Klein E G, Santora J A, Pascale P M, Kitrenos J G
Erie County Medical Center, PA.
Am J Hosp Pharm. 1994 May 1;51(9):1193-6.
Medication cart filling with an automated dispensing system was compared with manual cart filling with respect to personnel time, costs, and accuracy. At a 650-bed tertiary-care medical center, technician cart filling and pharmacist cart checking were timed for the existing manual system and for the Baxter ATC-212 automated dispensing system. Subsequently, carts filled with each system were checked for accuracy of dispensing. On the basis of drugs used in the automated system over three months, drug acquisition and dispensing costs were calculated for automated and manual cart filling; the costs of personnel time were also compared. Daily cart filling time for technicians was significantly less with the automated system. The savings of pharmacist time was not significant; pharmacists had to cut the strip-packaged drugs into individual doses as they checked patients' medications. For both systems, errors were found in fewer than 1% of the doses (0.84% for the manual system and 0.65% for the automated system). Drug costs were higher with the automated system; acquisition prices for the bulk drugs purchased for use in the dispensing machine were higher than the prices of the same products in unit dose packaging. Personnel time saved amounted to less than 0.5 full-time equivalent. With the automated system, overall time savings was not great enough to substantially affect pharmacy operations, and drug costs were higher.
对使用自动配药系统填充药车与人工填充药车在人员时间、成本和准确性方面进行了比较。在一家拥有650张床位的三级医疗中心，对现有手动系统以及百特ATC - 212自动配药系统的技术人员填充药车和药剂师检查药车的时间进行了计时。随后，检查了用每个系统填充的药车的配药准确性。根据自动系统三个月内使用的药品，计算了自动和手动填充药车的药品采购和配药成本；还比较了人员时间成本。使用自动系统时，技术人员每日填充药车的时间显著减少。药剂师节省的时间不显著；药剂师在检查患者用药时必须将条装药品切成单剂量。对于这两种系统，错误剂量均少于1%（手动系统为0.84%，自动系统为0.65%）。自动系统的药品成本更高；用于配药机的散装药品采购价格高于相同产品单位剂量包装的价格。节省的人员时间相当于不到0.5个全职等效人员。使用自动系统时，总体节省的时间不足以对药房运营产生实质性影响，且药品成本更高。
