Growing Prescription Rate, Not Enough Time
“When we first considered automation in 1998 our prescription volume was growing 10% each year and we did not have additional counter space for dispensing pharmacists to expand services. We had service goals and production goals to accomplish without increasing our current staff. We wanted our pharmacists to devote more time to preparing investigational, injectable, narcotic, and chemotherapy drug prescriptions. We needed a faster, more efficient method to fill our ‘easier’ or less challenging prescriptions. We wanted to provide excellent customer service by reducing wait times but still dedicate one pharmacist to patient counseling and to serving our patients’ needs at the pharmacy window. Prescription accuracy and patient safety with increasing prescription volume was also a primary concern.

“Our objective was to find a solution to all of these issues and we did that with ScriptPro dispensing technology. ScriptPro interested us because of the sound mechanical construction of the SP 200. The mechanical design is efficient and simple and we anticipated few equipment problems or down time. The SP 200 is quiet. A pharmacist can easily talk on the telephone while the equipment is in operation. The price was reasonable, making the product a great value. We liked the small footprint, how it conformed to our pharmacy workflow, and the easy on-site calibration of cells.”

Automation for Now and the Future
“We purchased the SP 200 in 1998 and our prescription rate continued to grow. In 2002 we opened another location and found that the SP 200 was still the best option for our automation needs, so we bought another one.

“The efficient operation of the SP 200 expedites the filling of prescriptions. We can process 150 prescriptions in an hour. Our pharmacists have more time to spend on complicated prescriptions, on reviewing patient profiles, and on patient counseling.

“Our prescription rate is still growing by 10% each year, but now we are able to use our people for professional tasks and use our robots for technical tasks. SP 200 helped us accomplish our goals.”

Lucy Moyer, R.Ph., Manager of Outpatient Pharmacy