How It All Works
If you are an avid reader of my blog site (which I hope you all are!!!) you will have noticed that I have written a few themes about the so called self serving kiosks which dispense medication, all via automatic processes and Biometrics. While I talked mostly standpoint of the Biometrics angle, I always wondered how the whole thing actually worked. Well, that is until today.
So, here we go, here are the details of this: “The process is as simple as it is ingenious: When a customer drops off a prescription at their favorite pharmacy, the pharmacist will ask if they want to pick it up at the counter (which means possibly waiting in line and being subject to the pharmacy hours), or pick it up at the self-serve storage system – usually located immediately next to the pharmacy counter. If the customer opts to pick up their medicine from the convenient self-serve system, the pharmacist will register the patient, which is a one-time process that takes about 2-minutes. When the order is completed the pharmacist will place the medicine in a pre-determined slot in the self-service storage system. The customer can return to the store at their convenience, swipe their ID Card, place a finger in the biometric fingerprint verification system, and the appropriate slot will be able to be accessed by the customer. Dual redundancy and military grade security assures that the proper medicine is dispensed. A proprietary software program is incorporated into each unit to track and verify each transaction.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9383/).
My Take
I do have to admit, this a rather elegant process. I mean who wants to wait in line for 30 minutes or more (an estimate at a time frame) just to have their prescriptions filled??? I certainly would not. I have a rather short fuse when it comes to shopping, and waiting around to have some medications is not my idea of a fun time. So, yes, this does have the great advantage of much less waiting for the customer, and great ease of use. But, I do have some questions about all of this. While Biometrics is being used in order to properly verify/identify the customer in question, it is also used to actually locate the filled medication for the customer, and give it to them via the open slot.
Although the Press Release mentioned dual redundancy and military grade processes being used, it did not offer any more detail about it. So, as a technical writer, and playing devil’s advocate, who is to say that this technology will not, by accident deliver the wrong medication??? Remember, the people who use this type of system are those that are on the go, and most likely, will not check to see that everything is accurate. They will simply run back home, plop in the medication, swallow it, and if it is the wrong one . . . you get the idea. This isn’t t say that humans don’t make errors as well, and there have been documented cases where even pharmacists living and breathing have also made mistakes in filling prescriptions.
But if it were me, I would much rather have a human being take my order, fill it, and give it back to me. At least, with this, there is a documented chain of custody, in case the finger pointing and the blame game has to be played out. And now that I think about, maybe I would rather wait longer in line to have those reassurances met. And who knows what kind of people have access to this self serving kiosk? Is it just the pharmacist, to the pharm techs as well??? That is something else that also has to be considered. Also, what are the environmental conditions of the self serving kiosk like?
For example, what if the customer decided to wait for days to pick up the medication, what is the preservation rate of that prescription versus to actually picking it up in an environmentally friendly pharmacy??? And also, wouldn’t a self serving kiosk be more of a prime target for theft and brute force attacks?? Just how well locked up are prescriptions in the kiosk??? I know I am playing devils advocate here, but these are some of the key issues which would come across my mind before I use it.
But on a much more positive note, the Vendor who developed this system just filed a patent for this, so we will see how that turns out. I know it is a long and very expensive process, so my best wishes in getting that patent. On the Biometrics note of this posting, Fingerprint Recognition is being used. But why not use something more secure like Iris Recognition or Vein Pattern Recognition??? Just some more of my thoughts on this fine afternoon . . .
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