“We selected the PharmASSIST technology based on a number of factors. The system’s small physical footprint was a huge selling point, and the flexibility of the counting technology – especially the ease of assigning and reassigning dispensers to different drugs using simply barcode scanning for the drug changeovers,” says Laura Passiak, a project coordinator for the PharmASSIST implementations at Saint Joseph Mercy. “Most importantly, Innovation’s entire staff from sales to implementation staff to the end-user trainer were the utmost professionals, attentive to our needs, and extremely flexible.”

Rx Volume:
Saint Joseph Mercy’s four pharmacies process over 12,000 prescriptions monthly.

Solution:
Saint Joseph Mercy’s pharmacies will have various PharmASSIST configurations with systems ranging from stand-alone Symphony software applications to systems with one PharmASSIST cabinet (counting technology with 50 dispensers) and multiple workstations for their various workflow tasks. The PharmASSIST system is fully integrated with their pharmacy management system, Pharmacy Rx by NDC Health, ensuring real-time prescription order flow for all Rx fulfillment tasks.

Benefits:
Glenn Monroy, service delivery leader of the ambulatory pharmacy department, notes that St. Joseph's error rate was extremely low before it implemented their new PharmASSIST Symphony systems. With PharmASSIST, St. Joe’s outpatient pharmacies have cut there error rates in half in a just six months.

"The error opportunity is greatly reduced," said Laura Passiak, project manager of pharmacy automation. "That's extra piece of mind with all these safeguards." She continues, "We knew that we needed this technology in order to maintain the highest level of accuracy available as well as its ability to improve our workflow in the pharmacy. In addition, it allowed us to better manage our staffing and increase the ratio of technicians to pharmacists."

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