Swisslog secures first PillPick order in China

Market entry for automated pharmacy solutions in hospitals

Buchs/Aarau, 6 February 2012 – Benxi Central Hospital, one of the leading hospitals in China, will implement the first PillPick system in the country. The fully-automated inpatient pharmacy solution will be integrated with the pneumatic tube system previously installed by Swisslog. The PillPick order strengthens the company’s positioning as a leading provider of total logistics solutions for hospitals in China.

“This project is a milestone for Swisslog Healthcare Solutions in China. The PillPick order from Benxi hospital underlines Swisslog’s strong reputation in China’s hospital market. It also testifies to Benxi’s commitment to invest in cutting-edge automation technology. We look forward to create additional benefits for our client by integrating the pharmacy solution with our pneumatic tube system,” notes Stephan Sonderegger, Head of Swisslog Healthcare Solutions in Asia.

Highest patient safety, efficient transports
Benxi Central Hospital is a 1000-bed facility located in Liaoning province in the northeast of China. It is rated a tier 3A hospital by the Chinese healthcare system, which is the highest classification. The hospital chose Swisslog’s PillPick solution to minimize the risk of medication errors and free up time for pharmacists to focus on the review of therapies rather than preparing medication. To maximize efficiency, the patient-specific medication prepared by the PillPick system is forwarded to the Swisslog Pneumatic Tube System (PTS), which delivers the drugs to the wards. The installation shall be completed by autumn 2012.

PillPick is a pharmacy robot that automates the packaging, storage and dispensing of medications in unit doses. Each bag is identified by the commercial name of the medication, the active ingredient, the production lot and expiry date in order to guarantee maximum safety to patients. Bed-side verification represents another important safety step: the barcode of each medication will be checked with the barcode assigned to the patient, reducing almost to zero the possibility of medication error.

Encompassing automation solutions for medication management
Swisslog will leverage its existing strong sales network for Automated Materials Transport Systems (AMTS) as well as its Customer Support organization across China to promote its portfolio of Automated Drug Management Systems (ADMS). The ADMS product group provides automation solutions for the entire medication management supply chain in hospitals – from dockside to bedside. Besides PillPick, the offering includes other proven products such as e.g. BoxPicker, which enables secure storage and dispensing of medications in the hospital pharmacy.

For more information about Swisslog’s healthcare logistics systems please visit http://www.swisslog.com/healthcare