ReviewCureus2025
Effectiveness of Pharmacy Automation Systems Versus Traditional Systems in Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Digital Technologies in Hospital Pharmacy: A Systematic Review of Their Impact on Efficiency, Safety, and Inventory Management.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2026Pooled it
- Implementing six sigma management to shorten the time of taking medicine from intelligent medicine cabinet in inpatient ward.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Streamlining one-dose package-handling process improves operational efficiency when dispensing drugs: A retrospective study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Artificial intelligence in clinical pharmacy-A systematic review of current scenario and future perspectives.Digital healthReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Medication errors (MEs) in hospital settings remain a significant global healthcare challenge, resulting in adverse patient outcomes, increased healthcare costs, and reduced operational efficiency. Traditional pharmacy systems (TPS) are particularly vulnerable to human error, inefficient inventory management, and workflow bottlenecks. While pharmacy automation systems (PAS) have emerged as a potential solution, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding comprehensive comparative studies between PAS and TPS across multiple outcomes and settings. This systematic review addresses this gap by evaluating the comparative effectiveness of PAS versus TPS in hospital settings, focusing on MEs, operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and patient outcomes. We conducted a systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, searching PubMed and Cochrane Library databases for studies published between 2010 and June 2024 that directly compared PAS with TPS in hospital settings. The review examined various PAS technologies, including centralized pharmacy robots, automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs), and hybrid systems incorporating centralized and decentralized technologies. Of 1,085 studies initially identified, 32 met the inclusion criteria for comprehensive analysis. The overall mean effect size was 0.505 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.487 to 0.523), indicating a moderately positive effect of PAS implementation. Key findings demonstrated that PAS significantly reduced MEs, particularly in automated dispensing systems (ADS) and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems. While initial implementation costs were substantial, long-term operational costs were significantly lower due to reduced labor requirements and medication wastage. Workflow efficiency improvements enabled pharmacists to dedicate more time to clinical activities. Patient outcomes improved through enhanced medication safety and reduced adverse drug events. This review provides robust evidence supporting PAS implementation in hospitals. It demonstrates that despite significant initial investment requirements, the long-term benefits in error reduction, operational efficiency, and patient safety justify implementation. Future research should focus on detailed cost-benefit analyses across various hospital settings and assessments of staff satisfaction to optimize implementation strategies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.