The implementation and impact of semi-automation on efficiency, quality and cost within a courier pharmacy.
| dc.contributor.author | Popkiss, Courtney | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-12-04T10:27:17Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-12-04T10:27:17Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: The European Medicines Agency has identified a list of around one hundred topics that require further investigation. This list aims to accelerate innovative medicine research and bridge gaps in current knowledge. Included is further investigation needed in the sphere of automation and artificial intelligence. This is the future of pharmacy and along with the increase in popularity of courier pharmacies during the Covid-19 pandemic there is a possibility for a significant leap forward in medicine provision. Automated dispensing units (ADU) are at the forefront of automation in pharmacy and provide much needed relief to routine and labour-intensive tasks within the pharmacy. They are associated with increased efficiency, reduced labour requirements and costs as well as a reduction in medicine errors when compared with traditional dispensing methods. Objectives: Comparison of two dispensing systems namely, an ADU and a traditional dispensing unit (TDU), was conducted to determine the effects of automation on efficiency, quality and cost. Data from these dispensing departments were compared to develop and assess the viability of a more integrated and semi-automated approach. Methods: The comparison between the two dispensing lines was retrospective, taken from July 2019 to July 2022 and was used to determine the effects of automation. Output efficiency was monitored using the average monthly output per Quality Assurance (QA) assistant per hour on each line. Dispensing quality was determined via the average monthly errors reported per dispensing line and then compared for changes over time. Labour requirements and costs were compared in terms of the salary expenditure per month on each line as well as the locum staffing costs and the overall operational costs per dispensing unit. Results: Results showed that the ADU proved more efficient with an hourly output per QA of 59 scripts which is almost double that of the TDU at 31 scripts per QA per hour. A downward trend in average hours worked was noted on the ADU which resulted in an inverse increase in the average script output per QA over time while the TDU demonstrated an increase in the number of QAs used over time also leading to an average increase in the output per QA. Error rates on the ADU were higher in general, but did decrease significantly with time. A significant drop in errors was recorder on the ADU between 2020 and 2021 of 68%. Error rates on the TDU were consistent over time with the years 2019 to 2021 having less than 20 errors reported per month on average and in general lower than that of the ADU as the ADU still contributes around 56% of all reported errors on a monthly basis. Labour requirements on the TDU were much higher than on the ADU with the former requiring 123 staff members to operate at optimum levels while the latter only required 85. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21505 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Western Cape | |
| dc.subject | Automated dispensing unit | |
| dc.subject | Quality assurance | |
| dc.subject | Cost reduction | |
| dc.subject | Efficiency | |
| dc.subject | Courier pharmacy | |
| dc.title | The implementation and impact of semi-automation on efficiency, quality and cost within a courier pharmacy. | |
| dc.type | Thesis |