Evaluation of a Clinical Pharmacist-Led Automated Dispensing Cabinet Stewardship Program at a Tertiary Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Background: There is little guidance regarding the best methodology or frequency to optimize automated dispensing cabinets. Clinical pharmacists are in the unique position to make decisions regarding automated dispensing cabinet inventory to best serve their specific patient population. Objective: The purpose of this evaluation was to determine if automated dispensing cabinet optimization by clinical pharmacists would affect the number of dispenses from central pharmacy, number of stockouts, and inventory cost. Methods: A retrospective analysis was completed to evaluate the quantity of medications dispensed from a central pharmacy department over 2 separate 2-month periods, with optimization of automated dispensing cabinets occurring in between. The differences in quantity of medications dispensed and redispensed, as well as the number of stockouts and inventory cost on all automated dispensing cabinets, were compared pre- and postintervention. Results: There were 1132 medication additions, 262 medication removals, and 167 medication par level adjustments. Medications dispensed from central pharmacy were decreased by 12% from the preintervention group to the postintervention group. The number of stockouts per cabinet per day also decreased from 0.75 to 0.61 in the pre- and postintervention groups, respectively. The inventory-at-par cost level was decreased by 15%. Conclusion and Relevance: Automated dispensing cabinet optimization by clinical pharmacists led to increased medication availability on inpatient units and decreased the number of dispenses from central pharmacy. Simple yet meaningful interventions can be taken to improve multiple medication distribution metrics simultaneously.