Effect of an automated dispensing cabinet system on drug distribution effectiveness in a surgical unit

Jaw-Horng Liou; Shuw-Chuan Wang; Yu-Chi Hou; Chih-Ho Yen; Hsiu-Mei Chen; Wen-Shyong Liou; Ming-Fen Wu

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21668

Effect of an automated dispensing cabinet system on drug distribution effectiveness in a surgical unit

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 28;9(11):e21668. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21668. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Jaw-Horng Liou^{1

2}, Shuw-Chuan Wang¹, Yu-Chi Hou², Chih-Ho Yen¹, Hsiu-Mei Chen¹, Wen-Shyong Liou^{1

2}, Ming-Fen Wu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
² School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.

Abstract

The use of the automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) for drug distribution in hospitals has become increasingly common and has numerous benefits. This retrospective study assessed the effectiveness of an ADC that uses integrated information technology in the drug distribution process in a surgical unit as part of a smart medical process improvement project at Taichung Veterans General Hospital in 2019. The outcomes include medicine delivery time, working time of healthcare professionals, transportation manpower, dispensing errors, and satisfaction of nursing staff with the medication distribution process. After ADC implementation, the average waiting time of standing orders decreased significantly for both on and off duty periods (40.0 ± 27.6 to 3.0 ± 3.9 min, P < 0.001; 45.2 ± 25.8 to 2.9 ± 2.9 min, P < 0.001; respectively). Similar results were observed with immediate or temporary medication orders (54.4 ± 31.5 to 2.0 ± 3.0 min, P < 0.001; 64.0 ± 47.5 to 1.5 ± 1.8 min, P < 0.001; respectively). The average time spent by operation room and post-operation room (OR/POR) nurses on communicating with ward nurses for medication delivery to OR/POR was shortened by 46.9 ± 4.4 h per month, and the average time pharmacists spent on dispensing immediate or temporary medication orders was shortened by 5.6 ± 0.2 h per month. The satisfaction of nursing staff with the OR/POR drug delivery process was significantly improved after ADC implementation (3.2 ± 0.8 vs 4.2 ± 0.7, P < 0.001). Our results showed that ADC implementation in surgical units simplified drug delivery processes, shortened drug delivery time, improved drug delivery timeliness for surgical patients, decreased dispensing errors, and increased nursing staff satisfaction. In conclusion, the implementation of ADC was beneficial for surgical units. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no studies on a similar ADC system.

Keywords: Automated dispensing cabinet; Drug delivery processes; Nursing staff satisfaction; Operation room; Patient safety; Post-operation room; Surgical unit.