Pharmacy Automation and Management System is a management system that is designed to improve accuracy and to enhance safety and efficiency in the pharmaceutical store. It is a computer based system which helps the Pharmacist to improve inventory management, cost, medical safety etc. The system allows the user to enter a manufacturing and expiry date for a particular product or drug during opening stock and sales transaction. The system will also give report showing the list of products expiry after a specified date before the product eventually expires.
It also involves manual entry upon arrival of new batches of drugs and upon drug movement out of the pharmacy for a certain period, e. g. every month, the pharmacist may want to generate report for the movement of drugs in and out of the pharmacy, getting information about the drugs e. g. expiry date, date purchased, number of drug type left, location of a drug in the pharmacy. At present, manual system is being utilized in the pharmacy. It requires the pharmacist to manually monitor each drug that is available in the pharmacy.
This usually leads to mistakes as the workload of the pharmacist increases. PROJECT CONTEXT The proposed system is designed to help the rigorous activities carried out in the pharmacy much easier by providing the statistics of drugs in stock, monitoring, and ensuring effective policy. The new system will be designed to provide the following benefits in the interest of the pharmacy;
• The system will enhance management services and improve productivity. • The system will reduce erroneous inventory transactions • The system will improve the information quality and accessibility STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Pharmacy Automation and Management System has kept paper record in filing cabinets.
Managing a very large pharmacy with records on papers will be tedious and difficult to keep track of inventories with regards to the drugs in the store, expiry date, quantity of drugs available based on the categories and their functions.
The pharmacist has to order drugs to replenish the already diminishing stock. In addition, ordering of drugs is being carried out manually. Significant amount of time is allocated for writing the order as the pharmacist needs to go through the stock balance and make rough estimate of the amount to order based on Figures. Drugs are not supposed to be used after they have expired.
This project work will prompt the pharmacist about drugs that are close to expiry, preventing those drugs from being sold and also providing solution to the earlier stated problems. PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT This project is insight into the design and implementation of a Pharmacy Automation and Management System. The primary aim of is to improve accuracy and enhance safety and efficiency in the pharmaceutical store. Today management is one of the most essential features of all form. Management provides sophistication to perform any kind of task in a particular form.
This Pharmacy Automation and Management System; it is used to manage most pharmacy related activities in the pharmacy. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT The aim of this project is to develop software for the effective management of a pharmaceutical store that will be able to achieve the following objectives: -Ensuring effective policing by providing statistics of the drugs in stock. -Maintaining correct database by providing an option to update the drugs in stock. -Improving the efficiency of the system by ensuring effective monitoring of services and activities.
– To provide optimal drug inventory management by monitoring thedrug mo vement in the pharmacy. -To ensure that there exists a level of restricted access based on functionality and role. -To ensure that the system is user friendly. -To be able to generate report within a specified period of time. SCOPE AND LIMITATION The scope of this project is limited to the activities of a pharmaceutical store which includes will improving health outcomes, enhance access and care in the Estate and surrounding communities and ensuring best use of resources, the use of a computer based management system for improving the efficiency of a pharmacy is needed and it is an essential part of any modern continuously evolving society.
The system will not be able to handle drug prescription, drug to drug interaction. The system will not be able to handle contraindication and polypharmacy in a prescription; this implies that these services will be manually completed by the pharmacist CHAPTER-2 Review Of Related Literature PHARMACY PRACTICE IN THE PAST This gives an overview of events that have occurred in pharmacy practice through several ages both in the past and present, and also indicates possible events of the future. The History of Pharmacy.
As long as there have been societies, there have been specialists and physicians whose sole purpose was to prepare and administer medicinal treatments. The earliest healers engaged in what is now called Pharmacognosy, which is the study and application of plants and herbs for healing. Evidence that early man used pharmacognosy to treat illness is indisputable, with archaeological discoveries attesting to the fact pre-dating even the development of farming or animal husbandry. The beginnings of pharmacy are ancient. When the first person expressed juice from a succulent leaf to apply to a wound, this art was being practiced.
