙂
Speaking with some pharmacy experience, the article misstates that it does the work of the pharmacist. Most likely, it does the tasks that are currently done manually by the technician and will still need manual verification by the Pharmacist (mandated by law).
Also, there are other robotic dispensers widely available and used by the large chains…I don’t know how this is different.
In short, the article does not give enough info to define how this is different for existing robotic dispensers or how it has helped speed up the Rx filling process….
I suspect that the pharmacist will oppose this automation. This threatens the livelihood of pharmacists who are the only people (other than doctors) licensed to dispense prescription level drugs. All they have to do to stop this is to walk off the job. As there is a shortage of pharmacists today, I don’t expect to see the widespread use of any type of robotic assistants.
Yes! The largest area of concern in pharmacy prescription accuracy is human error. This minimizes human error, ensures that the right prescriptions are filled and keeps the pharmacy safety a focus of a systems and control integration for the company, rather than relying upon an outdated model of using physical persons to check every prescription (and provide for mistakes). Robotic assistants are finally becoming affordable and their presence in the pharmaceutical industry cannot come fast enough. Our health depends on this.
Absolutely. The important thing is to define the future. Next year–probably not–but five years and ten, absolutely. There are several direct mail prescription filling companies that are using the robotic process today.
As we look into the crystal ball, robotic technology will become more prevalent in our lives in every aspect. Robotic grass mower, robotic sweeper and a robotic translator will all become commonplace. Jetson’s, here we come!
This could also address the issues/concerns about pharmacists not filling certain prescriptions based on their moral or religious beliefs.