Equipment management guide. Improving the drug distribution process--do you need an automated decentralized pharmacy dispensing system?

In this Equipment Management Guide, we provide guidance to help hospitals determine whether implementing an automated decentralized pharmacy dispensing system (ADPDS) will be an effective way to improve their drug distribution process. We describe the ADPDSs themselves and then discuss factors that hospitals should consider before deciding on such a system. Specifically, we identify several areas that many pharmacies target for improvement and discuss whether and how an ADPDS can help the facility make the desired improvements. We also provide guidance for determining the cost-effectiveness of such a system, as well as for selecting a system that will most appropriately meet the hospital's needs. In the Evaluation that follows this Guide, we present our criteria for evaluating ADPDSs and the results of our testing of three such systems.