Meet MeritCare's most tireless employee, Homer the robot
No coffee breaks, no vacations, no burnout. Meet MeritCare Hospital Pharmacy's new robot, Homer. One of only two in the United States able to "multi-task," Homer began its work in September after several weeks of training.
In the world of robots, what does it mean to "multi-task"? It means Homer can do things like package, label and dispense the many types of medications used by patients at MeritCare Hospital. That's a major job considering MeritCare Hospital Pharmacy dispenses 11/2 to 2 million doses of medication a year. Currently these are dispensed by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, but in the future Homer will do the majority of them.
"It's an amazing thing to all of us," says Tom Tharaldson, MeritCare Hospital Pharmacy manager. "Homer has thousands of moving parts and its accuracy is astounding. You hear it whooshing and beeping and you know it's doing its job."
You might think such an efficient, productive machine would put some of the 40 MeritCare Hospital pharmacists and pharmacy technicians out of work. Not true. "The addition of this robot to our staff means our pharmacy staff will be relied on much less to 'count, pour, lick and stick.' Homer will do that, freeing the staff up for more clinical work such as determining the best medications for patients, figuring out the most effective way to administer them and being an information source to our physicians. By making better use of the expertise of pharmacists, we'll ultimately enhance care to patients."
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