Making Hospitals Workflows More Flexible

April 5, 2024

Automation Empowers Health Networks to Provide Better Care

Rob Banis & Larry Bray | 04 April, 2024

Healthcare Operations Are Evolving

In a rapidly changing healthcare landscape, hospitals and health networks need to be strategic in their workflows to meet demands with accuracy, competence, and compassion. With labor challenges, budget constraints, and the potential for large surges in demand for care, being able to adapt is more important now than in times past. That's where pharmacy automation technology and pneumatic tube systems come in as they offer a one-two punch in freeing up valuable provider time and hospital resources.

Use Pharmacy Tech to Work Smarter

Pharmacy automation isn’t a far off technology – in fact it’s already in use, and to some degree is an inevitable part of hospital operations. This technology automates many of the tedious manual tasks associated with pharmacy automation like giving out medicine, keeping track of supplies, and filling prescriptions. Additionally, this means less room for mistakes and more time for doctors and nurses to focus on patients.

Why Pharmacy Automation Adds Flexibility to Hospital Workflows:

Medication is filled much faster with greater accuracy: With pharmacy automation robots doing much of the heavy lifting, medicines get to patients quicker, fewer technicians can serve more patients, and medications are filled with fewer errors reducing liability and waste. According to a National Institutes of Health publication, nearly 7,000 Americans are affected by medication dispensing errors.
Reduces staffing challenges: With fewer employees needed for tasks, hospitals can maintain high levels of care and meet a surge of demand even when there aren't enough staff to go around.
More time for patient care: When there is more time in the workflow, healthcare providers and pharmacists can spend more time addressing patients needs. In terms of hospital operations, this allows for more billable time spent with patients – and more importantly, better care.

Tube Systems: Connecting Hospital Workflows

Pneumatic tube systems, though they’ve been in hospitals for many years, allow pharmacy automation to pass efficiencies along to other departments. The tube system, which is a network of tunnels that zip things like medicine, lab samples, and supplies around the hospital much faster than a human courier, are a big help in making sure patients get what they need quickly. If a pharmacy is picking and dispensing medication quickly, it then needs to be transported quickly to reap the efficiency of the pharmacy automation.

Why Pneumatic Tube Systems Help Hospital Workflows Remain Flexible:

Fast transport of medication and supplies: Pneumatic tube systems are much faster than manual transport. In fact, tube systems can transport materials 5 times faster than a human courier.
Better resource allocation: From a single station, different carriers can be sent to different departments at nearly the same time. This drastically reduces the amount of resources needed to transport materials across the health facility.
Better security: Transporting materials through the tube system tracks where things are, making sure nothing gets lost or tampered with.

Preparing Hospitals Ready for Anything

In today's healthcare world, the ability to adapt can save lives. By using pharmacy tech and tube systems together, hospitals can be ready for whatever challenges the future holds. Flexibility isn't just a good business decision – it's an investment in patient care. Our on-demand webinar, Flexibility is Futureproof, explores this very notion backed by real world experience. Register the give it a listen for the a full perspective.