Pharmacy Technology
In the beginning of pharmacy history, the Mesopotamiams used impressions of symbols on clay tablets to document the medicines used to treat their people. Later, the Romans wrote on wax tablets, which allowed them to erase written text. Then reed pens (made of bamboo) and quills (made from feathers) were used to write prescriptions on parchment paper. As time progressed, the pencil and ballpoint pen made documenting patient medications and prescriptions even easier for both the pharmacists and their patients.
Today, continued advancements in technology have created powerful software solutions that enable pharmacists to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and improve communication, enhancing patient care. Technology can also drive improvements in a pharmacy’s clinical, operational, and regulatory compliance performance.
History of Pharmacy Technology
Pharmacy technology as we know it today really began in the late 1960s when the first machines were designed to count medications. The first of these portable digital pill counters was brought to market in 1971. In the early 1980s and into the 1990s, pharmacy software solutions became available that helped to increase operational efficiency and enable pharmacies to better serve their patients with the aid of computers.
Into the 2000s, improvements to pharmacy management software solutions continued to enhance overall pharmacy operational efficiency. These software solutions helped pharmacies increase inventory accuracy, track patient prescriptions, and even send text and email prescription refill reminders to their patients.
The constant advances in technology have led to powerful pharmacy management software solutions enabling pharmacies to manage inventory, keep track of logistics, and deliver the highest quality of patient care possible. As we lean more and more into technology, the level of accuracy and quality of care for patients continues to improve.
Benefits of Pharmacy Technology
The advancements in pharmacy technology and software solutions have enabled pharmacists to increase patient safety and improve patient care. These feature rich solutions enable pharmacy success through text-and-email patient alerts, auto fills, and advanced inventory management reporting.
Automating order fulfillment enables a pharmacy to more efficiently keep track of inventory, increase the accuracy of dispensing medication, and provide more accurate labeling of patient medications.
Workflow efficiency within the pharmacy is improved with technology. Automation of time-sensitive processes increase productivity, optimizing the prescription filling process. This allows the pharmacist to spend more time with their patients, giving them the time needed to address their individual needs during patient consultations.
Dispensing accuracy is improved with these powerful software solutions, which virtually eliminate dispensing errors helping to alleviate any patient concerns regarding their prescriptions. Built in checks and balances ensure an error free environment, making sure the right dose goes to the right patient at the right time. Every time.
Pharmacy technology and software solutions make a patient’s life easier by providing them with timely, accurate care by a pharmacy that operates with unparalleled efficiently, allowing them to dedicate their time to patient care.
Pharmacy Technology and Patient Care
What every patient truly wants is to improve the quality of their life. This is just as true of ancient civilizations as it is today. Pharmacy technology and advanced software solutions are powerful tools that enable a pharmacist to provide their patients with proper care, as efficiently and effectively as possible.
These advances in technology have also made it easier for pharmacies to communicate with their partners in the healthcare system, including providers, suppliers, insurers, and regulatory agencies. This helps to improve a pharmacy’s operational efficiency, enabling the pharmacy to focus more of its time and effort on providing the highest quality of care to its patients.
From accurate and timely prescription refills to patient reminders and improved communication, the role of technology in pharmacy has helped to improve the quality of patient care. And that mission has remained the same since the earliest of civilizations, to take care of our patients and improve the quality of their lives.