After the Installation of Pharmacy Automation
After the Installation of Pharmacy Automation
There are some considerations that management will need to make about occurrences that will happen after pharmacy automation is in place. It is a good idea to give these probabilities some thought before they occur so that a plan can be in place to give them proper handling when they do occur. Management will need to decide what the job definition of each employee is before automation is installed. This will not only cut down on the confusion that might occur, but it will also give employees a comfort level about their on-going employment as automation comes online. This should increase employee endorsement of automation and help keep the business running smoothly. There will probably be a need for training of employees as their tasks relate to the automation process. This will probably be an on-going activity, so scheduling this in advance increases the employee self worth as it relates to the pharmacy. Once the employees have spent some time working with the automation, there should be a definite increase in pride of accomplishment among them. If the employees have fully committed to the automation, it should be easy to maximize the effect of the automation on pharmacy operations. If the pharmacy automation is the right fit for the needs of this pharmacy, every employee should have a much lighter work load.
Inventory management will likely change due to the increased capability of automation to fill prescriptions. There will probably be a different stock level of products available to the automation than what was available to the manual fill operation. It would probably be a good idea to schedule maintenance and re-stocking of products during non-peak hours. There will likely be a difference in the amount of space for storing product, which will change the time period between sticking of products for dispensing. It would be a good idea for management to schedule some practice time for employees as automation is being installed. This would give all the employees an idea of what is expected of them in this new environment. Each would be able to ask questions before they actually have to start using the automation. There will need to be some cross training of employees, so that there will be no problem if any individual is out of the pharmacy for a time.
Management should set up a series of performance metrics at the time the automation is installed. This would include measurements of how many prescriptions are filled and dispensed in a day, at peak hours, and over a month's time. Other types of statistics that are of importance to the individual pharmacy could be collected to determine how effective the automation is turning out to be. To get the maximum from the investment in automation, management should develop a forward thinking business plan that points toward adding additional services to the pharmacy operations as automation starts to carry the load of routine tasks. There may be some growth areas that once were just a passing thought, that may have become totally possible with the advent of automation.
Since the ability of automation is now carrying a lot of the menial tasks that are part of the filling operation, it could be possible for the pharmacy to make efforts to increase the number of prescriptions that need to be filled. Pointed marketing campaigns could be set up at specific groups to draw in more business. This could be done because there should be no worries about being able to fill prescriptions and keep up with the demand during peak hours of operation.
Pharmacy automation offers efficiency, scalability, and cost reduction. If automation is to reach its maximum ability in any pharmacy, it is important for management to handle the step up to this new plateau of operations in a way that will get the best from the equipment. Employees must be fully committed to the step. Management must present the new idea of automation to its staff so that will have little likelihood of rejecting it. This is the only way that pharmacy automation can be totally successful.