Intelligent Medication Management Cabinet, also known as automated dispensing cabinet (ADC), can store different types of medication items including ampule, vial, pouch, syringe, and box. The first drawer consists of specialized bins with individual electronic locks for the storage of controlled substances. The cabinet incorporates several technologies in its modular design. Powered by our closed-loop management system, it is equipped with fully automated weight sensors, which eliminates the need for countbacks. The technologies create a smarter and safer process for getting the right medication to the right patient, helping improve the patient’s healthcare experiences.

Workflow with Intelligent ADCs

With the implementation of Intelligent ADCs, a physician enters a patient's order in the EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system. After pharmacists evaluate the appropriateness of prescriptions, the system then automatically routes the order to a server that manages communication to all of the cabinets. With patients' information and locations acquired from the hospital's information system, the server sends the order to the correct ADC on the nursing floor.

Once nurses log into the ADC, they simply select the medication specific to the selected patient who need medicines from the list that is displayed on the screen. The drawer automatically opens and guidance lights illuminate the exact location of the medication to be dispensed, which helps minimize dispensing errors.

 Comprehensive management and monitoring are conducted for all inpatient ADC medication data. ADC medication orders must be reviewed and verified by a pharmacist before nursing staff are permitted to retrieve medications from the cabinet. Additionally, the configuration of drug items, quantities, and replenishment requirements for the ADC are centrally planned and managed by the pharmacy management team.

Advantages of Intelligent ADCs

1. Automatic Counting: Quantity is automatically detected and recorded in the inventory system when the user removes or returns the medications without any manual data entry.
2. Auto Inventory Count: System automatically rotates inventory on a first-in, first-out basis and checks the system count with auto counting mechanism without manual activities.
3. Lot Number Tracking & Expiry Date Monitoring:  The system guides personnel in medication retrieval according to the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) principle, facilitating automated inventory turnover. It also utilizes an automated inventory counting mechanism to verify system quantities, eliminating the need for manual operation
4. Immediate Access to all Medications: All medications including controlled substances and cold storage medications can be made available in the ward and be accessed immediately.
5. Deliver Care to the Bedside: Automatic dispensing cabinets extend the medication dispensing safety all the way to the patient’s bedside and ensure correct medication administration with the scanning of barcodes on the patient ID wristbands and medication.
6. Electronic Workflow Management: Manage all phases of the workflow efficiently – from inventory to prescription verification and accurate dispensing.
7. Closed-loop Traceability: Automated dispensing system allows medication to be monitored in real-time from pharmacy to wards and to patient bedsides. All kinds of medication activities on the system are recorded.

Benefits of Adopting ADC

Save manpower and time for drug delivery and shorten medication administration time

1. Manpower：
   - Facilitate the shift management of controlled drugs, and each shift only needs 30 to 60 seconds
   - Decrease the time for managing controlled drugs and high-priced medical supplies by 100 minutes per day
   - Reduce the time for processing returned drugs by 50%
   - Decrease the need of delivery personnel for the outpatient injection room by 1.05 per month
   - Reduce the time for managing the controlled drugs of Anesthesia by 4 hours/day
2. Management：
   - The drug collection process is recorded and traceable to avoid accounting anomalies.
   - The recycling of empty bottles for controlled drugs is recorded and traceable.
   - Achieve closed-loop drug management and reduce the incident of medication errors to Zero.
3. Process：Reduce patient waiting time
   - The time between drug review and pick-up by nurses is reduced from 33 mins to only 5 mins.
   - It takes only 30 seconds to access emergency medicine.

Contact Window

Department of Pharmacy 
+886-4-22052121 ext. 12270
015007@tool.caaumed.org.tw