By Healthcare Facilities Today

The design of the hospital pharmacy can play an important role in streamlining patient care, according to an article in the September/October issue of Medical Construction & Design magazine. Good design makes it easier to provide the right prescription efficiently and free the pharmacist to ensure medication instructions are understood.

New hospital pharmacies should be designed to facilitate the digital delivery of medications and accommodate robotic processes and cleanrooms to comply with guidelines established by the United States Pharmacopoeia revised in 2008, the article said. New ways of planning are necessary to integrate the changing work processes in pharmacies.

Among the factors that should be considered in smart pharmacy planning are:

• Robotic dispensing: 

• Total parenteral nutrition compounding

• Repackaging machine

• Bedside scanning

• Automated record keeping

In the future, a greater connection between pharmacists and patients will be needed, according to the article. Outcome-based payments, emphasis on the patient’s continuum of care beyond hospital discharge and the actualization of accountable-care organizations are forcing hospitals to comply with new pharmacy technological and space improvements to improve workflow, reduce medical error and improve care. 

Read the article.