CASE STUDY
www.swisslog-healthcare.com
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By implementing these Swisslog Healthcare systems, NYP Brooklyn Methodist’s goal
was to streamline pharmacy operations, reduce errors, and improve patient outcomes.
Getting to that point proved to be something of a challenge, however.
Hardware issues impacted accuracy and created a lot of manual work, with staff
having to review rejections and load medications back into the robot. “These issues
really needed to be addressed in person by an experienced Swisslog Healthcare �eld
technician,” explains Fan. “But we were about three months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was dif�cult just to get clearance for people to even travel to us since we were right in
the middle of one of the country’s hotspots at the time.”
After months of collaboration and working through pandemic challenges, the pharmacy
was able to get the help they needed onsite to begin working through obstacles.
Also, weekly meetings were instituted with Swisslog Healthcare service engineers to
continually work on optimizing the robot further. As a result, the pharmacy operation has
achieved the ef�ciency rate they were striving for from the outset.
“We package about 300,000 unit-dose tablets a month using the Swisslog Healthcare
robotic systems,” says Fan. “We’re currently running at about 97% ef�ciency — meaning
only about 3% of tablets are rejected for whatever reason.” The ef�ciency is the same for
the Swisslog Healthcare dispensing functionality, he says, with 97% to 98% accuracy,
which is critical for ensuring the right medications get to the right patients.
THE CHALLENGE: SYNCING DATA ACROSS THREE
PHARMACY SYSTEMS
Once the Swisslog Healthcare system was up and running, Fan says they faced another
challenge — syncing inventory data across multiple systems.
The hospital uses Epic Willow as its overarching pharmacy inventory management
system, the Swisslog Healthcare systems for the central pharmacy, and Omnicell
automated dispensing cabinets on hospital floors. “Drugs come in through Epic,” Fan
begins as he describes the process. “They are then physically loaded into the Swisslog
Healthcare BoxPicker and PillPick systems. From there, medications are distributed to
patient care units — whether as floor stock or in Omnicell cabinets.” The problem they
were having, he says, is that the three systems weren’t talking to one another. “The Epic
system was not getting updated with accurate inventory levels.”
This breakdown in data sharing led to signi�cantly inaccurate counts on the roughly 5,000
drugs the hospital keeps in inventory — leading to issues with over- and under-ordering.
“When inventory counts are off, we can’t order accurately,” says Fan. “We’re also faced with
questions about why we have certain drugs on the shelf we’re not using and why we’re
running out of medications we actually need,” adds Vastey. This is compounded, she says,
when there are industry-wide drug shortages. “We have a central pharmacy, but we have
other locations too. Knowing how much is where — having an accurate count is critical for
everyday decision making on what medications need to be ordered and prioritized.”
While there is a lot of messaging and communication standardization in the industry, like
Health Level 7 (HL7) for streamlining the transfer of clinical
and administrative data between various applications —
there’s nothing for pharmacy inventory systems.
“
One of the things we
liked best about the
Swisslog Healthcare
robot is that it is an
all-in-one system.
It can not only
store and dispense
medications — it can
repackage them.”
We package about
300,000 unit-dose
tablets a month using
the Swisslog Healthcare
robotic system. We’re
currently running at
about 97% efciency.”
Yang Fan
Pharmacy Manager
~ NYP Brooklyn Methodist
Fabienne Vastey
Pharmacy Site Director
~ NYP Brooklyn Methodist