Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) has launched its first smart pharmacy, one of the largest pharmacies in the emirate, and relies on a sophisticated pharmaceutical robot to prepare, dispense and control medicines. The smart pharmacy serves about 800 references a day, and the duration of dispensing prescribed medicines from 8 to 10 seconds, mediated by a special robot, with an average speed approaching 90 boxes per minute, the equivalent of 5400 boxes of medicine per hour.
In a press conference held at its headquarters, Al Madina said that programming the system in the smart pharmacy reinforces the main objective of the hospital's pharmaceutical services, which is to ensure the safety of patients by refusing to store medicines that are less than three months old. The Smart Pharmacy also features a 24-hour alarm clock, seven days a week, to measure temperature and humidity, with the possibility of immediate contact in the event of any defect causing the device to crash, allowing the opportunity to respond quickly from the pharmacy team, and provide technical support to address Reason, avoid the damage of medicines.
The smart pharmacy system employs high-level techniques by establishing a drug-specific serial number (internationally known as barcodes), which aims to achieve accuracy in the quality, quantity and storage of the drug, minimizing the risk of drug misuse, Reduce the medication trip from storage shelves to drainage windows.
The Smart Pharmacy project is linked to the Malfy electronic system, which was previously launched by the Health Company. It provides a digital health record for patients. The information sent from the MELFI system is printed and includes the patient's information and the prescription on the medicine box directly.
The number of smart pharmacies in Abu Dhabi reached five, namely Al Rahba Hospital, Tawam Hospital, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Bani Yas Health Center, Oud Al Tawbah Center in Al Ain, He pointed out that smart pharmacies have a great impact on the happiness of patients and come within the new strategic objectives of SEHA.
Dr. Rafiq Karam Yousif, Director of Pharmacy at SKMC, said: "Al-Saedli has a key role to play in the Smart Pharmacy system. After reviewing the insurance card, the pharmacist reviews the prescription, verifies the validity of the prescription, And answer the queries. Meanwhile, the robotic arm brings the prescribed medicine and prints patient and prescription data in both Arabic and English, and attaches it to the box and then sends it to the pharmacist through a special belt.
"The robot is part of a series of initiatives and achievements that are in line with SEHA's strategic objectives, which include the application of advanced technological systems, and the modernization and development of services that achieve patients' happiness," said Mohammed Al-Hajri, Director of Engineering Services at SKMC. Reducing the waiting hours and protecting them from drug errors. In addition, the Smart Pharmacy is in line with the leadership's approach to making innovation a solid approach and a lifestyle that reinforces the UAE's position as a world leader in innovation in pharmaceutical and therapeutic services.
More than 2,000 patients are visiting the pharmacy daily, and the number of visitors received by the pharmacy since the beginning of the year exceeded 97,000, of whom about 5000 are from transplant patients And dialysis.
She noted that the smart pharmacy eliminates the possibility of a mistake in the disbursement of medicines, and reduces the waiting time of the patient 30 to 45 minutes, to between 5 and 10 minutes, adding that the time it takes the robot to prepare the medicine and processing after the arrival of the approval of the insurance does not exceed 10 seconds .
Human element
The Director of Pharmacy at SKMC, Dr. Rafiq Karam Yousef, stated that the purpose of using the robot is to help the human being to raise the level of work, instead of performing the repetitive tasks of preparing medicines and placing posters on them. And to allow the pharmacist more time with the patient, pointing to the presence of a robot in the pharmacy currently, and can add a third robot in the future.
"The robot is ready to work 24 hours a day, and the error rate is almost zero, because it does not work under nervous pressure," Karam said.
He stressed that the entry of robot pharmacist field will not dispense with pharmacists, because a large part of the pharmacist's profession is linked to deal with the patient himself, and therefore the presence of human element, especially with the difference of patients and their cultures and the nature of disease, is very important.
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Minutes waiting patient at the smart pharmacy.