ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:To establish a new semi-automatic drug dispensing mode,with proper cost,which falls in between full-automatic drug dispensing mode and manual drug dispensing mode,good work efficiency,standard and simple operation meth-od and meets national laws and regulations. METHODS:A semi-automatic drug dispensing system was designed,in which the in-formation in the drug dispensing sheet could be automatically printed on the drug bag,and automatic bagging,packaging and deliv-ery of drugs were realized. Such drug dispensing system included hardware(mechanical structures such as drug turntable and drug funnel,transmission device,etc.)and software control systems(the program of interface with hospital information system,micro control unit software,computer software,etc.). Through commissioning,formal operation and statistics,based on 18 oral drug dis-pensing sheets with the same contents,calculated the time of drug dispensing and the number of drug dispensing errors by 3 phar-macists respectively in manual drug bag dispensing mode and semi-automatic drug dispensing mode,to evaluate the effect of the semi-automatic drug dispensing system. RESULTS:From commissioning in May 2012 to formal operation in September 2012,the system operated normally and utility model patents were obtained. In the two modes,the total time of drug dispensing was 481 and 397 min (t=6.82,P<0.001),the numbers of drug dispensing errors were 25 and 7 (χ2=9.353 8,P=0.002 2),respectively. There was statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS:The semi-automatic drug dispensing system has higher efficiency and less num-ber of drug dispensing errors compared with manual drug bag dispensing mode and lower cost compared to full-automatic drug dis-pensing system. It deserves promotion.