Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31428324›Full record

SynthesisEuropean journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice2019

Approaches to outpatient pharmacy automation: a systematic review.

Yilin Sng, Chin Kheng Ong, Yi Feng Lai

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Automation of in-hospital pharmacy dispensing: a systematic review.European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice · 2021
    Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Examining the evolution and impact of OTC vending machines in Global Healthcare Systems.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. A refined management system focusing on medication dispensing errors: A 14-year retrospective study of a hospital outpatient pharmacy.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2023
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Observational
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yilin SngDepartment of Pharmacy, Sengkang Health, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0003-4991-4682
Chin Kheng OngDepartment of Pharmacy, Sengkang Health, Singapore.
Yi Feng LaiDepartment of Pharmacy, Sengkang Health, Singapore.
Sengkang General Hospital · SG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo systematically review, summarise and evaluate the evidence on the effectiveness of automation systems in the outpatient and community settings.

methodsA literature search was performed using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and CINAHL databases. A pre-defined search strategy focusing on the context of implementation, function and automation was used to identify articles published over the past decade. Two researchers independently screened the search results sequentially by title, abstract and full text using pre-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria. A third researcher was consulted to resolve disagreements. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed using a standardised form.

resultsThirteen references were selected for data extraction, of which most were conducted in Europe and North America. Improvement in medication safety was most commonly reported, with findings of up to 37% reduction in medication-related reportable occurrences. Manpower requirements were found to decrease by 0.3-1.4 full-time equivalents and productivity increased by ~4 items per person/hour. Patient waiting time and prescription filling time also decreased by 17-20 s (from an average of 19-49 s), but no reductions in workload or time savings were felt by staff. While the perception of work stress decreased, job satisfaction remained unchanged. Significant cost savings and an increase in over-the-counter sales were also noted post-automation.

conclusionImplementing pharmacy automation technologies in an outpatient or community pharmacy setting may reduce medication errors, increase productivity and save costs but does not affect staff satisfaction. However, the available literature remains patchy and more research in this area is needed.

Indexed as

compounding robotsdispensing robotshospital pharmacy automationrobotsuni dose system

Identifiers

PMID31428324
PMCPMC6684014
OpenAlexW2794768748

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.