The pandemic increased pharmacists’ already heavy workloads while a simultaneous labor shortage plagued the industry. To help alleviate the burden on pharmacists from laborious and time-consuming prescription filling, iA’s proprietary pharmacy fulfillment software, NEXiA, was developed. NEXiA considerably streamlines processes that rely heavily on manual tasks. Pharmacies’ adoption of technology can free up pharmacists’ time, which allows pharmacists to focus on patients.

Alecia Lashier

NEXiA’s implementation has led to more efficient prescription management for patients, while automated prescription filling can help businesses combat pharmacist burnout, a phenomenon that has worsened in the post-pandemic world and is further exacerbated by the shortage of pharmacy technicians. This burnout makes human error in the pill fulfillment process more likely, often leading to mistakes with fatal consequences. Not only does automation reduce human error from an already robotic task, it also vastly speeds up the prescription filling process. In fact, fully staffed pharmacies would need the entire day to achieve similar levels of productivity with a higher possibility of error.

In an increasingly connected world, iA’s technology would allow pharmacists the freedom to provide customers with personalized care and alleviate already overburdened health care workers. Automation can enable pharmacists to spend less time on manual tasks and instead focus on providing patient care.

Automation should be seen as a way for pharmacists and techs to fulfill their respective roles to the best of their abilities. In the post-pandemic world, the level of productivity achieved via automation has set the tone for what pharmacies can achieve, cementing technology as an essential component of the industry.

Alecia Lashier is chief automation officer at iA.