ASHP Guidelines on the safe use of automated dispensing devices.

The purposes of these guidelines are to (1) propose goals and objectives for the safe use of automated dispensing devices in the medication-use process, (2) provide guidance on the safe use of automated dispensing devices to pharmacists and others involved in the medication-use process, (3) advise vendors of automated dispensing devices about the safety needs of health care professionals who use their systems, and (4) recommend standardization for Health Level 7 (HL7) interfaces between pharmacy information systems and automated dispensing devices. The recommendations presented in these guidelines should be used in conjunction with other literature on the topic and information from prospective or selected automated dispensing device or system vendors, established guidelines, and state and federal regulations. Pharmacists should exercise professional judgment in assessing their health system’s needs regarding automated dispensing devices and systems and in adapting these guidelines to meet those needs. Automated pharmacy systems are designed for centralized filling of individual patient prescriptions and unit-dose medication orders, decentralized dispensing, and other purposes. These guidelines address primarily computer-controlled decentralized medication-dispensing cabinets, which will be referred to as “automated dispensing devices.” Since many of the concepts discussed here may be applicable to related technologies, the term “automated pharmacy system” will be used generally and the term “automated dispensing device” will be used specifically. Automated dispensing devices are located in hospital patient care units, surgical suites, emergency rooms, long-term care facilities, physicians’ offices, and other settings. Several manufacturers produce automated dispensing devices with a variety of configurations and software capabilities that may interface with the pharmacy or health care organization’s information systems.