Automated dispensing machine allows fast prescription refilling, accurate label printing, and eliminates cross contamination for pharmaceutical practices. This dispensing machine also provides better patient safety by eliminating problems that often occur in traditional pharmaceutical practices such as inefficient drug distribution, intense labor requirement, delayed drug delivery, unclear inventory status, and patient to drug specificity. With an automated dispensing machine, pharmacists will have more time to consult with their patients face-to-face and provide better patient care. Ultimately, it improves patient safety and increases the overall quality of medical practices.

It may sound like a good idea to own an automated dispensing machine for your pharmacy, right? However, the downside of having this automated dispensing machine is that it occupies a relatively large, physical space and may require tedious on-site maintenances. One way to reduce the physical space of the cabinet is to make everything compact from the cabinet itself to the electronic parts inside. For example, the automated dispensing cabinet comes with smaller cabinets using smaller electronic parts in order to maximize unused space. On the other hand, the on-site maintenance requires a different approach. If every control panels were made at the front rather than on the sides, it would reduce the unused sides and the unit can be store in the corner against two or three walls making an excellent space saving strategy. Now, to make everything accessible to the front, selections on component parts are very critical. The cartridge refill points, computer monitor, and keyboards can all be easily installed in the front panel. A technician can, therefore, easily perform maintenance on the automated dispensing machine.

All the information mentioned above only contributes a small amount when compared to more important factors such as: patient files, images, history and the database with information pertaining to all the drugs. In the traditional way, when the data became corrupt, the company would have to call the technician for onsite maintenance. Although hard drives are more reliable these days thanks to technological advances, it is still a nightmare for any pharmacists when considering all the troubles that he or she would have to go through, such as downtime and data loss. How can we reduce the disaster from happening? Well, the solution can be simple or complicated if done incorrectly.

What lies on the backbone of all the data saving strategy is to have a backup. So, instead of having only one drive that has all your data stored in it, you should have at least two or three drives that copy one another. But, another problem arises. Let’s say one of the drives failed but others are okay, so your data is still saved. But, how can you swap out the black sheep and replace it with a working one? Well, you could call up the maintenance guy and wait for them to open up the whole unit just to replace the one bad hard drive but doing so would probably take around 1-2 hours or more! That requires quite a lot of down time! So, what else can we do? The ideal solution is to have a front accessible drive bay. It will enable you to swap out the drives easier than ever and requires very little downtime. It will be a simple task for anyone who has a slightest knowledge of a computer –just pop open the drive and insert a new one to replace it. A technician can remotely instruct you on how to safely and accurately swap out the bad drive and replace with a good drive without any hassle!

So, what options are available that match all the criteria mentioned above? Here is the answer –It’s ICY DOCK! ICY DOCK ToughArmor series are specially designed for the most challenging applications often used in Medical, Military, and Industrial systems. Our ToughArmor series are crafted using full metal construction which is perfect for those demanding applications, and it’s also compliant with many flammability requirements which are a standard for medical facilities. Individual metal locking mechanisms provide durability and security so that a patient’s critical data stays secure. These features are the reasons why top-tiered companies such as GE and HP choose and trust ICY DOCK’s Tough Armor series to safeguard their important data! Lastly, all of our products are backed by a 3 year warranty with exceptional customer service, so you can rest assured that you’ll have the best support for quality products!