ECONOMIC VALUE OF PHARMACY AUTOMATION IN HOSPITALS: AN UPDATED SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Author(s)
Mohammed Abdullah Alshmemri, PhD1, Ahmad Mansur Alharbi, MSc2, Turki Abad Altowairgi, PhD3.
1General Directorate for Health Services, Ministry of Defense, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2King Salman Armed Forces Hospital Northwestern Region, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, 3Al Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
1General Directorate for Health Services, Ministry of Defense, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2King Salman Armed Forces Hospital Northwestern Region, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, 3Al Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVES: To update and synthesize evidence on the economic value of hospital pharmacy automation, focusing on cost per medication error avoided, workflow efficiency, and implementation costs.
METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar was updated to May 2026. Eligible studies evaluated hospital pharmacy automation, including automated dispensing cabinets, unit-dose systems, barcode-assisted medication administration, robotic or automated medication systems, and LED-guided picking. Outcomes included implementation or incremental cost, cost-effectiveness ratios, medication errors or near-misses avoided, time savings, workforce efficiency, and budget effects. Cost outcomes were standardized to 2026 euros where sufficient currency information was available, with original currencies retained in the extraction table. Findings were synthesized narratively because of heterogeneity in technology type, and setting.
RESULTS: The updated search identified 1,040 records, of which 195 full-text articles were reviewed and 11 studies were included. Automation technologies included automated dispensing cabinets, unit-dose dispensing, barcode-assisted medication administration, LED-guided picking, and automated medication systems. Reported cost-effectiveness ranged from €2.01 to €386 per medication error avoided, €17.69 per medication administration error avoided, €30.23 per potentially harmful error avoided, and approximately €94-€127 per near-miss avoided. Implementation and incremental costs varied substantially, including €16,843 over six months, €1,808,600 annually, and approximately €35,429 for automated dispensing cabinet implementation. Efficiency gains included 25.68 minutes saved per patient, medication process time reductions from 8.39 to 4.22 minutes per patient/day, 6.5 hours saved daily, and workload relief equivalent to 11.7 full-time nurses.
CONCLUSIONS: Hospital pharmacy automation appears to provide favourable economic value through medication-error avoidance, workflow efficiency, and workforce optimization. However, variation in costing methods, currencies, outcomes, and hospital contexts limits direct comparison. Standardized economic evaluation is needed to support affordability, adoption, and transferability decisions.
METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar was updated to May 2026. Eligible studies evaluated hospital pharmacy automation, including automated dispensing cabinets, unit-dose systems, barcode-assisted medication administration, robotic or automated medication systems, and LED-guided picking. Outcomes included implementation or incremental cost, cost-effectiveness ratios, medication errors or near-misses avoided, time savings, workforce efficiency, and budget effects. Cost outcomes were standardized to 2026 euros where sufficient currency information was available, with original currencies retained in the extraction table. Findings were synthesized narratively because of heterogeneity in technology type, and setting.
RESULTS: The updated search identified 1,040 records, of which 195 full-text articles were reviewed and 11 studies were included. Automation technologies included automated dispensing cabinets, unit-dose dispensing, barcode-assisted medication administration, LED-guided picking, and automated medication systems. Reported cost-effectiveness ranged from €2.01 to €386 per medication error avoided, €17.69 per medication administration error avoided, €30.23 per potentially harmful error avoided, and approximately €94-€127 per near-miss avoided. Implementation and incremental costs varied substantially, including €16,843 over six months, €1,808,600 annually, and approximately €35,429 for automated dispensing cabinet implementation. Efficiency gains included 25.68 minutes saved per patient, medication process time reductions from 8.39 to 4.22 minutes per patient/day, 6.5 hours saved daily, and workload relief equivalent to 11.7 full-time nurses.
CONCLUSIONS: Hospital pharmacy automation appears to provide favourable economic value through medication-error avoidance, workflow efficiency, and workforce optimization. However, variation in costing methods, currencies, outcomes, and hospital contexts limits direct comparison. Standardized economic evaluation is needed to support affordability, adoption, and transferability decisions.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
EE151
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Topic Subcategory
Budget Impact Analysis, Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas