A few months ago Andalusia patented an intelligent system for dispensing medicines and consumables for hospitals -iPharma-, developed by researchers at the Hospital of Granada, the Institute of biomedical research of Granada and Andalusian spin off Naranjo Intelligent Solutions.
A breakthrough in safety and efficiency in the administration of drugs to patients. The system is based on artificial intelligence and enables better distribution and management of drugs in hospitals, “which is one of the key processes in hospital pharmacy services,” recalls José Cabeza, Head of Pharmacy Unit of the University of Granada Hospital Complex. To do this, it’s required to follow a procedure of optimal efficiency to ensure that each patient receives the correct drug at the prescribed dose, by the appropriate route.
Cabeza explains that this system arises from a need to prepare the medication for patients effectively. The good news is that, since it was installed on this service, it has reduced up to 30 percent of medication errors.
The main novelty of this system, according to Cabeza is that is complementary to the existing ones.
It is a system consisting of some electronic devices and software that, from the prescription, identifies the drug and the patient who will receive it, which allows to record electronically this information for their preparation. In addition to dispensing and administration, this technology can optimize stock control and replenishment of medicines, as the hospital pharmacy unit has real-time knowledge of the quantity and the precise moment when it should restock a drug. As the expert says, it’s a system of lights and sound which warns the pharmacy technician of the amount of medication and where to place it. “It’s a way to supplement technologically a process that was previously done manually and was subject to the possibility of human error,” he explains.
In addition to minimizing errors, this system streamlines preparation time, increases ergonomics because the pharmacy technician works more properly, “and doesn’t have to repeat a process that usually measures up to 4,000 or 5,000 times each day”.
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