SAN DIEGO — RxSafe has announced a partnership with McKesson Canada to bring blister card-filling automation to the U.S. retail pharmacy market. Designed by McKesson Canada, the BlistAssist system is an innovative software-driven solution that improves the manual preparation and verification of single- or multi-med blister cards. Under the agreement with McKesson Canada, RxSafe will be the exclusive distributor of the BlistAssist system in the USA.

BlistAssist’s light-guided panel improves the time consuming and labor-intensive manual card filling and verification process. Barcode verification and the unique pill-by-pill, image-driven workflow greatly enhances accuracy and verification, reducing potential for errors. The system also monitors the card filling process, allowing scheduled stops and restarts seamlessly.

“BlistAssist offers accuracy, traceability, and security that helps pharmacists quickly verify their patients’ drugs, improving safety and medication adherence,” said William Holmes, president and chief executive officer of RxSafe. “Pharmacists can verify scripts remotely from a separate workstation or even an iPad. We believe this is the solution retail pharmacies have been waiting for, because it addresses all the requirements of a pharmacy’s card filling operation.”

The solution also features the unique ability to track lot numbers and expiration dates in manually-prepared blister cards. Operator activity is tracked via a login and password, providing superior traceability for pharmacies.

BlistAssist is a proven solution to help address medication adherence. Medication non-adherence leads to 125,000 preventable deaths and over $300 billion in avoidable healthcare costs each year, according to the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy.

“Medication non-adherence creates enormous societal costs, from patient safety to negative health outcomes to lost productivity,” said Holmes. “BlistAssist is a game changer for any pharmacy using blister card adherence programs, allowing them to better serve patients with chronic health needs and/or multiple medications.”

BlistAssist incorporates a unique, patented “layer-by-layer” verification process, which simplifies and accelerates verification. In addition, pharmacists have the flexibility to conduct final verification remotely from their computer or mobile device. BlistAssist also takes up very little space, easily fitting on top of a small table or desk, and is compatible with most commonly used blister cards.