INDUSTRY WATCH: May/June 2014

Illinois Pharmacy Benefits from Robotic Storage and Retrieval

Medicine Shoppe in Mt. Vernon, Ill., has implemented Innovation’s two-tower RxSafe robotic storage and retrieval system to help optimize the pharmacy’s prescription fulfillment and inventory management.

“Our primary goal for making this automation investment was to increase our workflow and inventory management efficiency so we could free up staff to spend more time on clinical services and other revenue-generating activities,” says pharmacist Eric Black, owner of Mt. Vernon Medicine Shoppe. He reports that in six weeks after installing the system he could see tangible results in staff productivity, allowing more time to focus on compounding in the pharmacy’s new compounding lab.

Black’s Medicine Shoppe averages 400 prescriptions a day, with peaks reaching 600 a day. One pharmacy technician operates the two-tower RxSafe system, which fills approximately 65% of the daily prescription volume. The system stores 3,600 prescription containers in approximately 24 square feet, and integrates with the WinRx pharmacy management system from Computer-Rx. Black says, “This was the easiest technology transition we’ve ever made.”