Pump up the volume: Innovation-Binghamton University symposium examines process of implementing automated pharmacy operations
With retailers and healthcare providers across the country trying to find ways to get their pharmacists more involved in patient care, pharmacy automation solutions provider Innovation brought together executives from a diverse range of companies earlier this month for a detailed look at how its partnership with Binghamton University’s Watson Institute for Systems Excellence is helping retail pharmacy in this effort.
“Our association with WISE is in no way accidental,” Innovation COO Tom Boyer told attendees at the two-day symposium, held at the university’s school of engineering April 9 to 10. “We are in an excellent position to leverage the research being done here.”
During the event, titled “Exploring Successful Change Management for Pharmacy Operations,” Boyer and more than a dozen Innovation senior staff members, BU professors and students explained the work that they were doing to make high-volume automation an option for more pharmacies. A critical part of the discussions focused on ensuring that once a pharmacy commits to high-volume automation for a central fill or mail-order website, the installation and operation of the system goes smoothly.
“We have a mutual goal,” Boyer said. “You have this asset that you have acquired from us, and the more it stays working effectively, the more beneficial it is to your business and to us.”
Symposium participants, which included drug chain and supermarket pharmacy executives from such companies as Rite Aid, Wegman's, Publix, Giant Eagle and Brookshire Food and Pharmacy, as well as representatives from mail-order operations and pharmacy benefit management companies, said they came away with a clearer picture of the benefits that high-volume automation can bring to their businesses.
In addition to the discussions, the symposium also included a tour of the Binghamton University School of Engineering, where attendees saw some of the work researchers are doing in 3-D printing, computer-assisted design and simulation and modeling.
A live “cobot” — an extremely flexible and adaptable robot that works in collaboration with humans — demonstration showed the impact that these small-footprint devices can have on speeding up the prescription-filling process and making a pharmacy more efficient.
“I definitely see cobots being the future of robotics,” BU assistant professor Dr. Chris Green, who led the demonstration, said. “While I don't like to use words like 'paradigm shift,' cobotics will represent a paradigm shift.”
All in all, attendees who were already using Innovation technology told Drug Store News that the event gave them a better understanding of how to get the maximum benefit from their systems. Attendees whose companies were exploring the possibility of adding high-volume automation came away with a clearer picture of what the technology could do for them and how to best plan for such a complex implementation.
“The information that was given was something that will help us make informed decisions that can aid us in enhancing our patients’ quality of life,” Rite Aid manager of pharmacy technology and operations Steve Smith said.
Innovation's partnership with Binghamton University is indicative of the kind of work being done across New York by the public and private sectors participating in the START-UP NY program. Under the 2-year-old initiative, new and expanding businesses can operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible university or college campuses.
Innovation’s Advanced Systems Division was named as one of the five START-UP NY companies in July 2014. The formation of the division enables Innovation’s Professional Services group to work side-by-side with their colleagues at Binghamton University’s Watson Institute for Systems Excellence. Through this collaboration, Innovation and BU WISE have developed their Pharmacy Intelligence service, which assesses operational risks, optimizes system designs and processes, and accurately forecasts results for high-volume pharmacy sites.
While Binghamton University already was working closely with dozens of companies prior to START-UP NY, the program and other state-run initiatives have helped drive more academic-business partnerships at the school.
As a result, the university has secured millions of dollars over the past few years to create an Innovative Technologies Complex, where researchers work closely with more than 100 companies in the region in such areas as health sciences, smart and sustainable energy solutions, and high-tech manufacturing.
In 2014, for example, the university broke ground on a $70 million, 114,000-sq.-ft. Smart Energy Research and Development facility. When completed in 2017, the site, which received its funding from the NYSUNY 2020 plan, created by state lawmakers in 2012, will house researchers from the school's physics and chemistry departments.
Looking forward, the university plans to open the Southern Tier High Technology Incubator in May 2017. Located in downtown Binghamton, N.Y., the 21,000-sq.-ft. facility will focus on electronics, energy and health. A few months later, a new school of pharmacy will open in nearby Johnson City, N.Y.
“We understand what it takes to work with industry and what it takes to be successful,” Binghamton University VP of research Bahgat Sammakia told attendees at the symposium. “Working with them is absolutely critical for our success. What we're doing matters and will definitely impact people's lives.”
Sammakia and Binghamton University president Harvey Stenger noted that researchers from the university's Watson Institute for Systems Excellence have worked closely with Innovation on research projects and co-authored several papers over the past decade. They pointed to the relationship as a prime example of what the academic-business partnership can accomplish.
“This isn't just abut helping pharmacists,” Stenger said in his opening remarks at the symposium. “It's about the science and research behind it.”
Over the course of the two-day event, Innovation executives and university researchers laid out a comprehensive picture of that science and the steps that pharmacy operators need to take to add high-volume automation to their operations. Much of the discussion centered on a pharmacy assessing its needs, creating a plan for adding automation to its operation and what to expect both during installation and after the system is in place.
Presentations over the two days broke down the process of adding automation to a pharmacy into several steps. Speakers and the topics they discussed included:
“Our association with WISE is in no way accidental,” Innovation COO Tom Boyer told attendees at the two-day symposium, held at the university’s school of engineering April 9 to 10. “We are in an excellent position to leverage the research being done here.”
