Line of Business
Canadian company pushing pill dispensing kiosk
From routine banking to mortgages and loans, doctors' appointments to flight reservations, various face-to-face transactions have moved to the automated kiosk. Now, an Ontario-based start-up is introducing what could well be the world's first self-serve, video conferencing prescription drug dispenser.5/7/2008 6:59:00 AM By: Nestor E. Arellano
A Canadian firm says it can help the healthcare industry cut down prescription errors and improve patient-pharmacist contact by installing automated pill dispensing kiosks at doctors' offices, clinics, drugs stores and hospitals.
PharmaTrust, a sleek green and white box similar to an automated teller machine (ATM), can read doctor's prescription scripts, dispense 150 commonly prescribed drugs, collect and manage patient records and set up a remote live video conference with a pharmacist.
The machine, developed by PCA Services Inc., of Oakville, Ont., will soon be tested by the Sunnybrook Health Services Centre in its hospital pharmacy in Toronto.
The kiosk is a complex system which incorporates radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, data encryption, Web-based video communication and robotics, but it's as easy to operate as any run-of-the-mill ATM, according to Don Waugh, co-founder and CEO of PCA Services Inc.
"Basically, patients feed their prescription to the machine, pay via credit card, debit card or cash, and get their bottle of medicine," said Waugh.
A licensed pharmacist located in PCA's call centre is also available to provide live counseling via video conferencing hook-up, he said.
"This is not so much about automating drug dispensing as it is about improving patient-pharmacist contact and reducing prescription errors," Waugh insists.
But the head of Sunnybrook's pharmacy department said the machine is likely to be met with skepticism by some doctors, pharmacists and patients.
"I think I was a little uncomfortable that it might displace pharmacists," said Thomas Paton, director of pharmacy at Sunnybrook.
Sunnybrook is scheduled to try out one of the PharmaTrust units inside the hospital's pharmacy in Toronto.
"If the machine were to be placed at a doctor's office, a clinic or another location, that would cut out the pharmacist from the process."
Paton also said he anticipates some doctors and patients would initially hesitate to use the automated dispenser just as some people were reluctant to do banking on the first ATMs.
However, Paton is willing to try out the PharmaTrust. "It's going to be here whether I like it or not. If it's going to benefit and support pharmacists as an additional tool, I want to try it out."
Page Navigation 1) Getting meds from a kiosk. - page 12) Relieving lineups and serving remote areas. - page 2
3) Prescription errors blamed for emergencies. - page 3
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