New ‘robot’ pharmacist to cut waiting times and improve service

The country’s first "robot" pharmacist has been launched by Dubai Health Authority.
The smart pharmacy at Rashid Hospital will be using the technology to dispense prescribed medication at the click of a button based on barcodes to minimise human error, reported Wam.
The DHA plans to roll out the adoption of the system to all its hospitals.
The robot, which begins operations from Sunday, is the latest in a series of smart technologies adopted by the authority to meet the 2016-2021 strategy, said Humaid Al Qatami, chairman of the board and Director-General of DHA.
The machine, which can store up to 35,000 medicines and dispense around 12 prescriptions in less than a minute, reducing a person’s waiting time.
The dispensing process will be paper-free as the robot stores the prescription as soon as a doctor documents it electronically.
The use of the robot for dispensing medication will allow the pharmacist to focus on giving the customers instructions on taking the medication.
The smart pharmacy was inaugurated in the presence of Dr Ali Al Syed, director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department; Dr. Ahmad Bin Kalban, chief executive of Hospital Services Sector, and Dr Alya Al Mazroui, chief executive of Rashid Hospital.

Source : The National