CASE STUDY
www.noritsu-rx.com
INTEGRATING AUTOMATION FROM SCRIPT TO
PATIENT ADMINISTRATION
Because pharmacy workflow impacts every element of a pharmacy, Noritsu began by
conducting a detailed workflow analysis. They examined how pharmacists and staff
spend their time, how quickly facilities get access to their medications, how much space
and staff are required to accomplish each task, the complexity of patient needs, and the
accuracy of medication dispensing and administration.
To maximize Neil Medical’s pharmacy workflow, the Noritsu team suggested site visits
and phone calls with existing Noritsu customers to review essential technology and
implementation options.
The first recommendation was a Xana 4001 strip pouch packager, which would provide
improvements in speed, accuracy, and safety while reducing errors in pharmacy
production. Brickley confirmed his team’s experiences, “strip pouch packaging has
ensured that patients have the correct dosage, making the administration of meds much
easier for staff, and improving medication compliance.”
The second recommendation was an MDM-3 medication detection machine. Verifying
medications can be very tedious, but it’s essential. Medication detection machines
save valuable time by helping to identify pill pouches that must receive extra scrutiny
ultimately ensuring confidence and accuracy in every dispense.
By automating the medication detection into a scan plus review with verification while
automatically adding the cutting and sorting into one system, Neil Medical was able to
improve accuracy at a cost savings versus 100% manual review by PharmD’s and extra
pharm tech labor.
In the end, Neil Medical has implemented the Noritsu solution across four pharmacies
to date, purchasing five Xana 4001 pouch packagers and four MDM-3 medication
detection systems.
POSITIVE OUTCOMES
The results have been quite impressive for Neil Medical. “We are now at an 80 %
conversion rate,” explains Brickley. “With four operating pharmacies, this has been a
remarkably fast conversion, especially considering the two-year process took place
during a global pandemic.”
In addition, Neil Medical has already seen a notable 20 to 25 % improvement in
medication dispensing accuracy. “The strip pouch packaging system has not only
improved our pharmacy efficiency and safety, but the ability to tie into our eMar
[electronic medication administration record] system creates less steps in the
administration process,” explains Brickley.
Brickley indicated that he worked closely with Noritsu to ensure eMar integration for
his facilities. “eMar integration was a key advantage of Noritsu’s NexusRx software,