OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were (1) to oversee patients, pharmacists, and other health professionals satisfactions of traditional hospital pharmacy services at Barbados, West Indies. (2) To evaluate whether or not the unit dose machine will improve efficiency and productivity for the hospital without increasing health expenditure. SETTING: The study setting is a 600-bed community hospital located at Barbados, West Indies. It is the only hospital on this 250,000-population island. METHODS: Three surveys among patients, pharmacists, and health professionals were used to assess their opinion on the performance of the Pharmacy. Next, we evaluated the cost saving of using unit dose machine and unit dose carts for the hospital. RESULTS: The surveys showed that most of the patients (n=200) and health professionals (n=100) were dissatisfied with the wait time. And, most pharmacists were looking for ways to improve their functions and services. Using the ANOVA statistics, to compare seven health professionals to compare their opinions on the wait time (p= 0.01), the convenience of pharmacy services (p=0.019) and improving the efficiency of the pharmacy by use of the computer (p=0.047) showed statistically significant difference. The drug expenditure in this hospital for 1998 was 7.1 million dollars. It is proposed that the hospital might be able to save approximately $1,420,000.00 per year (20% saving), which would be able to pay for the new equipments and the cost of improvements. CONCLUSION: The study found that the use an automation system along with a computer system could reduce both the cost of medication, while improving productivity and quality of work.