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Optimizing the Medication Distribution Process for Inpatient Units

  • Implementation Science & Operations Management
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Abstract

Pharmacy robots and automated dispensing cabinets are commonly used to distribute medications to inpatient units efficiently and safely. Decisions regarding the use of these technologies are often made without full knowledge regarding system effects. This paper determines a cost effective and safe way to distribute medications to patients across a hospital system by minimizing the distribution cost and missing dose rate. A mathematical model is formulated which captures key aspects of the pharmacy distribution process to determine a primary pathway to distribute each medication and dose type to each unit. The model focuses on three primary distribution pathways: cart fill via pharmacy robot, cart fill via pharmacy technician, and automated dispensing cabinets. The problem is solved using a complete year of data from the Geisinger Medical Center. The model results demonstrate the trade-off between pharmacy technician and nurse workload and missing dose rates that occur as hospitals move from a centralized pharmacy to automated dispensing cabinets. These results demonstrate the importance of evaluating the labor effort and missing dose rates when determining the best method to distribute medication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, USA Naval Academy, Chauvenet Hall, 572C Holloway Road, Annapolis, MD, 21402-5002, USA

    Anna Camille Svirsko

  2. Department of Industrial, Systems, and Manufacturing Engineering, Texas Tech University, Box 43061, Lubbock, TX, 79409-3061, USA

    Bryan A. Norman

  3. AVP, Clinical Informatics, Geisinger, 100 N. Academy Ave, Danville, PA, 17822-2550, USA

    Seth Hostetler & Dean Parry B. Pharm

Authors
  1. Anna Camille Svirsko
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  2. Bryan A. Norman
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  3. Seth Hostetler
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  4. Dean Parry B. Pharm
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Correspondence to Anna Camille Svirsko.

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Svirsko, A.C., Norman, B.A., Hostetler, S. et al. Optimizing the Medication Distribution Process for Inpatient Units. J Med Syst 46, 32 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-022-01822-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-022-01822-2

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