Impact of Mobile Dose-Tracking Technology on Medication Distribution at an Academic Medical Center.

BACKGROUND: Medication dose-tracking technologies have the potential to improve efficiency and reduce costs associated with re-dispensing doses reported as missing. Data describing this technology and its impact on the medication use process are limited.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of dose-tracking technology on pharmacy workload and drug expense at an academic, acute care medical center.

METHODS: Dose-tracking technology was implemented in June 2014. Pre-implementation data were collected from February to April 2014. Post-implementation data were collected from July to September 2014. The primary endpoint was the percent of re-dispensed oral syringe and compounded sterile product (CSP) doses within the pre- and post-implementation periods per 1,000 discharges. Secondary endpoints included pharmaceutical expense generated from re-dispensing doses, labor costs, and staff satisfaction with the medication distribution process.

RESULTS: We observed an average 6% decrease in re-dispensing of oral syringe and CSP doses from pre- to post-implementation (15,440 vs 14,547 doses; p = .047). However, when values were adjusted per 1,000 discharges, this trend did not reach statistical significance (p = .074). Pharmaceutical expense generated from re-dispensing doses was significantly reduced from pre- to post-implementation ($834,830 vs $746,466 [savings of $88,364]; p = .047). We estimated that $2,563 worth of technician labor was avoided in re-dispensing missing doses. We also saw significant improvement in staff perception of technology assisting in reducing missing doses (p = .0003), as well as improvement in effectiveness of resolving or minimizing missing doses (p = .01).

CONCLUSION: The use of mobile dose-tracking technology demonstrated meaningful reductions in both the number of doses re-dispensed and cost of pharmaceuticals dispensed.