By automating medication transportation, we can allocate more pharmacy resources toward essential patient-care tasks like compounding and compliance, all while upholding our commitment to safe and accurate medication distribution.
Pranati Kuchimanchi, PharmDStaff at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) have some high-tech helpers joining them this summer, and patients and visitors may see them traveling the hospital’s hallways. DHMC has acquired three TUG robots to deliver medication from the pharmacy to the inpatient units in the newly opened Patient Pavilion.
“The geography of the Patient Pavilion presented a challenge for the pharmacy. It’s quite a distance away, increasing the travel time significantly for pharmacy techs who deliver medications,” said project manager Jill Cote. “The addition of the TUGs ensures more predictable delivery schedules to the Patient Pavilion’s inpatient units: two of the robots will be on a regular schedule, and the third will operate within the pharmacy and can be deployed for ad hoc requests.”
The autonomous mobile robots provide secure transport of medications. The robots enter and exit the pharmacy receiving area by activating their own door, which they will then promptly close and secure. The drawers on the unit will also be locked, only able to be opened by designated staff in designated locations. As an additional security measure, the TUGs will not carry any controlled substances. The robots are also designed to differentiate between people and fixed objects.
“We at pharmacy are thrilled to be pioneers in the use of the TUG robots for medication delivery in the Dartmouth Health system,” said Pranati Kuchimanchi, PharmD, clinical pharmacist lead for Medication Systems and Operations at DHMC. “With a hospital as expansive as ours, time is of the essence, and these robots will be ‘tugging’ along to help us make the most of every minute. By automating medication transportation, we can allocate more pharmacy resources toward essential patient-care tasks like compounding and compliance, all while upholding our commitment to safe and accurate medication distribution.”
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.