IDEA: distribution system for medication in hospitals

Hi,
  having spend more than my fair share of time visiting or being in hospitals I got to know the routine of staff quite well. And a big responsibility that has to be performed with 100% accuracy is the distribution of medication. However, in cases with more than just one medication per patient more often than we would like to see things go wrong: medication is distributed on time, renewal are not requested, running out of stock on the ward outside pharmacy hours or simple human error. And I have seen them all happening.

  Hence the question is why the process of medication distribution is done by hand, from blister pack with paper documentation handwritten on wards that are understaffed and full with demanding and uncooperative patients.  There are already  studies [1] of the accuracy and timeliness of medication dispensing on wards showing error rates of somewhere in the range of 5% - 10% error. On wards with distribution system the error rate appears to be around 2% (with mostly omission errors). And given the costs of compensation and the frequency of occurrence it looks like some automation may just pay for itself.

  One wonders where the low tech mobile dispenser are that can be taken from ward to ward in order for the medication to be dispensed quickly and efficiently for patient and staff. In the right setup the medication dispense time can be reduced or the number of dispense routes increased.  Additional administration guidance checks can give the doctor and care staff immediate information about the dispense procedure, after care and monitoring allowing the medical staff to reduce the paper work and to reduce the time spend on detailing prescription. Together with a wristband reader this should give great accuracy and leave the staff to deal with patients and not blister packs.