Machines Replacing Pharmacist

[ucrsandstorm]

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Hi everyone,
I was reading in another thread about how the "modern pharmacist" might be replaced by machines. In some hospitals, drug-dispensing machine are used. Computers are now more sophisticated than ever and if the patient?s information is entered into a database, then can't a machine figure out the right dosage, drug history, calculate the risk of drug interactions, dispense the correct drug, give advice, ect.

I was just wondering what Pharmacist thought about this. Is the future Pharmacist at RISK?

 

[BMBiology]

The profession of pharmacy is doom~!

 

[rxqueen]

i'm starting pharmacy school this fall and i don't like the sound of that. 🙁

 

[coodoo]

Now that would suck 👎 😡

 

[dgroulx]

There still has to be a pharmacist to check the fill and make sure it is correct. Our automatic pill counters don't count correctly, chew up some pills, etc. People can load the machines with the wrong drugs, too. There will always be a pharmacist, but pharm techs could get replaced.

 

[Oneday_9]

Hi everyone,
I was reading in another thread about how the "modern pharmacist" might be replaced by machines. In some hospitals, drug-dispensing machine are used. Computers are now more sophisticated than ever and if the patient?s information is entered into a database, then can't a machine figure out the right dosage, drug history, calculate the risk of drug interactions, dispense the correct drug, give advice, ect.

I was just wondering what Pharmacist thought about this. Is the future Pharmacist at RISK?

I wouldn't worry about it, even if the machine counts it out, the pharmacist has to counsel and do other tasks. It will just make the pharmacy easier to navigate.

 

[GravyRPH]

I don't think pharmacy law will ever write pharmacist's out of the equation. Even if technology made the pharmacist completely obsolete, I beleive it will still be mandated that a registered pharmacist will be required to oversee the operation.
I mean, look, we have computers now that can basically do what you're saying. Check interactions, dose medications, etc. The technology is there. But someone still has to utilize that technology, implement it, assure its quality, and be there when things don't work. It may be that one pharmacist will run one operation.
Also, the independent pharmacies have a stake in keeping themselves still present. So there are still forces driving away from human obsoletion.
In the far future, it is feasible that every aspect of human work can be duplicated by super computer robots, but is that really gonna happen? That would result in one heck of an unemployment line. Maybe government will just send us monthly subsidy checks to not work, and we can all lay by the pool instead.

 

[rxforlife2004]

"Pharmacists will be completely replaced by robots" is in fact not feasible for several reasons:

1. If you are a patient, would u feel better if u can seek advice from the pharmacists about your own personal questions, health problems, concerns about the drugs? Rather than just go there, enter the prescription #, name into the machine...Machine cannot interact with human as human-human.

2. What happens if the machine is broken and/or starting to make a mistake? 😱 Who will be responsible for the errors? Blame on who? Mistakes can be minimized by real pharmacists, but not by machines. Once the machine makes a mistake, who guarantees it won't make a series after that???

3. Once a machine is broken (or cannot run) due to technical errors, will patients can wait for days after it is being fixed? I don't think so...

4. Finally, if pharmacists are completely being replaced by machine, then i am sure we won't need doctors, either...

 

[bananaface]

In the hospital setting the Pyxis machines mostly reduce technician duties. I can see electronic prescribing becoming widespread, reducing the need for data entry by pharmacists.

In the retail setting, you need a reasonably high prescription volume to warrant investing in an automatic counting system. The current machines are rather high maintenance. There are many smaller loss-leader pharmacies in grocery stores that will never see this technology.

People who have worked mail-order say the counting machines there are very efficient and really reduce the manual labor. Many more insurance companies are pushing mail order these days. But, patients have difficulty placing orders on time, like going to community pharmacies, and will always have unanticipated prescriptions that require immediate filling at a retail pharmacy.

Is it the pharmacist or the technician duties that are going to automate away most readily?

 

[SynergeticSteve]

I can relate to everyone's anxiety. I remember the first time I saw a Pyxis machine in the hospital I was volunteering at, it freaked me out big time! I had finally decided on pharmacy as a career, and literally the next week we have some engineer/software guy setting up Pyxis machines all over the hospital. Scary.

My thoughts about automation in pharmacy and why I think we'll be doing great:

1. I have observed that Pyxis machines in the hospital setting have allowed the pharmacists i worked with spend more time counseling and less time doing grunt work, and have been a big benefit in patient health.

2. There are so many niches in pharmacy (over 28 in the Pfizer Guide to Careers in Pharmacy) that there will always be opportunities for pharmacists. Jobs like an academic pharmacist, industry/research pharmacist, pediatric pharmacist, public health service pharmacist, and regulatory pharmacist are all positions that I can't see a robot taking over as much as in a retail setting.

3. If automation scares you that much, carve out a more secure niche for yourself. For me, I've realized that even if automation gets as bad as some imagine and somehow the number of pharmacist jobs are reduced, there will always be a need for management of those remaining pharmacists, hence I'll be applying to the PharmD/MBA program at USC.

4. As future pharmacists, you will be DRUG experts. I suspect that some of those billions of dollars earmarked for drug research by the big pharmaceutical companies will be paying quite a few pharmacists salaries in the future as well.

Just my .02