In the Greek legend, Asclepius, the god of the healing art, delegated to Hygeia the duty of compounding his remedies. She was his apothecary or pharmacist. The physician-priests of Egypt were divided into two classes: those who visited the sick and those who remained in the temple and prepared remedies for the patients (Homan, 2008). The pharmacy profession can be traced back at least as far as the Sumerian population, living in modern day Iraq from around 4000 BC, they used medicinal plants such as liquorice, mustard, myrrh, and opium.
There were separate people who worked to prepare medicines, as a separate role from diagnosis and treatment which was carried out by medics. These precursors to pharmacists also combined their role with that of a priest. The Sumerians wrote the earliest surviving prescriptions from at least 2700 B. C. – so nearly 5000 years ago (Griggs, 1999). The Ancient Egyptians had specific preparers of medicine, known as Pastophor. Pharmacy was viewed as a high status branch of medicine, and again, like the Sumerians, these pharmacists were also priests who worked and practised in the temples (Anderson, 2005).
From surviving papyrus scrolls, notably the Ebers Papyrus which dates from 1500 BC, we know that the Egyptians made and used infusions, ointments, lozenges, suppositories, lotions, enemas, and pills. The Ebers Papyrus includes 875 prescriptions and 700 drugs. Meanwhile, in China in about the same era (2000 BC), a man called ShenNung wrote the first native herbal, which contained descriptions of 365 plant-based drugs (Anderson, 2005).
Stalls and shops selling medicinal goods existed around 1900 B. C. in the town of Sippara on the Euphrates River. However, the earliest recorded shop dealing with sales of medicines in London was opened in 1345. In ancient Greece and Rome and during the middle Ages in Europe, the art of healing recognized a separation between the duties of the physician and those of the herbalist, who supplied the physician with the raw materials from which to make medicines.
The Arabian influence in Europe during the 8th century had however brought about the practice of separate duties for the pharmacist and physician. The trend toward specialization was later reinforced by a law enacted by the city council of Bruges in 1683, forbidding physicians to prepare medications for their patients. In America, Benjamin Franklin took a pivotal step in keeping the two professions separate when he appointed an apothecary to the Pennsylvania Hospital. The development of the pharmaceutical industry since World War II led to the discovery and use of new and effective drug substances. It also changed the role of the pharmacist.
The scope for extemporaneous compounding of medicines was much diminished and with it the need for the manipulative skills that were previously applied by the pharmacist to the preparation of pills, plasters, and potions (Rosenberg, 2008). The pharmacist continues, however, to fulfil the prescriber’s intentions by providing advice and information; by formulating, storing, and providing correct dosage forms; and by assuring the efficacy and quality of the dispensed or supplied medicinal product. Origin and Development of Pharmacy Before the dawn of history, ancient man learned from instinct, from observation of birds and beasts.
Cool water, a leaf, dirt, or mud was his first soothing application. By trial, he learned which served him best. Eventually, he applied his knowledge for the benefit of others (Mathews, 1962). Pharmacy in ancient Babylonia: Babylon, jewel of ancient Mesopotamia, often called the cradle of civilization. It provides the earliest known practice of the art of the apothecary.
Practitioners of healing of this era (about 2600 B. C. ) were priest, pharmacist and physician, all in one. Pharmacy in ancient China: Chinese Pharmacy stems from ShenNung (about 2000 B. C. ), an emperor who sought out and investigated the medicinal value of several hundred herbs. Medicinal plants include podophyllum, rhubarb, ginseng, stramonium, cinnamon bark, ephedra etc. Days of the Papyrus Ebers: “Papyrus Ebers” (1500 B. C. ) is the best known and most important pharmaceutical record. It is a collection of 800 prescriptions mentioning 700 drugs. Theophrastus – Father of Botany:
Theophrastus (about 300 B. C.), was the greatest early Greek philosophers and natural scientists, is called the “father of botany. ” His observations and writings dealing with the medical qualities and peculiarities of herbs are unusually accurate, even in the light of present knowledge. Terra Sigillata – An Early “Trademarked” Drug: Man learned early of the prestigious advantage of trademarks as a means of identification of source and of gaining customers’ confidence.
One of the first therapeutic agents to bear such a mark was Terra Sigillata (Sealed Earth), a clay tablet originating on the Mediterranean island of Lemnos before 500 B. C. (George A.Bender, 1967) Dioscorides – A Scientist Looks At Drugs:PedaniosDioscorides (first century A. D. ), contributed mightily to such a transition in Pharmacy. He observed, recorded and spread the excellent rules for collection of drugs, their storage and use.
