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PATI ENT SAFE T Y


truly autonomous pharmacy would have fully integrated automated technologies across all sites of care: inpatient, community/retail pharmacy and any other settings. This requires a seamless integration of information and technology. IT infrastructure is the heart of the Autonomous Pharmacy. It provides the entire collection of networks, data centres, facilities and equipment used to develop, test, operate, monitor, manage and support IT services in pharmacy. Once this infrastructure has transferred to a cloud- based platform, full integration will have occurred. This decreases administrator effort to find data and maintain the system, meaning fewer opportunities for error. For full success in automation, manual labour needs to be completely removed from the workflow. Hardware and software technologies will be inputted that automate previously manual medication management processes.


Data intelligence refers to a system’s ability to centralise, standardise and automate data collection and reporting for maximum operational visibility. Organisations can then use data to analyse their operations and workforce to make better real-time decisions and facilitate process improvements. In the Autonomous Pharmacy, data visibility equals real-time workflow optimisation and predictive intelligence.


Human activity is put to much more efficient use after the installation of the Autonomous Pharmacy. Healthcare providers can realise the full scope of their roles due to the fact that processes prone to human error are transferred over to the system.


The Autonomous Pharmacy framework


The Autonomous Pharmacy is undoubtedly an ambitious vision for the future. Every day, leaders in the sector are advancing more and more towards full automation. The UK must follow in the footsteps of the US, where there are five levels of progress which


organisations should aim to move through step by step on the path to the Autonomous Pharmacy: l Non-autonomous pharmacy l Limited autonomous pharmacy l Intermediate autonomous pharmacy l Highly autonomous pharmacy l Fully autonomous pharmacy


A steady and attainable framework for future development into this vision is essential in enabling people and organisations to achieve their goals in advanced automation.


Conclusion Fundamentally, the fully Autonomous Pharmacy is well within our reach. Much progress has been made towards this game-changing vision already, with many pharmacies, hospitals and care homes adopting some level of automation as part of their medication dispensation practices. Industry leaders must listen and respond to the consensus from pharmacists that there should be a move towards automation; it is clear that a fully Autonomous


About the author


Paul O’Hanlon, a pharmacist by profession, is now the vice president of international sales at Omnicell. Founded in 1992, Omnicell is a leading provider of medication and supply management solutions to the global healthcare market. The company specialises in improving patient safety from hospital to home, and using better management of supplies and medications to improve standards of care by allowing clinicians to spend more times with their patients.


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Pharmacy would reduce medication management errors and therefore increase patient and healthcare provider safety, as well as saving valuable time and money across the pharmacy sector. It would mean less time spent on administrative tasks and more time spent caring for patients face-to-face. With five clear components and a realisable framework already in use by some organisations, the Autonomous Pharmacy can and will happen on a wide scale in the UK.


Thanks to this vision and the steps taken already to implement it, industry leaders are excited by, and hopeful about, the future of digital medication management.


References 1. Elliot R.A, Camacho E, Campbell F, Jankovic D, Martyn St James M, Kalthenthaler E, Wong R, Sculpher M.J, and Faria R, Policy Research Unit in Economic Evaluation of Health & Care Interventions (EEPRU): Prevalence and economic burden of medication errors in the NHS in England (2018), accessed at: http://www.eepru.org.uk/ wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eepru-report- medication-error-feb-2018.pdf


2. Survey of 63 pharmacists commissioned by Omnicell, April/May 2019


3. Sullivan M, Tryon J, Maehlen H, Flynn A, Newman C, Debstani A, Townsend K and Stevenson J.G, The Autonomous Pharmacy Framework: A Transformative Vision for the Medication Management Process, accessed at: http://www.autonomouspharmacy.com


CSJ


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