Bar code technology

[Rouelle]

Is anyone here an expert in this? Virtually everyone uses bar code technology in pharmacy today. But it seems like we are missing a huge opportunity. If manufacturers could include lot numbers and expiration dates into the encoded data we could easily track who has received recalled drugs, what expiration date prints on a label, when our Omnicell/Pyxis drugs expire, etc. Is there something that fundamentally prohibits this technology?

 

[josh6718]

Is anyone here an expert in this? Virtually everyone uses bar code technology in pharmacy today. But it seems like we are missing a huge opportunity. If manufacturers could include lot numbers and expiration dates into the encoded data we could easily track who has received recalled drugs, what expiration date prints on a label, when our Omnicell/Pyxis drugs expire, etc. Is there something that fundamentally prohibits this technology?

This idea would work assuming you are only using a single manufacturer stock bottle when dispensing to a patient. However, once you start using multiple stock bottles and 'mixing' the tablets from different bottles to dispense to a patient, this would become nearly impossible to keep track of (without generating a huge amount of waste/loss if you had to salvage the entire amount each time). Essentially, this only increases costs to a pharmacy, so I would not see any incentive for them to do this.

 

[lord999]

Is anyone here an expert in this? Virtually everyone uses bar code technology in pharmacy today. But it seems like we are missing a huge opportunity. If manufacturers could include lot numbers and expiration dates into the encoded data we could easily track who has received recalled drugs, what expiration date prints on a label, when our Omnicell/Pyxis drugs expire, etc. Is there something that fundamentally prohibits this technology?

Nothing besides the above (although repackaging costs can be defrayed by safety as well, so goes the argument). It's a cost and workflow matter, not a tech one, and there aren't enough dead bodies or fake drugs to justify it. It also has a lot to do with whether you buy from shortage wholesalers (or McKesson, those greedy bastards) to the extent that you are at risk.

And yes, while I think it is quite doable for a pharmacist/Rx Tech to scan in multiple bottles for a patient dispense, the likelihood that it'd be cost positive for the chain is virtually nil from the dispense cost business model.

 

[panasoniku]

This is already in progress.
Drug Supply Chain Security Act:
lot number | FDA Voice
Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA)

Manufacturers are allowed a phased in approach to adding the lot number and expiration to the bar code. In Europe, this is already the standard.