Thailand unveils latest auto medicine dispenser
THE SUNDAY NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE dispensing of medicines will become faster and more effective thanks to B-Hive1 - Thailand's first locally developed automatic medicine dispenser, which is ready for commercial use and costs half as much as similar imported machines, Dr Thichakorn Wongphiromsarn said.

He is the project manager for the Thailand Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS).

Declining to reveal the names of the hospitals that are in the process of purchasing the machine, Thichakorn said it would generally cost Bt15 million, based on its functions. He added that hospitals should start using the machine by late this year or early next year.

B-Hive1 - which was created under collaboration with the Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), the TCELS and Supreme Hitera Co Ltd - was recently unveiled by Science and Technology Minister Phichet Durongkaveroj.

The machine was created under the "Talent Mobility" project, which allows Thai researchers to get hands-on experience at real workplaces.

Thichakorn said the machine can take as many as 150 prescriptions per hour from doctors directly and dispense medication accordingly.

The machine can also be linked to a checking and label-printing system, and can monitor the stock to allow for better management of medical supplies, he explained. The filled prescriptions will then be passed on via a belt system, so pharmacists can check the accuracy and interact directly with patients.

He added that this would help ease the workload of pharmacists, and help with the current shortage of pharmacists at many hospitals.

Thichakorn said the idea was inspired by Supreme Hitera Co's demand for a suitable medicine dispenser for hospitals Thailand, where drugs are packaged in different ways. Most general dispensers in the market cannot properly cater to the local demand and are not fast enough to support the large number of patients at hospitals, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-unveils-latest-auto-medicine-dispenser-30268682.html

-- The Nation 2015-09-13

The drug dealers will love these. Just stick one in the nearest 7/11 and let the addicts choose their preferred means of getting high. Come back every few days, restock the yaba, collect the cash.

I get a negative mental reaction to anything medicine-related that has HIV in it's name.

Just saying.

"Thailand's first locally developed automatic medicine dispenser, which is ready for commercial use and costs half as much as similar imported machines, Dr Thichakorn Wongphiromsarn said."

That means they will only work for about a week, if that.

"He added that this would help ease the workload of pharmacists,".

A work efficiency drive, get them off their butts, and get off their mobile phones might also help.

And it it reduces costs will the rip off prices of medications bought at hospitals come down?

Why do they need those machines? And if made in Thailand they are broken soon.

15 million for a vending machine? Come one man. And what if they fill the medicines wrongly? Then the wrong one will come out......every time again.

I wouldn't use them.

Actually such units are not new to Thailand - this unit has been in use for the last 3 years at Vejthani Hospital.

I think the public hospital's I have visited have very efficient pharmacies. My wife always gets her meds within an hour of speaking to the doctor....after waiting for 3 hours to see the doctor. Not quite as good as Australian public hospital outpatients but still OK.

Why do they need those machines? And if made in Thailand they are broken soon.

15 million for a vending machine? Come one man. And what if they fill the medicines wrongly? Then the wrong one will come out......every time again.

I wouldn't use them.

Unless you are managing or operating a hospital pharmacy, whether or not you would use one is of no concern.

The machines in use in the Americas and Europe have been shown to significantly reduce dispensing errors, to reduce cost, to reduce inventory shrinkage (.e. theft) and to provide accurate up to date dispensing activity data. I don't know if you are aware, but pharmacists regularly mix up drugs and injure or kill patients. With the use of these machines, errors have fallen significantly. There is less likelihood of a dispensing error from a machine than there is from a human. Pharmacists are better used going from repetitive manual dispensing, to verifying & reviewing prescriptions. In plain language, the machines allow the pharmacists to use their education and skills instead of packing pills into bottles or envelopes

More importantly, large hospitals typically must fill hundreds of prescriptions on a daily basis, with requests often coming at hours when there are no pharmacists working. It is a rather hectic period in the morning as orders are prepared in the typical large hospital. There is a shortage of pharmacists and many hospitals cannot properly care for their patients.

The automated dispensers are intended to service the most common of prescriptions that are subject to a frequency.The drugs dispensed are generics. Some of the most common drugs are for statins, blood thinners, antibiotics,metformin, aspirin and acetaminophen and blood pressure.

Typically, the generic drug manufacturers pay for the machines, on the proviso that the pharmacies purchase a certain % of drugs from the generic manufacturer. This acts to guarantee business for the manufacturer, but lowers the dispensing cost to the hospital.

Where this scheme should be questioned is in regard to whether or not the Thai approach is dishonest and steals intellectual property. If Thailand has ripped off the companies who manufactured the devices, it is nothing to be proud of.

The money would be better invested raising the competence and skill of Thai people. For as long as they need a calculator to take away 3 from 7, Thais will only be able to undertake simple tasks if ithe tasks are foolproof.

Thus this also mean that everyone get charged the RIGHT price,,,,,As now every time one get meds they are a different price(always cost more) than the Locals ,,very seldom the same price,,

"Thailand's first locally developed automatic medicine dispenser, which is ready for commercial use and costs half as much as similar imported machines, Dr Thichakorn Wongphiromsarn said."

That means they will only work for about a week, if that.

