Dubai: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) inaugurated a smart pharmacy with a robot for dispensing and prescribing medication in Latifa Hospital on Monday. This is the first-of-its-kind smart pharmacy in the Middle East and a fourth of its kind in the DHA, as two smart pharmacies were inaugurated at Rashid Hospital and Dubai Hospital each, earlier this year.
The robot in Latifa Hospital can store up to 35,000 medicines and dispenses around nine prescriptions in less than one minute. The robot dispenses the prescribed medication with a click of a bottom based on a bar code, minimising any human error.
The smart pharmacy was inaugurated by Humaid Al Qatami, Director General of the DHA in the presence of Dr Ali Al Syed, the Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department of DHA and Dr Mona Tahlak, CEO of Latifa Hospital.
Commenting on the inauguration Al Qatami said adopting a fully integrated smart system for its pharmaceutical transactions in DHA hospitals and health centres reduces the chances of mistakes when dispensing medication and reduces waiting time hence achieving customer satisfaction.
Dr Al Syed said the robot dispensing process will be paper free as the robot will store the prescription as soon as the doctor documents it electronically. He added that depending on the robot to dispense the medication would allow the pharmacist to focus on giving the customers the correct instruction on how to take the medication.
