Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A New Threat to Pharmacists

Britain will soon begin testing an automatic pill dispenser to be available in hospitals. However, the eventual goal is to have dispensing machines available for use by patients.

This is a dangerous and slippery slope for pharmacists. You cannot allow the profession to be seen as simply pill counters who can be replaced by machines. The video link used by the machine will connect patients with pharmacists overseas who will do your job for far less.

The machines would be able to dispense drugs at any time of the day or night. They come in two models, the paper reported, one holding 330 packs of medicine and the other 2,000.

Users insert their prescription into the machine and pick up a telephone to access a live video link to a registered pharmacist.

The pharmacist will check the prescription and ensure those who have to pay have done so before allowing the machine to dispense the drugs.