Some of the best literature, films, and television of the past hundred years or so have negotiated the potential risks and benefits of increased technology use in society. What we have come to learn, particularly over the past few years is that technology can—and does—make life a lot easier. This is particularly true in terms of automation in many industries. Even in the medical field, we are learning that automation can reduce man hours spent on tasks that can be computerized.
Take the Synmed Medical automated prescription dispensary system. This automated system issues solid oral medications into blister packs for easy distribution to patients and easy use by patients.
SYNMED AUTOMATED SOFTWARE
As a machine, Synmed automated systems will need some software. Proprietary Synmed software is extremely well-designed to handle such emerging technology through:
- a user-friendly operator interface
- the production of multiple cards to handle a wide variety of brands and formats
- the generation of several production reports and statistics tracking
- permission of a more centralized production for several stores simultaneously
BARCODES AND SCANNER
To register each product, the system must print the necessary labels and then deliver the eventual packaging for the automated machine’s bar code scanner:
- bar codes allow for the machine to monitor several products in the same process
- bar codes can identify the supplier, refill the container with the appropriate inventory, and deliver the medicine to its appropriate destination
- bar codes ensure each label is unique, providing a link secure link for each card
ROBOTICS
As a machine, the SynMed automated prescriptions system robotically manages the typically manual tasks of filling prescription orders:
- servomotors pick up each unit in order to position them in their appropriate place in the process through the system’s movement axes
- automatic access to filling and using all containers
- automatic access to all blister cards for filling within the positioning tray
The POSITIONING TRAYS
Each machine has two positioning trays to hold the packs in place for filling:
- simultaneous exception drugs integration
- sequential numbering of every blister pack for faster integration of exception drugs
- multiple card filling grouped together for more productivity
The MEDIFICATION CONTAINERS
Each machine can hold more than 570 medication containers, as described in a list supplied by the pharmacy:
- provides multiple options for the same medication in multiple containers
- two different container sizes to allow for differently-sized tablet distribution
- easier access to the main store for faster inventory replenishment
