New filling system from Omnicell to reduce operating hours and costs for pharmacies

At the forefront of technological advancement, Omnicell UK & Ireland, has launched a new automated pharmacy packaging and filling solution which will help community pharmacy to drive efficiencies in the face of major funding cuts. The Omnicell VBM 200F will help to reinforce the company’s reputation as a world-leading provider of automated healthcare solutions and medication adherence packaging.

It is the only automated pharmacy solution that accurately fills and checks SureMed by Omnicell multi-medication adherence packs and is able to process up to 40 sealed and audited cards per hour. This allows pharmacy to free up staff time, reduce operating hours and reduce costs so they can assemble more packs with less resource.

Omnicell continues to push boundaries by introducing a new filling machine which uses unparalleled vision-checking technology to identify and validate medication being packed based on size, shape, colour and imprint, significantly reducing the risk of human error and improving patient safety. The drug and dose information is printed onto a coloured consolidated label on the inside cover of each card, which includes drug images. The system improves accuracy and reduces checking time with the ability to track and trace each medication packed.

The automated filling system uses smart medication trays which are equipped with barcoding and RFID technology that makes sure each pack is audited throughout the entire packing process. While one pack is being filled by the system, a second pack is staged ready to be filled, improving efficiency, reducing operating expenses and freeing up staff time.

The Omnicell VBM 200F stores 200 different medications on the machine and the cassettes can be exchanged on the system while it is running. Each drug specific cassette contains RFID chips to make it easy for identification.

Additional medication which is not stored in the cassettes can still be staged in the machine to be filled manually at the same time as cassette medication, ensuring all medicine is checked via the vision system before being placed in the pack. Guided light manual fill trays use on screen and guided filling technology to direct the operator to the correct drug and correct location within the manual fill station, further reducing the risk of human error within pharmacies.

The system has an ergonomic design that fits into standard spaces making them easily accessible for cleaning and maintenance and has an easy to use interface. On top of this, Omnicell provide 24/7 service and technical support to make sure pharmacies get the most out of the system.

Paul O’Hanlon, Managing Director of Omnicell UK & Ireland, comments: “We’re delighted to launch our new filling machine which will help pharmacies automate their filling systems. Here at Omnicell, we are continually pushing the boundaries of innovation through automated healthcare solutions. This automated pharmacy solution ensures pharmacies have the competitive advantage to easily scale their business and improve adherence and patient outcomes.”

It also fully supports the emerging hub and spoke models in the UK. We are committed to constantly developing our systems to ensure customers are always at the forefront of stock management and medication adherence.”

Paul O’Hanlon, Managing Director of Omnicell UK & Ireland