Press Release: NewIcon’s Automated Dispensing System Won the Competitive Tendering for Rambam Hospital in Israel

NewIcon’s operations in Israel have spread from pharmacies to hospitals.

NewIcon won the public competitive tendering of Rambam Health Care Campus, the fifth largest hospital in Israel, with the Mega-Fixu automated dispensing system. The purchase of the system is an investment in pharmacy automation worth one million of euros.

“The quality of the pharmacy automation systems developed and manufactured by NewIcon is top-class on the Israeli market,” says Zorian Kleiman of Gotect Ltd, NewIcon’s distributor in Israel.

NewIcon also stood out from the rest of the competitors with its ability to integrate the automated dispensing system into local information systems. A few Israeli hospitals have had trouble with the interfaces of similar automated dispensing systems, with the users having to log events twice. In contrast, Mega-Fixu can even be connected to the international SAP resource planning system maintained by Israel’s Ministry of Health.

Directive on pharmacy automation

Israel’s Ministry of Health has set a directive on automation in hospitals. According to the directive, automation should be a part of a modern healthcare organisation if Israeli hospitals want to maintain their competitiveness on the international market.

“The hospitals that don’t adapt to increased automation will probably fall behind,” Kleiman evaluates.

Kleiman has followed the industry for years and observed the increased importance of pharmacy automation systems in Israel. He believes that Gotect Ltd’s partnership with NewIcon will help them stay on top of the Israeli market.

“We should consider how NewIcon’s technology could be used in the development of pharmacies’ online shopping concepts. It could be a significant, fascinating and central topic in the future,” Kleiman says.

Using automation to reach the top of development

The Rambam Hospital pharmacy, located on the campus in Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, will have a service counter where patients can pick up their medications. When the pharmacy is closed, the nursing staff is able to pick up medications from the delivery point in the wall of the hospital pharmacy. In the past, the hospital has ordered large batches of medications all at once. Thanks to Mega-Fixu, the orders can be smaller, which will reduce medicine waste and make the use of the facilities more effective.

“I believe that Mega-Fixu can help Rambam Hospital maintain its reputation as a pioneering institution,” says Jori-Matti Savolainen, NewIcon’s Marketing Director.

The facilities of the Rambam Hospital pharmacy are underground. The low height and insufficient floor area posed challenges for the installation of Mega-Fixu.

“We customised the complete solution to suit the needs of the customer,” Savolainen says.

According to Kleiman, the capacity of Mega-Fixu is right for Rambam Hospital, which has 1,000 beds. The size of the Mega-Fixu system to be installed is 10 metres in length and 2.3 metres in height, and it involves a broad range of medical automation accessories.

“Rambam Hospital wants to be more effective. This purchase could lead to them expanding their automation project and purchasing the eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinets and other pharmacy automation systems from NewIcon in the near future,” Kleiman says.

The competitive tendering in Israel will continue, as other hospitals are also preparing to purchase similar pharmacy automation systems. In the meantime, NewIcon will offer its distributor in-depth training for using Mega-Fixu so that the automation system may be maintained locally.

NEWICON OY is a health technology company founded in 2007. It is the market leader in medicine storage automation for pharmacies in Finland. The company has delivered pharmacy automation systems to almost 100 pharmacies and hospital medical services in Finland, Denmark, Russia, Israel, Iran and China. The company employs approximately 60 people. The company uses an ISO 9001 certified quality management system. NewIcon’s partnership with Gotect Ltd, the distributor in Israel, started in 2012. The first Iso-Fixu automated dispensing system was installed in a pharmacy of the Meuhedet Pharmacy chain in Jerusalem in 2016, and another system was installed in another one of the chain’s pharmacies in Hadera in 2017.