Replaced by Machines

For me, the world of technology suddenly appears exciting. I started my community rotation last month at Walgreens.  This is my first time working at a community pharmacy. At my pharmacy, they fill about 600-800 prescriptions per day. Our store has the Parata Dispensing Robotic system. When the Parata's machine is working and running ok, it saves ALOT of time because it has the capability of filling a prescription, capping the vial and printing the patient's instructions in less than 25 seconds. It completes about 150 prescriptions per hour. You can even check the history to see if the medication has been scanned out. I am impressed by how the machine keeps up with the frantic pace at the pharmacy. Seeing robots in the future is not a bad idea if used for purely mechanical action such as filling scripts. I’m not worry about being replaced by a machine.  It will free up some of the pharmacists' time and really allow them to put to use all of the knowledge they have. Simply, this idea that we have that computers are taking over our jobs only applies to labor rather than a service utilizing specific skills. Human judgment is a required factor in pharmacy. We pharmacists are trained to look at the interaction and determine if a medication is safe and right for our patients. A computer cannot fully control the role of a pharmacist or any other health professional without making professional judgments. This is why we have pilots even though the plane can fly on auto pilot. There is a human aspect to all health care fields that just cannot be replaced by a computer. As pharmacist move from behind the counter to a patient bedside, pharmacy informatics will make us better pharmacist by improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of care.