Tech firms answer chain pharmacy's call for productivity

Drug Store News,  Dec 15, 2003  by Dan Scheraga

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Also introducing a new drug-dispensing robot at the NACDS show was a new entrant to the market, Durham, N.C.-based Parata Systems. Its Robotic Dispensing System holds 252 drugs in a 12-square-foot footprint and can fill, cap and label vials at a rate of one per 18 to 25 seconds. More than 90 of the units are already in testing at several national and regional drug store chains, and Parata expects to begin shipping the units commercially next year.

More improvements in dispensing technology are on the way. In the first quarter of 2004, Pittsburgh-based McKesson Automation Systems expects to go forward with a new addition to its family of prescription-filling robots. The new unit, AccuScript, begins beta testing with a major East Coast pharmacy this month and is expected to start testing with another nationwide drug store chain soon.

AccuScript has the capacity to dispense 100 drugs, but can be upgraded to hold 100 more drugs with the addition of an optional attachment. The device can verify, count, fill and label up to 120 prescriptions an hour and occupies less than 12 square feet.

McKesson vice president of marketing and product management Gail Wunderlein-Beigh noted that the unit was designed with ease of maintenance in mind. Drugs and vials can be replenished without interrupting the prescription-filling process. Also, the canisters are self-calibrating and are cleaned as drugs are counted from them. Instead of cleaning out 200 canisters, pharmacy personnel need only clean a single filter every week or two.

"Our customers asked us for a robot with a smaller footprint and with reduced maintenance requirements. AccuScript is our response," Wunderlein-Beigh said.

Central fill

For pharmacies with volumes too great for on-site dispensing robots to keep up with, McKesson offers central filling services through its SI/Baker unit. The unit, formerly a joint venture between McKesson and Paragon Technologies, was fully bought out by McKesson this fall.

McKesson's Nebiolo said the move is consistent with the company's strategy of offering comprehensive filling solutions. "One of our goals this year is to bring our entire cadre of products and services together for the marketplace.

"Central filling plays an important role in that," he added. "We've found that especially in the large chain market, executives are looking for vendors to partner with, not piecemeal solutions. So it's important that we have a full range of answers so we can be that partner."

Centralized filling makes good business sense, too. According to Fort Worth, Texas-based PDX, pharmacies using central filling can reduce their labor costs by 30 percent to 36 percent and can reduce capital costs by 16 percent.

PDX is ramping up its own centralized filling presence with a new 200,000-square-foot centralized pharmacy to be opened this coming summer. instruction of the facility began last summer. When it is complete, the centralized pharmacy is expected to have capacity to fill 250,000 prescriptions per day, all delivered to individual stores by Federal Express on a next-day basis.