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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