From CBC News:
People in Ontario will soon be able to buy prescription drugs through an ATM-like self-serve machine now that Bill 179 has been passed in the Ontario legislature.
PCA Services Inc. of Oakville, Ont., plans to roll out hundreds of kiosks across the province in places like malls and grocery stores once regulations are in place, which the company hopes will be within three months.
The kiosks, which have been in use in a handful of Ontario hospitals for two years, will likely become as indispensable as bank machines and cellphones, particularly as governments look for ways to cut health-care costs, said Peter Suma, president of PCA Services, which developed the machine.
"It will be like a cellphone. It will free you from locational dependence," Suma said in an interview with CBC News.
He used an example of going to a grocery store late at night, only to find the pharmacy section is closed. In the future, a customer will just head over to a PharmaTrust machine, as they're called, feed the doctor's prescription through a slot and pick up the phone for a video conference with a pharmacist. ...more
Showing posts with label automated dispensing machines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label automated dispensing machines. Show all posts
Friday, December 04, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
A prescription for convenience
From the Globe and Mail:
Shortly after being named Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-term Care last summer, David Caplan was getting a routine eye exam at Toronto's Sunnybrook hospital when his wife, who works there as a nurse, asked him to look at a new drug-dispensing device.
“After my appointment, my wife said, ‘You've got to come check this out,' and she showed me the machine that was in place,” he said. “I thought it was a fantastic idea – it's new technology that a variety of companies could develop and support and it's a really innovative way of improving patient care.”
In a matter of minutes, Mr. Caplan's wife, Leigh, had accomplished what years of lobbying the Ontario government couldn't.
The machine that Mr. Caplan is referring to is the brainchild of an Oakville, Ont.-based startup called PCA Services Inc.
While its executives bristle at this description, their innovation, which they call PharmaTrust, is akin to a high-tech vending machine (more closely resembling an ABM) for pharmaceutical drugs. ...more
Shortly after being named Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-term Care last summer, David Caplan was getting a routine eye exam at Toronto's Sunnybrook hospital when his wife, who works there as a nurse, asked him to look at a new drug-dispensing device.
“After my appointment, my wife said, ‘You've got to come check this out,' and she showed me the machine that was in place,” he said. “I thought it was a fantastic idea – it's new technology that a variety of companies could develop and support and it's a really innovative way of improving patient care.”
In a matter of minutes, Mr. Caplan's wife, Leigh, had accomplished what years of lobbying the Ontario government couldn't.
The machine that Mr. Caplan is referring to is the brainchild of an Oakville, Ont.-based startup called PCA Services Inc.
While its executives bristle at this description, their innovation, which they call PharmaTrust, is akin to a high-tech vending machine (more closely resembling an ABM) for pharmaceutical drugs. ...more
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Drug Dispensing Machines May Change The Way You Fill Your Next Prescription
From City News Toronto:
Imagine being able to get your next prescription filled without having to go to a pharmacy. It's not such a bitter pill to swallow if you're in Ontario.
The government has introduced a bill that would allow you to receive your Rx from a special drug dispensing vending machine, making it easier to get your prescriptions renewed.
The idea would amend existing rules that require a pharmacist to be present when the pills are doled out. Under the new method, you'd run your prescription through a scanner (below), where a pharmacist would see it - and you'd see him or her via a video conferencing link and talk to them over a private closed circuit phone line. ...more
Imagine being able to get your next prescription filled without having to go to a pharmacy. It's not such a bitter pill to swallow if you're in Ontario.
The government has introduced a bill that would allow you to receive your Rx from a special drug dispensing vending machine, making it easier to get your prescriptions renewed.
The idea would amend existing rules that require a pharmacist to be present when the pills are doled out. Under the new method, you'd run your prescription through a scanner (below), where a pharmacist would see it - and you'd see him or her via a video conferencing link and talk to them over a private closed circuit phone line. ...more
Monday, April 27, 2009
Automated delivery of prescriptions moves a step closer in Ontario
From CBC News:
The pharmaceutical version of the automated banking machine could be coming to Ontario, as the province's pharmacy college took a step toward allowing drug dispensing machines in places where a pharmacist is not present.
On Tuesday, the Ontario College of Pharmacists voted in favour of opening door to the new technology. ...more
The pharmaceutical version of the automated banking machine could be coming to Ontario, as the province's pharmacy college took a step toward allowing drug dispensing machines in places where a pharmacist is not present.
On Tuesday, the Ontario College of Pharmacists voted in favour of opening door to the new technology. ...more
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wetaskiwin pill dispenser a first for Alberta
From the Wetaskiwin (AB) Times Advertiser:
It’s a first for Alberta and the Wetaskiwin Value Drug Mart.
The business has been chosen as the first pharmacy in the province to install the latest technology for automated dispensing.
The change will help equip the store’s pharmacists with “the ability to handle more prescriptions with increased efficiency and accuracy,” according to a press release.
“It’s an investment in the future of our pharmacy, and reflects our strong commitment to patients’ health and safety,” said Wetaskiwin Value Drug Mart pharmacy manager Rodney Bleakney.
