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It is pretty remarkable how inefficient getting pills from a pharmacist is. The actual dispensing could be easily handled by a glorified vending machine so all
by not_kurt_godel 8y ago
It is pretty remarkable how inefficient getting pills from a pharmacist is. The actual dispensing could be easily handled by a glorified vending machine so all the pharmacist would have to do is punch some buttons on a computer instead of having to physically handle anything except dumping packages from the manufacturer in it upon delivery.
- jeherr 8y agoActually, some pharmacies do have counting robots now which count out their most commonly filled prescriptions, like norco. They’re not perfect though.
- beenBoutIT 8y agoWho do you complain to when the robot shorts you? Unless most doctors are writing scripts for noncomposite amounts of pills this needs to be simpler. Boxes of 15 can turn into 60, 90, 120, etc.
- shimon 8y agoVery common now. All the pharmacies in my primary health system's offices use these: https://innovat.com/pharmassist-robotx/ https://innovat.com/pharmassist-robotx/
- jonlucc 8y agoWhy make a human type it in if the majority of scripts are coming in via E-prescription?
- not_kurt_godel 8y agoBaby steps...in order for that to work there'd have to be some kind of interoperable API standard adopted by all doctors in pharmacies that the system understands (I am assuming there is not). In an ideal world there'd be basically no humans involved as soon as the doctor prescribes, obviously...
- jeherr 8y agoWhat makes you think an ideal world would involve no humans after the doctor writes a prescription? There’s a very good reason we have pharmacists. Doctors can and do make mistakes, and they may not know every medication that a patient is taking. Somebody has to catch these mistakes and potentially lethal interactions. Doctors are typically not experts in medications. Specialists probably know a lot about medications pertaining to their specialty, but asking GPs to know so much about a vast array of diseases AND the medications to treat them all, AND all interactions between medications is unreasonable. Doctors education is primarily in diagnosing disease. Pharmacists go to school just as long as doctors do (I think the major difference is pharmacists don’t typically do a residency after they graduate unless they are not planning to work in a community pharmacy), but their entire education is based around medications. Pharmacists are the medication experts. It’s a good thing that we have both looking after the healthcare of patients.
- not_kurt_godel 8y agoHence why I said "ideal"...