Medical vending machines

There has been a lot of advancements in the technological sector in the recent years. Hence, every dimension or institution whether its business or health related has to improve as technology grows. Many innovations have come up and the health section has not been left behind in this advancements. There are various medicine vending machines that have been developed to make health care services more efficient and reliable. We are going to look broadly on these machines and discover which each of them entails, how they work, their advantages and also disadvantages because as much as any tool can be helpful, there will always be disadvantages and side effects and therefore we cannot ignore that perspective (Anna-Marie, 2010).

Vending Machines

Over the years, we have seen innovations of vending machines for various products like drinks and other food commodities especially biscuits and cakes. Medical inventors therefore have taken a risk of developing a medical vending machine for drugs. Sometimes in most hospitals especially public hospitals, it is very common to find that issuing of drugs takes quite long and therefore this machine is one way to curb the problem of time wasting. For the machine to work effectively, the patients have to use a unique identification that can prevent confusion between patients and the medicines to take from the device. The main suggested identification means is the fingerprint to key in their identity and prescription. The patients will still use the same fingerprint when they come back to pick the medicine from the machine so that the correct information reflects on the pharmacist’s computer for him or her to place the medicine in the tool for that particular patient.

Advantages

• This vending machine has several advantages and one of them is that it is time conscious. As we saw earlier, most hospitals tend to be packed and manual service is usually very slow. Therefore the machine is faster as it involves just keying in your fingerprint for your identification and prescription. Our hospitals will therefore have great and quality services within a short time. Crowding will reduce in our medical institutions and we will have happy patients because they will not have to queue very long lines to get services.
• The other advantage is that it will reduce the workload for our pharmacists and doctors. In most cases, the doctors have a lot of work and cases to deal with. Therefore having such kind of a machine will make their work easier and faster

Disadvantages

• However, the machine has its shortcomings also. One of the major concerns of some specialists is that the machine may reduce the quality of medical services that hospitals offer patients. This is because it hinders direct interaction between the pharmacist and the patient hence if at any case a patient has a question concerning drugs, it becomes a challenge because the pharmacist is not right there to give the required information. What happens at the end is that patients are not satisfied with the results and they may end up taking the medicine wrongly resulting to deaths and more critical situations that could have been prevented by a proper clarification from the pharmacists.

From the discussion above, we can say that for the machine to work efficiently, it is best if hospitals get pharmacists who are highly skilled and trained. In such a case, it is easier for the concerned pharmacist to realize when more important information is supposed to be explained to the patient. Some descriptions are intense and a machine cannot detect that, only a doctor can and therefore it’s best for that machine to be operated by an experienced personnel.

Videophone

There is also another vending machine, the videophone. This one operates using a video link whereby the pharmacist communicates with the patient through the video. The prescriptions appear on the computers pharmacists as they are photographed by cameras in the videophone. The pharmacy attendant gathers all the information that he or she may require from the patient so that it is easy for identification of the correct drugs for the patient.

Advantages

• One of the benefits of this machine is that the patients can receive medicine whether the pharmacist is available or not. This is simply because it operates by use of a remote therefore if the pharmacist is out of the hospital, he or she communicates with the patient and then using the remote, drugs are dispensed to the patient. The good thing about the videophone is that the patient gets a chance to talk and explain their descriptions directly to the pharmacist therefore misdiagnosis are minimized. Therefore it is a reliable and effective as it offers services whether the pharmacist is in or out of hospital.
• Moreover, the machine is operated using a remote implying that it’s only a specialized pharmacist can use it. It is also equipped with cameras therefore it’s safe from interruption from authorized persons.

Disadvantages

• However, the machine is really expensive and it needs a lot of capital to purchase and maintain and this may be a challenge to some hospitals as not every hospital can afford especially the ones in rural areas. Additionally, most individuals might find it hard to use videophones especially the old individuals and illiterate people. Therefore the machine is limited to a few individuals.

Therefore as years go by, the efficiency of the videophone will determine whether many hospitals will aspire to have one because patient needs and quality care is what is considered first in order to introduce such machines in our hospitals and health sector at large.

Emergency Medical Services Medic Supply Inventory Management Machine

The medical field also has the Emergency Medical Services medic supply inventory management machine. We have many emergencies in our daily lives today as we embark different activities. Therefore this machine was formulated to meet emergency needs faster and effectively. The supply inventory management machine keeps all the records on all the commodities vended from the vending machines to ensure that all drugs are accounted for. The machine is installed with a computer system that tracks all the vending activities in the machine. (Robert, 2016)

The main reason why this machine was considered is to improve the performance and rate of productivity in the hospitals. In most cases some hospitals fail to meet emergency cases due to lack of efficient facilities, ambulances and the required documentations. Therefore this machine is a great stepping stone to improving emergency services.

Benefits

• The main benefit of the machine is that it improves the doctors’ efficiency. This is simply because the machine is durable and it has the capacity to store a huge number of commodities. It is also easier to have one because it can be based anywhere, there is no specific location for this machine therefore it is easily accessible. In addition to that, it increases efficiency because it keeps track of all the services therefore a doctor can refer to previous information if need arises. It also has detailed information on all the products that are contained in the particular machine.
• It also promotes accountability. This is because the machine has a line tracking system. Therefore anyone who uses it has to use a particular key print that shows the name of the individual, the product ordered and the time and date of order. It is also accessible all through therefore it is a reliable machine to use during emergencies. It also brings about a control aspect because an individual orders only what to use therefore there no wastage of products.
• Another crucial importance of this machine is that it is able to detect any narcotic drugs that might be forced into hospitals. Some pharmacists take the risk of selling dangerous drugs in the hospitals therefore this machine makes sure that that does not happen. As in this article, the machine gives details of every drug that is available hence the management can easily detect when illegal drugs are present among the medical drugs. We can therefore say that the machine keeps our hospitals in check and clean from any drugs that may endanger employees and patients in general.

Shortcomings

As any other medical machines, this one has its own disadvantages and one of them is that it is expensive and hence not most of the hospitals can afford it. Therefore, it is limited to certain hospitals and mostly the private hospitals tend to have the upper hand and not everyone can get an opportunity to work or attend a private hospital. In addition to that, it needs a lot skills and technological knowledge to operate, therefore any hospital that chooses to introduce this machine must take time to educate everyone on how to use this machine to avoid any mistakes from being made.

Conclusion

The discussion above has shown how the medical vending machines can be of importance and how they can be disadvantageous at the same time. However we cannot ignore the fact that innovations are realized every day and technology advances day in and day out therefore its best if we also consider using the modern technology where need be. However, it is advisable to use machines that are friendly to both the patients, pharmacists and doctors.