His texts were considered basic science as late as the sixteenth century. Galen – Experimenter In Drug Compounding: He practiced and taught both Pharmacy and Medicine in Rome. His principles of preparing and compounding medicines ruled in the Western world for 1,500 years; and his name still is associated with that class of pharmaceuticals compounded by mechanical means – galenicals.
He was the originator of the formula for a cold cream. Damian AndCosmas – Pharmacy’s Patron Saints: twin ship of the health professions, Pharmacy and Medicine, is portrayed by Damian, the apothecary, and Cosmas, the physician. Monastic Pharmacy: During the middle ages remnants of the western knowledge of pharmacy and medicine were preserved in the monasteries (fifth to twelfth centuries). Manuscripts from many islands were translated or copied for monastery libraries. The monks gathered herbs and raised them in their own herb gardens. These they prepared according to the art of the apothecary for the benefit of the sick and injured.
Gardens such as these still may be found in monasteries in many countries. The First Apothecary Shops: The Arabs separated the arts of apothecary and physician, establishing in Bagdad late in the eighth century the first privately owned drug stores. They preserved much of the Greco-Roman wisdom developing with the aid of their natural resources syrups, confections, conserves, distilled waters and alcoholic liquids. Avicenna – The “Persian Galen”:
Among the brilliant contributors to the sciences of Pharmacy and Medicine during the Arabian era was one genius who seems to stand for his time – the Persian, IbnSina (about 980-1037 A. D. ), called Avicenna by the Western world. He was a Pharmacist, poet, physician, philosopher and diplomat. He gave contribution to the sciences of pharmacy and medicine by his pharmaceutical teachings.
Separation of Pharmacy And Medicine: In European countries, public pharmacies began to appear in the 17th century. In Sicily and southern Italy, pharmacy was separated from Medicine. The First Official Pharmacopoeia: The idea of a pharmacopoeia with official status, to be followed by all apothecaries, originated in Florence. The NuovoReceptario, originally written in Italian, was published and became the legal standard for the city-state in 1498. The Society of Apothecaries of London:
In 1617, Francis Bacon (philosopher-politician) formed a separate company known as the “Master, Wardens and Society of the Art and Mystery of the Apothecaries of the City of London”. This was the first organization of pharmacists in the Anglo-Saxon world (Mathews, 1962). Scheele – Greatest of the Pharmacists-Chemists: During his few short years, Carl Wilhelm Scheele gave to the world discoveries that have brought its people incalculable advantages.
He made thousands of experiments, discovered oxygen, chlorine, prussic acid, tartaric acid, tungsten, molybdenum, glycerine, nitro-glycerine, and countless other organic compounds that enter into today’s daily life, industry, health, and comfort. The American Pharmaceutical Association: Under leadership of its first President, Daniel B. Smith, and first Secretary, William Procter, Jr. , the twenty delegates launched The American Pharmaceutical Association and opened membership to “All pharmacists and druggists” of good character who subscribed to its Constitution and to its Code of Ethics.
The Association continues to serve Pharmacy today (Bender, 1967). European And American Pharmacy Meet: European and American Pharmacy groups met for the first time, at the Second International Congress of Pharmacy in Paris, France in 1867. Some key dates in Pharmacy history 1820 The alkaloid quinine was first extracted from the bark of cinchona trees by two French chemists, Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph BienameCaventou. 1874 Diamorphine or Heroin was first synthesised from morphine. 1883 First edition of The Extra Pharmacopoeia published, edited by William Martindale and Dr Wynn Westcott.
1899 Aspirin, was launched by the German company. 1910 Salvarsan, the first ‘magic bullet’ drug, effective against syphilis was discovered by Paul Ehrlich and Dr SahachiroHata. 1915 Medicine stamp duty was doubled as a wartime fundraiser. 1917 The Venereal Disease Act prohibited the advertising of medicines for VD and selling mixtures containing scheduled substances. It introduced the concept of ‘prescription only’ medicines. 1922 The Dangerous Drugs Act regulated the import and sale of potential drugs of addiction including the derivatives of opium, cocaine and cannabis so widely used in proprietary remedies.
1928 Penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming. 1938 The Food and Drugs Act prohibited the adulteration and mislabelling of drugs. 1939 The Cancer Act restricted the advertisement of products claiming to treat cancer. 1940 Under the Finance (No. 2) Act purchase tax was imposed on a range of goods including most drugs and medicines. 1941 The Pharmacy and Medicines Act repealed the old medicine stamp duty. It forbade the general advertisement of products claiming to treat a number of specific illnesses including Bright’s disease, cataract epilepsy and TB, or to be effective in procuring an abortion.
For the first time manufacturers were required to list the active ingredients of products on their packaging. 1948 The National Health Service made prescription medicine available to all. Until the introduction, in the 1950s, and subsequent hefty increasing of prescription charges, proprietary medicines were no longer seen as a cheap alternative to seeing the doctor. 1961 Ibuprofen was first synthesised by a team at the Boots Pure Drug Company in December. 1964 Introduction of Adverse Drug Reaction ‘yellow card’ scheme in response to the thalidomide tragedy of 1961. THE PRESENT DAY PHARMACY.
The modern drugstore varies significantly from its ancient counterparts. While the proprietors of pharmacies in the far distant past were often making numerous medical decisions – diagnosing and treating patients without the consultation of physicians – pharmacists in the modern drugstore are tasked instead with the responsibility of evaluating the appropriateness and managing the dispensation of pharmaceuticals prescribed to patients under a doctor’s care. Among the most important of pharmacist jobs is assuring that the patient has not been prescribed two drugs which will have an adverse interaction.
An in-depth study of pharmacology is required to make such evaluations and in all states such positions are highly regulated and require testing before the issuance of a pharmacist’s license. Far from being just a clerk behind a counter, pharmacists also play a role in disease management and evaluation of test results. In hospitals, pharmacists are often in the role of interpreting chemical signatures in complex test results and advising physicians on treatment options as well as making doctors aware of new and possibly more effective drugs.
Many people interested in a career as a pharmacist have found that in recent times it is a quite reliable profession in times of economic hardship. Earnings for professional pharmacists continue to rise while the industry for new and returning workers is quite robust. HOW TO BECOME A PHARMACIST – EDUCATION AND TRAINING The history of pharmaceutical education has closely followed that of medical education.
As the training of the physician underwent changes from the apprenticeship system to formal educational courses, so did the training of the pharmacist. The first college of pharmacy was founded in the United States in 1821 and is now known as the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.
Other institutes and colleges were established soon after in the United States, Great Britain, and continental Europe. Colleges of pharmacy as independent organizations or as schools of universities now operate in most developed countries of the world. The course of instruction leading to a bachelor of science in pharmacy extends at least five years. The first and frequently the second year of training, embracing general education subjects, are often provided by a school of arts and sciences.
Many institutions also offer graduate courses in pharmacy and cognate sciences leading to the degrees of Master of Science and doctor of philosophy in pharmacy, pharmacology, or related disciplines. These advanced courses are intended especially for those who are preparing for careers in research, manufacturing, or teaching in the field of pharmacy. Since the treatment of the sick with drugs encompasses a wide field of knowledge in the biological and physical sciences, an understanding of these sciences is necessary for adequate pharmaceutical training.
The basic five-year curriculum in the colleges of pharmacy of the United States, for example, embraces physics, chemistry, biology, bacteriology, physiology, pharmacology, and many other specialized courses. As the pharmacist is engaged in a business as well as a profession, special training is provided in merchandising, accounting, computer techniques, and pharmaceutical jurisprudence. Pharmacists graduating from college today are required to have a PharmD, or doctorate of Pharmacy degree.
College students can start a four-year pharmacy program after successfully completing two years of undergraduate coursework and earning a passing score on the PCAT (Pharmacy college admission test). Coursework in pharmacy and pre-pharmacy includes chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, and physiology. Additionally, PharmD students must complete a series of rotations in a variety of clinical and pharmaceutical settings. The length and quantity of rotations varies, but the average PharmD program requires 7-10 rotations, each of which is 4-6 weeks in length. If a student knows early in his or her college career that they would like to become a pharmacist, one could graduate with a PharmD in about 6 years.
