Fill-to-light external tray from TCGRx

Sep 15 2009

TCGRx (TCG), a leader in pharmacy automation and workflow solutions, announced today that the company is launching the Safe Tray, a fill-to-light external tray, a revolutionary safety product to aide in oral solid pouch packaging with TCG’s Automatic Tablet Packager (ATP-Series).

The Safe Tray uses color-coded lights, medication images and software flags to guide technicians to fill and pharmacists to check exceptions or non-formulary medications that are not located within the ATP device.

“Pharmacists and technicians currently fill non-formulary items using paper reports and a standard tray. Since this process is the area of highest risk with automated packaging technology, TCG saw a need in the market for a reliable product that would reduce errors and costs for pharmacies. This remarkable product saves time spent filling trays and ensures accuracy by barcode verification to improve the overall workflow of the system,” TCGRx CEO, Duane Chudy said.

The product makes filling, staging and checking trays faster, safer and easier. It utilizes a docking station, so that multiple pre-fill trays can be filled and checked accurately without stopping production. Bar-coded trays ensure correct pre-fill trays for each batch are dispensed in the correct sequence. Color-coded lights help identify partial, whole or multiple pills in each compartment of the tray. The Safe Tray requires a barcode scan of the medication bottle to ensure that right medication is being filled while also providing image verification of the medication.

“We have been using the Safe Tray and we are delighted with it. It makes my staff extremely accurate and therefore more efficient. We used to spend a significant amount of time filling a tray, and now the time spent is literally cut in half. Before using the Safe Tray, we used to check the medication information and the tray’s order on paper. Now we can check using the Safe Tray’s software to completely integrate our entire automation process. This is a big upgrade for us,” said Wayne Macardy, President, Phillips Pharmacy in Mauston, Wis.

For optimum productivity, the Safe Tray works in conjunction with the ATP system’s advanced software allowing multi-tasking capabilities. A technician can be filling the Safe Tray without stopping production of a dispensing batch. The Safe Tray system is available in various configurations depending on the production needs of the individual pharmacy.