Bring Drug Dispensing Into the Modern Age With Vending Machines

Jeffrey A. SingerTheNew York Times recently published a disturbingreport about life ‐​threating errors made by overworked pharmacists, many of whom complain of “burnout. ” A relatively recent innovation can provide them some needed relief while at the same time improve convenience and reduce costs to consumers, if regulators get out of the way: thepharmacy kiosk. These vending machines contain prescription and over ‐​the‐​counter drugs (but not controlled substances) and have a state ‐​licensed pharmacist available to consult, on demand, remotely.The technology has been around for a while. Vending machines have dispensedPlan B emergency oral contraceptive —the so‐​called “morning after pill”—on college campuses since at least2017. Arizona State University and Florida State University installed pharmaceutical vending machines to dispense a wide range of drugs in their Student Health Services buildings back in2014.Those vending machines are operated by a company calledInstyMeds.Mach 4 Automatisierungstechnik, a German tech firm specializing in automated pharmacy solutions, partnered with a South African firm to providekiosks in South Africa in 2017.The Canadian ‐​based companyMedAvail has been installing vending machines across the U.S., Canada, and Switzerland. Last year the company installed a kiosk inside Jacksonville, Florida ’s Memorial Hospital, making it thefirst hospital in Nort...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 10, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs