Will Pharmacy Technicians be replaced by automation dispensing robots?

Pharmacy automation dream or nightmare?  Will Pharmacy Technicians be replaced by automation robots?  Will Pharmacists still need Pharmacy Techs?  Troubling questions for technicians these days. 

I was reading an article in Drug Topics e-magazine.  They are talking about this subject in an article written by Fred Gebhart.  It’s very interesting.  On one hand the article says that dispensing robots will “free up time for Pharmacist and pharmacy Technicians to work on more profitable clinical services that require human judgement.”

Further into reading the article, he is interviewing a pharmacist that admits he used to have two technicians but now only needs one, his automation robot has helped the work load.

I personally don’t think automation will replace us Technicians.  The reason being is Technicians would still be needed to fill the machines.  Also perform needed programming and maintenance.  The pharmacist I work B. Nipper said “this topic has been talked about for at least 30 years.  Automation machines will never be able to replace critical thinking in our pharmacies.”

  We will always need Pharmacist and Technicians to keep patients safe.  Every year more and more drugs are developed and released onto the market.  That should keep us busy for a while.  

This subject has already come up at the Florida Pharmacy Association conference meeting.  So far the machines are not taking over.

What are your thoughts on this automation dispensing robot subject?

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Technicians & Pharmacist working for Wal Mart hang on tight before your laid off!

A few weeks ago Wal~Mart laid off 1000 of their hardworking Technicians & Pharmacist.
Alot of them were close to retirement.  There is talk of age discrimination lawsuits against Wal~Mart.  I really don't blame them.  To put in so many years then be dumped like that.

Wal~Mart is where I started my Pharmacy career.  I worked there for 10 years.  The changes they made at that time to us employees were bad enough.  I found a job at the hospital where I currently work. I am very happy I left when I did.

They have laid people in other departments off that were close to retirement in past  years, now they are actually spreading this to Technicians & Pharmacist.  People that worked hard in school for our liscense and put in alot of hours for their company.

It will be interesting to see how customer service is affected.  Will they use automated machines?  With already long wait times and understaffed over stressed employees will errors increase?
I personally wonder if they are laying off to rehire part-time staff to avoid the cose of paying benefits to full time staff.  Either way with all the money Wal~Mart brings in they should treat their employees with more respect than this.

I first heard about these Wal~Mart layoffs reading an article in Drug Store News.  They have alot of detal if you want to click over and read more, I just like to keep it short and sweet. 

There has been talk in our Alachua County Association of Pharmacist board meetings about  ATM like prescription dispensing machines possibly being in use in the Pharmacy world.  I am looking up that info for a future article.
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NEED CE? Some links below are for free CE some charge $$

• Power-Pak CE
• Pharmacy Technician's Letter
• Foundation for Care Management
• Free CE
• Pharmacy Times / CE ~ This is also a free magazine
• ASHP PharmTechCE
• PTCB

If you know of any other CE sites please share in comments.  Especially if they are free.  We are all here to help each other.

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Hello everyone !   I work as a Pharmacy Technician / Purchaser for a Psychiatric Hospital in Florida.  I love the variety of tasks I do during the day.  Multiple types of tasks make my day fly by quickly.


Before I know it my time is up. I'm here from  6 a.m. to 2:30 Mon- Fri  It s a great shift to work.  I've always been a morning person.  The only draw back to this job is occasionally we have violent patients on the units & hospitals don't close for holidays.


Share who you are, where you work, as well as, the best and worst part of your job.  This discussion may help people decide if they want to work hospital or retail.  I have worked both and they are very different worlds.

High Alert Medications

There are a few drugs that are on a list of high-alert medications. These medications are safe and effective, but serious harm can occur if they are not taken exactly as prescribed.  Patients need to take these medications as their Doctor prescribes.  Stay compliant with their therapy.   Patients also need to understand how errors happen with these medications.,
For some commonly prescribed high alert medications the Institute for safe medication practices ( ISMP )  I got the idea for this post from their web site. ISMP Safety Guides   They have created "medication safety learning guides, each at an appropriate health literacy and reading level for consumers. The 2-page learning guides include 10 Safety Tips specific to each medication, along with a table of Fast Facts about the medication. The learning guides are FREE and available for download. Practitioners can freely reproduce the learning guides, use them for reference during patient education, and distribute them directly to consumers who are taking these medications. Some of the learning guides are also available in Spanish."