A robotic arm, used to dispense medication at a Johannesburg hospital, has drastically reduced waiting times for patients since its introduction in 2012, reports the City Press.
The paper reports the Themba Lethu HIV clinic at Helen Joseph Hospital uses an electronic system to manage antiretroviral and tuberculosis medication dispensaries.
After consulting with patients, doctors type prescription information into a computer system which is immediately available to pharmacists.
The information is then sent to dispensary software, which directs the robotic arm to gather medication.
Before directing patients to collect medication at the pharmacy, doctors hand out unique bar codes for pharmacists to identify prescriptions.
The paper quotes regional pharmacy manager Robert Setshedi, who says: "Within 10 seconds, the robotic arm collects all the medication and drops it into the dispenser, and the pharmacist collects it and gives it to the patient."
Patients used to wait an average of four hours in the pharmacy queue before the R3 million machine was installed and they now wait 45 minutes, according to City Press.
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