There are many excellent automatic dispensing cabinets (ADCs) on the market today. All are meant to make handling medication in various healthcare settings easier, more efficient, and safer for both patients and their care teams. But not all are created equally. So, when making an investment in this type of equipment, it is important to consider your workflow and how your facility dispenses medication. The right technology choice should always work with a facility’s workflow, not against it. The healthcare environment, medications most distributed, and type of patient care must be considered when deciding which model fits best. Here are some guidelines for matching ADCs with their specific use cases to best benefit pharmacists, pharmacy techs, nurses, and the patients they serve.

Single Dose Dispensing

With single-dose drawer technology, medical staff members are only able to access specified compartments within the drawers to retrieve medication. This is especially helpful for ensuring maximum security with controlled drugs because accountability is built-in to the retrieval process. Advanced configuration capabilities allow facilities to designate exactly which authorized personnel have permission for specific medications. Along with tracking of every medication dose, this model type reduces time spent on pill counting, giving nurses back valuable minutes better spent with patients. Single-dose dispensing might be most useful in large acute care hospitals with 24-hour pharmacies where medication security, workflow efficiency, and improved patient care are front and center.  There are also parts of the world where this type of medication dispensing is required, leaving no option for alternatives. Read more >