III.  Barcode Driven Systems

The systems described above are literally driven by barcodes on drug products.  In other words, the routine actions of the personnel and equipment are to a large extent determined by what the barcode scanners read.  This design makes the systems easy to use, efficient and foolproof.  It also frees up the people involved so they can focus on the critically important, non-routine items like patient care, counseling and medical analysis.

The good news is that some of the most serious problems facing community and ambulatory pharmacies can be addressed simultaneously using the efficiency and accuracy of barcode driven systems:

In other words, by improving the use of barcodes on drug products, we can make a significant contribution toward solving a number of serious problems facing our health care systems.  Virtually everyone involved will benefit.