Parata Max fully automates the dispensing of oral solids – pills, tablets and capsules, which comprise approximately 70 per cent of the pharmacy’s prescriptions. ...more
It’s a first for Alberta and the Wetaskiwin Value Drug Mart.
The business has been chosen as the first pharmacy in the province to install the latest technology for automated dispensing.
The change will help equip the store’s pharmacists with “the ability to handle more prescriptions with increased efficiency and accuracy,” according to a press release.
“It’s an investment in the future of our pharmacy, and reflects our strong commitment to patients’ health and safety,” said Wetaskiwin Value Drug Mart pharmacy manager Rodney Bleakney.
Parata Max fully automates the dispensing of oral solids – pills, tablets and capsules, which comprise approximately 70 per cent of the pharmacy’s prescriptions. ...more
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Toronto vending machines dispense prescription drugs
From the National Post:
Hundreds of Toronto patients have been picking up their prescription drugs in recent months much as they withdraw cash or buy a can of cola -- from special vending machines that some observers believe could transform the pharmacy business.
Customers insert their prescription into a slot in the device and a few minutes later, it spits out their medication.
Proponents say the Canadian-made drug kiosks, which feature a video link to a real pharmacist, offer convenience when there is no pharmacy open or close by. Skeptics, though, warn the machines will never duplicate the benefits of meeting in person with a druggist.
Pharmacy regulators, meanwhile, seem sympathetic, with the profession's governing body in Ontario releasing proposed legislative changes this week that would open the door to wider use of such technology.
"I think it could be the next BlackBerry," said Dr. Sharon Domb, medical director of family medicine at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, which has been testing the technology. "The feedback has been positive: ‘It's great, it's fast, I don't have to go anywhere else.' " ...more
Hundreds of Toronto patients have been picking up their prescription drugs in recent months much as they withdraw cash or buy a can of cola -- from special vending machines that some observers believe could transform the pharmacy business.
Customers insert their prescription into a slot in the device and a few minutes later, it spits out their medication.
Proponents say the Canadian-made drug kiosks, which feature a video link to a real pharmacist, offer convenience when there is no pharmacy open or close by. Skeptics, though, warn the machines will never duplicate the benefits of meeting in person with a druggist.
Pharmacy regulators, meanwhile, seem sympathetic, with the profession's governing body in Ontario releasing proposed legislative changes this week that would open the door to wider use of such technology.
"I think it could be the next BlackBerry," said Dr. Sharon Domb, medical director of family medicine at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, which has been testing the technology. "The feedback has been positive: ‘It's great, it's fast, I don't have to go anywhere else.' " ...more
Monday, September 15, 2008
Self Service: A prescription for convenience
From Self Service:
When Don Waugh, co-founder and chief executive of PCA Services in Oakville, Ontario, started his company two years ago, he envisioned an integrated self-service dispensing and medication-management system designed for pharmacies, hospitals, medical clinics and physicians' offices.
About six weeks ago, PCA, which provides hardware and software for drug-therapy dispensing and management, developed PharmaTrust, Canada's first point-of-care dispensor.
The PharmaTrust Dispensary, which debuted at Sunnybrook Health Services Centre in Toronto, will operate within Sunnybrook's pharmacy during a three-month trial period to evaluate patient experience. During the trial, a PharmaTrust pharmacist will process the prescriptions, verify each medication dispensed, and provide medication counseling to patients using the automation-assisted dispensary.
"Basically PharmaTrust does everything you expect to occur in a pharmacy," Waugh said.
The pharmacy customer enters his script in the machine, and after a barcode is recognized and keyed in by a pharmacist, the system confirms the patient, the medicine, the drug plan, the card number, the billing address, the co-pay and the payment preference. A robot picks the medicine and brings it to the dispensing area, where the medicine is labeled and issued to the patient. The customer also can receive counseling from a pharmacist via a telephone handset. ...more
When Don Waugh, co-founder and chief executive of PCA Services in Oakville, Ontario, started his company two years ago, he envisioned an integrated self-service dispensing and medication-management system designed for pharmacies, hospitals, medical clinics and physicians' offices.
About six weeks ago, PCA, which provides hardware and software for drug-therapy dispensing and management, developed PharmaTrust, Canada's first point-of-care dispensor.
The PharmaTrust Dispensary, which debuted at Sunnybrook Health Services Centre in Toronto, will operate within Sunnybrook's pharmacy during a three-month trial period to evaluate patient experience. During the trial, a PharmaTrust pharmacist will process the prescriptions, verify each medication dispensed, and provide medication counseling to patients using the automation-assisted dispensary.
"Basically PharmaTrust does everything you expect to occur in a pharmacy," Waugh said.
The pharmacy customer enters his script in the machine, and after a barcode is recognized and keyed in by a pharmacist, the system confirms the patient, the medicine, the drug plan, the card number, the billing address, the co-pay and the payment preference. A robot picks the medicine and brings it to the dispensing area, where the medicine is labeled and issued to the patient. The customer also can receive counseling from a pharmacist via a telephone handset. ...more
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