• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

wow, we dont need pharm dispensers anymore?

M

mizzou

Diamond Member
My SO just got her meds from a machine dispenser, "insty meds", literally something straight looking out of fallout. No dealing with a pharmacist at all.

What is the impact these machines have on careers in the pharm field? First one ive actually seen.
 
Engineering jobs up, pharmacists jobs down.

Good. They can go do something useful like be a surgeon or a family physician.
 
more likely it is just a machine that counts pills and package them. Pharmacist still controls the processing of the prescription.
 
mizzou said:
My SO just got her meds from a machine dispenser, "insty meds", literally something straight looking out of fallout. No dealing with a pharmacist at all.

What is the impact these machines have on careers in the pharm field? First one ive actually seen.
Click to expand...
interesting... yes, might have impact on the profession.
 
Sounds like a good idea to me. Takes some of the human error out of things. Although I guess whoever is stocking the thing might fuck up and put things in the wrong place.
 
I use a pharmacist for recommendations on things not worth going to the doctor for. I doubt a machine will be able to replace that.
 
So does the machine actually call the doc back and ask him why he prescribed a particular drug or make an alternate sugesstion based on history or other active drug prescriptions? Or is it just a consumer based pixys machine
 
I don't think pharmacists will be replaced anytime soon. They still have to watch out for drug interactions etc. Which I doubt a machine will be able to replace.
 
Praxis1452 said:
I don't think pharmacists will be replaced anytime soon. They still have to watch out for drug interactions etc. Which I doubt a machine will be able to replace.
Click to expand...

Why not? You could write software pretty easily to discover drug mismatches and interactions. It would probably be better than having a person do it where you depend on their memory.

You could just have a giant database of all known drug interactions and issues that the software could interact with based on the patients prescription and medical history.
 
bignateyk said:
Why not? You could write software pretty easily to discover drug mismatches and interactions. It would probably be better than having a person do it where you depend on their memory.

You could just have a giant database of all known drug interactions and issues that the software could interact with based on the patients prescription and medical history.
Click to expand...

I can see computer doing searches, but having the computer counter the prescribing doc would be a big stretch.
 
sdifox said:
I can see computer doing searches, but having the computer counter the prescribing doc would be a big stretch.
Click to expand...

So each chain of pharmacies can have these machines networked. They throw up a red flag if the machine thinks that a different prescription is needed, and they put in a call to a call center where you have a couple trained pharmacists standing by to make the evaluation.

That would eliminate the need for all the assistants on the pharmacy, and probably reduce the overall number of pharmacists a store would have to hire since one pharmacist could handle the load from multiple stores.
 
bignateyk said:
Why not? You could write software pretty easily to discover drug mismatches and interactions. It would probably be better than having a person do it where you depend on their memory.

You could just have a giant database of all known drug interactions and issues that the software could interact with based on the patients prescription and medical history.
Click to expand...
You guys are talking as if this is theoretical. I can tell you for fact that at least one of the largest pharmacies already does this and has been doing it for quite some time. It isn't difficult.
 
Anecdote: Well, my father-in-law is a pharmacist. Part of his success is built on the relationships he has with people in the community (customers, doctors). People trust him, etc.

I think this could replace all the techs in the back and serve as a backup to screen for interactions and what not, not so sure about completely eliminating a human, for now anyway.
 
I will use them for the exact same reason I use self checkout at the grocery store. I'm tired of being behind some jerkoff that thinks they know better then the doctor, and force the pharmacist to call up the doctor and verify the directions on their stupid pill bottle.

Let me get my stuff and get out.
 
OutHouse said:
I will not use them, for the same reason I wont use self checkouts at the grocery store
Click to expand...

Which is...? I think those things are great.

Anyway, automatic dispensers won't be replacing pharms and techs who spend a lot of time on the phone with both doctors offices and insurance companies. Nor will it be suitable for filling non-pill requests, like needles, vials, inhalers, etc...

I'm guessing it only dispenses the few most commonly prescribed meds anyway, and almost certainly won't dispense any controlled substances. I'd even think they'd have to address cross-contamination due to differing med allergies among people. So maybe dedicated tubes for each med...

edit:
Just went and watched videos on the website. It doesn't really address a Walgreens-type pharmacy because it's limited to some particular commonly prescribed meds, in particular quantity and strength. Also, the Rx request has to be in its system already. So an ER, or maybe a setup like Kaiser, would benefit as shown in the videos. But that's ultimately a pretty limited scenario.
 
Last edited:
Now if they can just make a machine that can figure out why my doc prescribed a med that my insurance won't pay for, and then get the doc to prescribe something that the insurance WILL pay for, and figure out the exact dosage that insurance approves, and get the doc to prescribe that dosage even though the doc feels that a different dosage would be better, and get that doc to realize that two 5 caps of ramipril are equal to one 10 mg cap, and then get the insurance company to approve of 60 5 mg caps even though the are only 30 days in the month (wait, aren't there 31 days in March?!) and they only want to approve 30 of them -

THEN they can replace the pharmacy techs. Mind you, I feel sorry for pharmacy techs dealing with that.
 
princess ida said:
Now if they can just make a machine that can figure out why my doc prescribed a med that my insurance won't pay for, and then get the doc to prescribe something that the insurance WILL pay for, and figure out the exact dosage that insurance approves, and get the doc to prescribe that dosage even though the doc feels that a different dosage would be better, and get that doc to realize that two 5 caps of ramipril are equal to one 10 mg cap, and then get the insurance company to approve of 60 5 mg caps even though the are only 30 days in the month (wait, aren't there 31 days in March?!) and they only want to approve 30 of them -

THEN they can replace the pharmacy techs. Mind you, I feel sorry for pharmacy techs dealing with that.
Click to expand...

In all fairness, your doctor can't be expected to know what is and isn't covered by your insurance.

Insurance formularies were created by the devil.
 
Spoooon said:
Anecdote: Well, my father-in-law is a pharmacist. Part of his success is built on the relationships he has with people in the community (customers, doctors). People trust him, etc.

I think this could replace all the techs in the back and serve as a backup to screen for interactions and what not, not so sure about completely eliminating a human, for now anyway.
Click to expand...

It's just instead of 3 technicians, you have 1 technician restocking it, 1 engineer, and one guy running on a wheel connected to a generator...figuratively

It's kind of meh economy wise. It's good for refills of common medications but thats about it. The Pharmacists will always be the one putting the script in and talking to the doctor so I don't even...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top