The Future Is Here: The Promise & Potential Impact of AI in Pharmacies
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming a game-changer in the healthcare industry. The innovative technology has opened a world of possibilities in various healthcare settings, including community pharmacies.
AI has the potential to automate processes, reduce errors, enhance patient safety, and improve healthcare outcomes significantly. Implementing AI technologies in community pharmacies has the potential to streamline the medication dispensing process, enhance patient experience, and improve medication adherence. So let’s explore the possibilities.
Revolutionizing Medication Dispensing
One of the areas in community pharmacies that AI can improve significantly is medication dispensing. With AI, the medication dispensing process can be streamlined, error rates can be reduced, and medication waiting times can be shortened. AI can also help automate medication management tasks such as inventory management, purchasing, and prescription filling, freeing up pharmacy staff to focus on more clinical duties.
The technology is already here. Many hospitals and large pharmacies are already using automated dispensing cabinets to cut down on human interaction with medication and mitigate dispensing errors. AI-powered prescription-filling robots can help safely streamline the process of getting medication from the pharmacy inventory to the patients’ hands.
Improving Patient Safety and Medication Adherence
Another way that AI can help in community pharmacies is by enhancing patient safety and medication adherence. AI can flag prescription errors, such as potential drug interactions or incorrect dosages, ensuring that patients receive the right medication in the right doses. AI can also provide patients with medication reminders and track their medication-taking patterns, enabling pharmacists to follow up and provide medication therapy management (MTM) services more effectively. With AI-enabled medication reminders, patients can have more control over their medication schedules, leading to better adherence and improved healthcare outcomes.
Taking Efficiency to the Next Level
AI can also help pharmacists and pharmacy staff become more efficient and effective. AI-enabled chatbots can help answer patients' medication-related queries, freeing up pharmacists to focus on more complex clinical tasks such as medication reviews and MTM services. AI-powered systems can help predict medication demand, enabling pharmacy owners to optimize their inventory management processes and reduce stock wastage. AI can also help automate workflow processes such as prescription refills and renewals, reducing processing and waiting times.
Popular pharmacy chain Walgreens is harnessing the power of AI to anticipate customer needs like never before. "Artificial intelligence allows us to analyze external data from weather patterns to social media trends," explains Tracey Brown, Walgreens' president of retail and chief customer officer. "This helps us forecast demand precisely and stock stores with the right products at the right time." During the recent cough, cold, and flu season, this intelligence helped Walgreens predict regional and local spikes in demand, ensuring shelves remained stocked with over-the-counter essentials.
Embrace the AI Revolution
The implementation of AI in community pharmacies has the potential to revolutionize the way medication is dispensed, managed, and monitored. It has numerous benefits for pharmacists, pharmacy staff, and patients alike, including improved medication safety, enhanced patient experience, and medication adherence.
Pharmacists and pharmacy owners alike need to embrace this technology to stay competitive, enhance patient care, and achieve better healthcare outcomes. By implementing AI, community pharmacies can improve workflow efficiency, reduce errors, and provide personalized patient care effectively. The future is here, and AI is poised to significantly drive the enhancement of community pharmacy services.