The General Directorate for Health Services at the Ministry of Defense (MODHS), represented by King Salman Armed Forces Hospital in the Northwestern region of Saudi Arabia, has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by setting up the world's first automated machine for dispensing medications.
This remarkable accomplishment adds to Saudi Arabia's ongoing innovations in technology. This pioneering endeavor is the first of its kind globally and aims to enhance people's lives by electronically dispensing medicines, eliminating the need for patients to physically visit the hospital.
The innovative machine comprises a workstation that processes prescription barcodes, an interactive screen for users, a specialized operating system (robot), and a messaging platform that notifies users when their prescription is ready.
Operating round-the-clock, the machine has the capacity to store between 102 and 700 prescriptions. Notably, it can handle prescriptions containing multiple medications and boasts robust protection mechanisms to safeguard medicines from damage, tampering, or theft. It also provides beneficiaries with statistical data on their dispensed medications on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis.
Olayan Al-Atawy, the director of the hospital’s pharmacy department, explained that the machine scans the barcode on the prescription and collects necessary data. Patients are then prompted to select the nearest dispensing machine, following which the pharmacist verifies the beneficiary's prescription electronically.
Upon approval and without any observations, beneficiaries receive an SMS containing a code and the machine's location. This information allows them to visit the machine within 48 hours to collect their medication. Patients are required to enter their civil record and the verification code sent to their phones to retrieve their medicines.
Al-Atawy emphasized that this service, along with other medical offerings, reflects the leadership's commitment to meeting citizens' needs and providing easy access to medications.
The machine dispenses all prescribed medications except those requiring extremely low temperatures for storage. Al-Atawy noted that this innovation will drastically reduce waiting times for patients, from hours to less than a minute.
Al-Atawi further revealed that plans are already underway to create an additional device within the next month, following the successful outcome of the current initiative.
