Cases
Stories of pharmacy automation
Stories of pharmacy automation
Sydvestjysk Hospital recently opened a new patient-ward building and wanted a modern solution to help reduce medication waste. eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets were chosen.
Due to operational growth, Hollola Pharmacy wanted to expand the storage capacity of their 4-year-old Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system. NewIcon's Production Team came up with a plan.
Puijonlaakso Pharmacy repurchased a new Iso-Fixu after the old one had been in use for more than 10 years. We talked to Pharmacist (M.Sc.) Ville Peura about his experience working with an automated dispensing system.
Pharmacist (M.Sc.) Timo Hänninen refers to the Iso-Fixu as "a reliable employee who has not taken a day off for 10 years". Read how Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system has helped Siilinjärvi Pharmacy grow its operation.
With the newly implemented Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system, Laajasalo Pharmacy now handles up to 80% of its prescription medicine deliveries in less than five minutes.
Medicine retrieval at Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Pharmacy is led by NewIcon's Mega-Fixu automated dispensing system, which stores approximately 80,000 medicine packages and retrieves 38 percent of all the medicines dispensed in the HUS operating area.
Pharmacist Sakari Alaranta is enthusiastic about the use of the Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system at Raiso Pharmacy. He believes the system has helped the pharmacy grow by optimizing the storage space usage and eliminating interrupted points in customer service.
Tiina Kahila, head nurse of the ICU, shares her experience of using the eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets. She likes how the cabinets have allowed for a more organized way of dispensing the medicines, especially during "peak hours".
The Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system has an air conditioning system that regulates the storage air temperature, keeping the medicines safe. This is especially important for countries like Finland where the differences in temperature during winter and summer can be as much as 60 degrees Celcius.
Seinäjoki Central Hospital is house to both Mega-Fixu automated dispensing system (located at the hospital pharmacy) and 6 eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets (located at the hospital wards). Read how the hospital pharmacists and the nurses streamline their work and collaboration using NewIcon's pharmacy automation solutions.
The newly built hospital acquired an IV ICON Twins compounding system and 35 eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets. Read how they plan and prepare for the integration of automation systems into their daily workflow.
To improve the asepticity of the operating theatres, the eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets were installed in the walls of treatment rooms, with the medicines dispensed through the wall. The patient’s immediate environment is calmer and safer, as the automated dispensing cabinets are filled from outside the room.
"I think of Iso-Fixu as an investment – if I decide to sell the pharmacy one day, the ADS will increase its value," says Pharmacist (M.Sc.) Leena Melartin, owner of Kalasatama Pharmacy.
The Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system is capable of reading the 2D identification code from prescription medicine packages. This helps Lielahti Pharmacy to quickly adapt to the new EU regulations on medicine verification.
A total of 278,000 medication labels are printed from Kuopio University Hospital's eMED ICON automated dispensing systems in a year. In the past, the personnel wrote the information on the labels manually.
"The most important feature of the robot is the multi-picking feature, which allows the robot to collect and deliver up to 14 medicine packages at a time," says Pharmacy Owner Helena Jalonen.
The pharmaceutical services at the Central Finland Central Hospital took a technological leap by acquiring an IV ICON Twins compounding robot for the sterile preparations of antibiotics. This required the pharmacists to rethink the whole working process of compounding.
Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system proves to be a powerful solution to a small and challenging space
"I wanted to maximise the space available for customer service, which is why we needed the most compact storage system available for the prescription medicines," says Pharmacy Owner Jaana Lehtomäki.
Mega-Fixu automated dispensing system, with its moving robot arms, has been lovingly named "Kerttu" by the hospital staff. Read how the friendly robot has made an impact on the everyday work of the pharmacy technicians at North Karelia Central Hospital.
This is an important story for us, as it is the story of how we met our first customer as a pharmacy automation company. Pharmacy Owner Helvi Hänninen put trust in NewIcon, even when we were a very small company with little reputation. Since then, we have sold more than a hundred of Iso-Fixu automated dispensing systems to pharmacies in Finland and around the world.
Some of the staff think the moving robot arm inside Iso-Fixu looks humane. Others think it looks like...a duck, as it moves around and pecks at things in the storage. Regardless, they all agree that the system has made a positive impact on their work-life.
Involved in the operations is the world’s largest fully automated medical storage system, which has two robot arms feeding 4,000–5,000 medicine packages into the storage a day.
The robot will make life more difficult for burglars as medicines are placed on shelves in a random order and uninvited guests cannot access them as easily.
Head of Pharmacy Tuuli Koski recounts her buying experience with NewIcon and how the pharmacy staff felt about the Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system when it arrived.
The operating rooms, recovery ward, intensive care units and C-section rooms of Kaari Hospital are the first in Finland to begin using electronic eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets.
Kuopio University Hospital invested in a full line of NewIcon's pharmacy automation systems for its new facilities. This includes a Mega-Fixu automated dispensing system, more than 65 eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets, and an IV ICON Twins compounding system.
The IV ICON Twins compounding system will change work, especially on the wards that use large volumes of cefuroxime. Nurses will have more time available for nursing, and pharmacists can focus on supporting medicine supply in practice.
The Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system has saved several hours of staff working time each day. Packages are delivered from storage onto customer service counters in about eight seconds.
Besides the modern, Nordic-inspired white cabinets, the system's exterior wall is decorated with a refreshing image of grass taped onto it. This has improved the overall looks and feels of the pharmacy.