7 Healthcast: Automated prescriptions

With so many patients, and so many different medications, hospitals must take extra care to get it right.

William Churchill, Brigham and Women's Hospital
"Every five seconds a nurse is administering a patient medication. Every ten seconds a pharmacist is reviewing a medication order."

At Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, when it comes to prescription medications, getting it right is their first priority.

William Churchill, Brigham and Women's Hospital
"We need to drive out errors out of the system."

William Churchill, the Director of Pharmacy Services says to do that, they're turning to technology.

They've developed several new automated machines to dispense drugs.

That way, they can cut down on human error.

Sarah White, Stanford University
"I think more and more of this will get automated and be a much safer system, more efficient, less costly and better for patients."

This carousel machine scans barcodes on all medications.

The drug's information pops up on a computer screen, and then an arrow points to the drawer containing the correct drug.

William Churchill, Brigham and Women's Hospital
"When we look at the way medications were given here six years ago to how they're given today, we've come 180 degrees."

And that automated technology works for outpatient prescriptions, too.

With this machine, all a pharmacist has to do is scan a barcode.

Then a robotic arm finds the correct medication, fills the bottle, and it's ready to go!

This way, patients can be sure they're getting the right medication both in the hospital and at home.

Brigham and Women's cut down on medication errors by 85 percent after the technology was put in place.

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