During the event, titled “Exploring Successful Change Management for Pharmacy Operations,” Boyer and more than a dozen Innovation senior staff members, BU professors and students explained the work that they were doing to make high-volume automation an option for more pharmacies. A critical part of the discussions focused on ensuring that once a pharmacy commits to high-volume automation for a central fill or mail-order website, the installation and operation of the system goes smoothly.
“We have a mutual goal,” Boyer said. “You have this asset that you have acquired from us, and the more it stays working effectively, the more beneficial it is to your business and to us.”
Symposium participants, which included drug chain and supermarket pharmacy executives from such companies as Rite Aid, Wegman's, Publix, Giant Eagle and Brookshire Food and Pharmacy, as well as representatives from mail-order operations and pharmacy benefit management companies, said they came away with a clearer picture of the benefits that high-volume automation can bring to their businesses.
In addition to the discussions, the symposium also included a tour of the Binghamton University School of Engineering, where attendees saw some of the work researchers are doing in 3-D printing, computer-assisted design and simulation and modeling.
A live “cobot” — an extremely flexible and adaptable robot that works in collaboration with humans — demonstration showed the impact that these small-footprint devices can have on speeding up the prescription-filling process and making a pharmacy more efficient.
“I definitely see cobots being the future of robotics,” BU assistant professor Dr. Chris Green, who led the demonstration, said. “While I don't like to use words like 'paradigm shift,' cobotics will represent a paradigm shift.”
All in all, attendees who were already using Innovation technology told Drug Store News that the event gave them a better understanding of how to get the maximum benefit from their systems. Attendees whose companies were exploring the possibility of adding high-volume automation came away with a clearer picture of what the technology could do for them and how to best plan for such a complex implementation.
“The information that was given was something that will help us make informed decisions that can aid us in enhancing our patients’ quality of life,” Rite Aid manager of pharmacy technology and operations Steve Smith said.
Innovation's partnership with Binghamton University is indicative of the kind of work being done across New York by the public and private sectors participating in the START-UP NY program. Under the 2-year-old initiative, new and expanding businesses can operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible university or college campuses.
Innovation’s Advanced Systems Division was named as one of the five START-UP NY companies in July 2014. The formation of the division enables Innovation’s Professional Services group to work side-by-side with their colleagues at Binghamton University’s Watson Institute for Systems Excellence. Through this collaboration, Innovation and BU WISE have developed their Pharmacy Intelligence service, which assesses operational risks, optimizes system designs and processes, and accurately forecasts results for high-volume pharmacy sites.
While Binghamton University already was working closely with dozens of companies prior to START-UP NY, the program and other state-run initiatives have helped drive more academic-business partnerships at the school.
As a result, the university has secured millions of dollars over the past few years to create an Innovative Technologies Complex, where researchers work closely with more than 100 companies in the region in such areas as health sciences, smart and sustainable energy solutions, and high-tech manufacturing.
In 2014, for example, the university broke ground on a $70 million, 114,000-sq.-ft. Smart Energy Research and Development facility. When completed in 2017, the site, which received its funding from the NYSUNY 2020 plan, created by state lawmakers in 2012, will house researchers from the school's physics and chemistry departments.
Looking forward, the university plans to open the Southern Tier High Technology Incubator in May 2017. Located in downtown Binghamton, N.Y., the 21,000-sq.-ft. facility will focus on electronics, energy and health. A few months later, a new school of pharmacy will open in nearby Johnson City, N.Y.
“We understand what it takes to work with industry and what it takes to be successful,” Binghamton University VP of research Bahgat Sammakia told attendees at the symposium. “Working with them is absolutely critical for our success. What we're doing matters and will definitely impact people's lives.”
Sammakia and Binghamton University president Harvey Stenger noted that researchers from the university's Watson Institute for Systems Excellence have worked closely with Innovation on research projects and co-authored several papers over the past decade. They pointed to the relationship as a prime example of what the academic-business partnership can accomplish.
“This isn't just abut helping pharmacists,” Stenger said in his opening remarks at the symposium. “It's about the science and research behind it.”
Over the course of the two-day event, Innovation executives and university researchers laid out a comprehensive picture of that science and the steps that pharmacy operators need to take to add high-volume automation to their operations. Much of the discussion centered on a pharmacy assessing its needs, creating a plan for adding automation to its operation and what to expect both during installation and after the system is in place.
Presentations over the two days broke down the process of adding automation to a pharmacy into several steps. Speakers and the topics they discussed included:
- Alecia Lashier, Innovation's director of software engineering, and Leon Cosler, founding chair of the department of health outcomes and administrative sciences at the university's soon-to-open School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, whose presentation — “Defining and Refining Your Unique Requirements” — stressed the importance of well-defined operational goals and company-specific requirements, and how to use big data to determine the best system design.
- Dr. Gloria Meredith, founding dean of the BU School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, gave attendees a look at the plans for next year's launch of the university's first new professional school in more than a decade.
- Innovation project manager and engineer Matt Warner and BU's Dr. Chris Green, whose presentation, “Exploring Your Alternatives,” provided an overview of system-level pharmacy design through the analysis of alternative technologies and techniques.
- Phil Samples, VP government and professional services at Innovation, and Tim Limer, dire