World’s largest automated dispensing system will be deployed at Tampere University Hospital in Finland

Photo: The Pharmacy Department of Tampere University Hospital in Finland celebrates the deployment of new facilities that also include the world’s largest automated dispensing system.

The Pharmacy Department of Tampere University Hospital will deploy a new automated dispensing system in December. Mega-Fixu is the largest automated dispensing system in the world, capable of shelving and collecting 4,000 medicine packages a day. The automated dispensing system leaves pharmacists free to focus on those aspects of their work that require specialist expertise. At the same time the system minimizes human errors in medicine collection and delivery helping to improve pharmaceutical safety.

The Pharmacy Department of Tampere University Hospital serves more than 1,200 units such as hospital wards and other healthcare facilities in and around the Tampere region. Most of the medicines supplied by the hospital pharmacy are delivered by road, and pharmacists are used to spending a considerable portion of their working day processing packages.

The key driver for the investment in automated dispensing technology was Tampere University Hospital’s desire to modernise pharmaceutical logistics and improve safety, efficiency and the security of supply. Tampere University Hospital’s Mega-Fixu system has six robotic arms that are capable of shelving and collecting 4,000 medicine packages during a working day.

Ensuring adherence to the ’five rights’ of medication administration

The Pharmacy Department of Tampere University Hospital has been collaborating with NewIcon for a while, aiming to build a seamless pharmaceutical process.  This means ensuring adherence to the ‘five rights’ of medication administration: the right drug, the right dose, the right route, the right time and the right patient. The process is based on humans and automation working together to provide double assurance of each aspect of pharmacological care, thus improving pharmaceutical safety.

Ensuring a seamless pharmacotherapy process with the help of sophisticated automation makes the Pharmacy Department of Tampere University Hospital one of the pioneering hospital pharmacies in Europe. NewIcon has also supplied smart dispensing cabinets to 12 units of Tampere University Hospital so far, which contribute to the modernisation efforts.