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JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — Innovation plans to unveil a new pharmacy automation product, PharmASSIST OPTIx, at Cardinal Health Inc.’s Retail Business Conference this week.
The pharmacy automation technology provider said Tuesday that PharmASSIST OPTIx is an optical counting and imaging technology that enables pharmacies to automate the counting and processing of all medications and perform remote prescription verification. It’s slated to be introduced at Cardinal’s Retail Business Conference in Las Vegas, held July 21 to 23, and to be exhibited at the NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference in Boston on Aug. 27 to 30.
"We believe PharmASSIST OPTIx is a game-changing technology that will have tremendous impact on the prescription dispensing process for all types of pharmacies. OPTIx enables the pharmacist to re-engage at the patient level, adds multiple layers of safety for the patient, and allows exceptional flexibility in pharmacy workflow design," stated Doyle Jensen, executive vice president of global business development at Innovation.
"OPTIx helps pharmacies increase throughput, decrease dispensing errors, and reduce labor costs, all of which contribute to a strong return on investment," Jensen added.
PharmASSIST OPTIx is designed to enable remote prescription verification by taking a high-resolution image of each prescription’s vial contents and label, automatically displaying them on a designated pharmacist’s workstation. The pharmacist compares these images with the appropriate drug image from a standardized drug database, along with specific prescription details to complete the verification.
Innovation noted that with PharmASSIST OPTIx, the verifying pharmacist can be stationed anywhere — in the front of the pharmacy counseling patients or off-site at another pharmacy, a central processing center or a home office. The system stores each prescription’s images as part of the patient history record, allowng pharmacies to quickly retrieve them for pharmacy benefit manager audits and to confirm the quantity dispensed, the company said.
Pharmacies can use PharmASSIST OPTIx in stand-alone mode or integrated with Innovation’s PharmASSIST Symphony workflow systems, which the company said enables end-to-end prescription tracking, problem management and reporting.
Innovation added that PharmASSIST OPTIx also handles all noncountable products — such as ointments/creams, liquids, syringes and inhalers — for prescription filling and remote verification. The system can also aid pharmacies in physical inventory control.