Many college students do not decide until later in college or after college to become a pharmacist; therefore, many pharmacists have completed eight years of college.
THE FUTURE OF PHARMACY Automation will assist with this, because anything that streamlines and automates the dispensing and distribution process will obviously free the pharmacist to fulfill more of a clinical role as well,” said James Owen, BS Pharm, PharmD, director of professional practice for the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). Simply put, pharmacists and pharmacies of tomorrow must find ways to increase profit margins by reducing the cost of prescribing, embracing technology, and focusing more on patient counselling, immunizations, education, and other natural offshoots of their clinical expertise.
Some experts predict that the future of pharmacy will embrace the clinical skills and care pharmacists have always been qualified to deliver. Technological options available to pharmacies today are as numerous as they are convenient. As the healthcare system becomes more digital, the most exciting thing is that pharmacists will have the potential to become more connected to patients and have Categories of Some of the technologies in the future are: ?Resources for clinical decision support. ?Error prevention and quality assurance. ?
Advances in bar-coding and even radio-frequency identification technology willhelp pharmacists verify the appropriate use of medications. ?Telecommunications infrastructure. For example, to be able to send a patient a text message reminder to take meds or measure blood glucose levels. This will lead to better self-care management behaviours. ?
Automation and robotics. ?Collaborative practice connectivity, achieved through a combination of electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) and the ability to connect to and exchange data with labs and physician offices. ?Delivery service support, using GPS-driven telecommunications systems for routing, tracking, order status, dispatch, locating, and oversight.
?Pharmacy surveillance and security systems, which will create a greater level of security for pharmacies even when pharmacists are off-site. Pharmacies that do not step up to this challenge will lose the ability to handle important drugs, and this will mean loss of some of their most valuable prescriptions and patients. Several companies sell software and hardware that increase the efficiency of pharmacies by managing workflow.
The pharmacist will play a significant role in making contributions to patient care, and these contributions will be documented using technology and transmitted using technology, and that care will be recorded in the EHR (electronic health records) in the future. Pharmacists will be integral team members as far as the care of patients is concerned. ” Improved care and reduced errors will be the cornerstones of this relationship between pharmacists and automation.
The physical layout or appearance of tomorrow’s pharmacies Some experts say it depends on the individual pharmacy and the type of automation being implemented. According to Bill G. Felkey, BA, MS, professor of healthcare informatics in the department of pharmacy care system at Auburn University in Alabama predicted that many pharmacies across the country will choose to move the pharmacist to a more conspicuous forward location in their stores. With the pharmacist in front, however, you can put the technology behind closed doors or you can believe that patients will be fascinated to see how these robotics work.
There will exista mixed reception, depending upon where the pharmacy is and upon how well the patients receive the display of all these technologies. Muller said that dispensing machines will have a definite impact on layout. It has to be easily accessible to staff, but not located in an area that causes traffic and bottlenecks.
Workflow also affects the logical placement of a dispensing machine. If the machine counts but does not label and vial, it needs to be located in the technician area and positioned so all techs have easy access. If the machine labels and vials, and only requires the final pharmacist check, it needs to be located between the pharmacists and technicians, depending on who is putting the prescription in the bag.
Automation needs to fit into workflow, not just be a part of it. Christopher Thomsen, vice president, business development, Kirby Lester Incorporation agreed, noting that even in a situation where a chain may have gone to a central-fill system, where, say 20 to 30 per cent of the volume is moved off-site, it still needs to determine how to best use automation to address the remaining on-site dispensing requirements.
Which is why, said Muller, you would not just add a machine into an existing layout; some thought and care must be given to properly reflow the behind-the-counter space to get the most from your investment. The bottom line is that everything needs to move toward a more efficient flow. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research method used for this project work gives a description of how the pharmacy management system for Boniks Pharmacy and stores, Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja will be developed.
Therefore the method used in the design and collections of information from various sources are as follows: -Studying the present system in detail and the organizational style. -Knowing and understanding the input and output processes of the existing system. -A qualitative form of interview was conducted in the organization to understand the mode of operation of the old system. -Primary data: This source has to do with the text book contacted for the development of this project.