Impact of computerization on dispensing time in an ambulatory-care pharmacy

The effect of computerization on dispensing time in a hospital-affiliated ambulatory-care pharmacy was studied. Personnel time requirements for dispensing medications were measured by hospital systems-development personnel three months before and six months after implementation of computer-assisted dispensing. Times required for completion of all activities associated with dispensing new and refill medications were recorded. A varying number of random samples for each activity were timed on several different days in each dispensing system. The time recorded for each activity reflected time for completion of that activity for all of a patient's prescriptions. Based on mean times for each activity, prescription processing time per patient (average of 1.5 prescriptions) was 7.0 minutes for both new and refill prescriptions using manual dispensing, 6.28 minutes for new prescriptions using computer-assisted dispensing, and 4.61 minutes for refill prescriptions using computer-assisted dispensing. Computerization eliminated 78 minutes of time spent on miscellaneous activities each day and added 58.67 minutes of time for computer-related activities each day. A net time savings of 196.58 minutes was realized for a prescription volume of 176 prescriptions per day. Although implementation of computer-assisted dispensing involved economic costs and procedural changes, it increased the efficiency of this outpatient pharmacy operation.