If Thailand didn't have such high import taxes on many items, imported machinery/devices would probably cost less than a Thai made machine. A large portion of Thailand's tax revenue is based on import and excise taxes since the majority of the population does not pay any personal income tax (or even report their income)...and many small businesses (if even registered as a business) under-report or don't report their taxable income. Gotta make up for that tax loss some how....import and excise taxes do just that.

Why do they need those machines? And if made in Thailand they are broken soon.

15 million for a vending machine? Come one man. And what if they fill the medicines wrongly? Then the wrong one will come out......every time again.

I wouldn't use them.

Unless you are managing or operating a hospital pharmacy, whether or not you would use one is of no concern.

The machines in use in the Americas and Europe have been shown to significantly reduce dispensing errors, to reduce cost, to reduce inventory shrinkage (.e. theft) and to provide accurate up to date dispensing activity data. I don't know if you are aware, but pharmacists regularly mix up drugs and injure or kill patients. With the use of these machines, errors have fallen significantly. There is less likelihood of a dispensing error from a machine than there is from a human. Pharmacists are better used going from repetitive manual dispensing, to verifying & reviewing prescriptions. In plain language, the machines allow the pharmacists to use their education and skills instead of packing pills into bottles or envelopes

More importantly, large hospitals typically must fill hundreds of prescriptions on a daily basis, with requests often coming at hours when there are no pharmacists working. It is a rather hectic period in the morning as orders are prepared in the typical large hospital. There is a shortage of pharmacists and many hospitals cannot properly care for their patients.

The automated dispensers are intended to service the most common of prescriptions that are subject to a frequency.The drugs dispensed are generics. Some of the most common drugs are for statins, blood thinners, antibiotics,metformin, aspirin and acetaminophen and blood pressure.

Typically, the generic drug manufacturers pay for the machines, on the proviso that the pharmacies purchase a certain % of drugs from the generic manufacturer. This acts to guarantee business for the manufacturer, but lowers the dispensing cost to the hospital.

Where this scheme should be questioned is in regard to whether or not the Thai approach is dishonest and steals intellectual property. If Thailand has ripped off the companies who manufactured the devices, it is nothing to be proud of.

You are right. Thank you for your quote. I know similar machine from my time in Europe. Unfortunately not the pharmacists kill people but the wrong diagnose and following medication by the prescribing doctors.

Why wouldnt you want to control the issue of medicines? Sounds like the stupidist idea I have heard for a long time

The Thais are getting the be the same as Americans and Arabs in that they love tablets even if they have nothing wrong with them. They are addicted

"He added that this would help ease the workload of pharmacists,".

A work efficiency drive, get them off their butts, and get off their mobile phones might also help.

And it it reduces costs will the rip off prices of medications bought at hospitals come down?

...........and how does a pharmacist get a workload?

They put pills in bottles.

Ain't like they are working on the Great Wall Of China.

Doctor writes it down, then pharmacists makes a big deal out of it.

"Come back in two hours".......That's in the USA.

I can fill a 55 gallon drum with dirt in less than 2 hours.

...never heard that THAT was the problem in the hospitals...

...I thought that 'dispensing medical care' to the tens of millions of people was....especially those that are destitute....

...I do see though, that, now 1) pharmacists will be 'off the hook' for any errors 2) wonder what they will be doing all day...

..if it is computerized and has patient data banks...all they need is for someone to type up the patient's name...and update the patient files..

...I know...early retirement with a healthy payoff...

..wonder what percent of the population is actually 'early retired' presently....

.....it would explain traffic jams at all times of the day and night...

The drug dealers will love these. Just stick one in the nearest 7/11 and let the addicts choose their preferred means of getting high. Come back every few days, restock the yaba, collect the cash.

Should work ok for about 6 months to a year. Maintainence is not a word well know here and all things mechanical are in need of it.

Why do they need those machines? And if made in Thailand they are broken soon.

15 million for a vending machine? Come one man. And what if they fill the medicines wrongly? Then the wrong one will come out......every time again.

I wouldn't use them.

Unless you are managing or operating a hospital pharmacy, whether or not you would use one is of no concern.

Why throw a wet blanket over a good round of Thai bashing? Backed with facts, no less. Not fair!

Why do they need those machines? And if made in Thailand they are broken soon.

15 million for a vending machine? Come one man. And what if they fill the medicines wrongly? Then the wrong one will come out......every time again.

I wouldn't use them.

Read the whole story..

"The filled prescriptions will then be passed on via a belt system, so pharmacists can check the accuracy and interact directly with patients".

How does a machine read the customers script to check that are receiving/buying the correct drugs?

The machine dispenses the pills and applies a printed label - normally this is also connected to software that will check for cross reactions and making the doctors input directly linked to machine. The pharmacist then gets the bottles and provides to customers with personal review of how to take each one. It removes the finding right medication/counting out/packaging function to provide much greater reliability - it is double checked by the dispensing pharmacist when provided to customer and they also make final check for any cross reactions or allergy to medications.

Script is not used in Thailand in a hospital setting - doctor is directly linked to pharmacy.

The money would be better invested raising the competence and skill of Thai people. For as long as they need a calculator to take away 3 from 7, Thais will only be able to undertake simple tasks if ithe tasks are foolproof.

I wouldn't be so critical of the use of calculators by Thai's unless you're fully conversant. Often it's a foolproof way of telling the farang what the cost is.

In most cases they're not stupid enough to go to a country where they can't even communicate costs.

+ 15 million per year for maintenance