Smart dispensation of medicines in Dubai
dubai — The Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) pharmaceutical services department has announced the adoption of a smart system that monitors the cold chain of pharmaceuticals to preserve the quality and safety of medication.
Dr Ali Al Sayed, director of the pharmaceutical services department at the DHA, explained that the monitoring of cold chain especially when it comes to medication is considered one of the most important global issues and one of the biggest challenges that international health organisations face as it directly affects the quality, safety and the effectiveness of the medication.
“After conducting a series of studies on international practices in the field of smart medication management systems, the pharmaceutical services department adopted an internationaln standard smart system that monitors and tracks the temperatures of medication through the installation of smart devices and tablets that can be controlled and tracked electronically.
“These systems aim to guarantee a continuous cold chain, which will maintain the quality and safety of pharmaceutical medication. We have adopted the system with the support and guidance of Humaid Al Qatami, chairman of the board and director general of DHA,” said Dr Sayed.
Tablets will send alerts
Dr Sayed said that the smart system adopted by the DHA includes computer tablets incorporated with the medical refrigerators and refrigerator rooms. These tablets will register and document the temperature automatically and they will display the data in a graph format that shows the correct temperature limits and documents them.
“The tablets will also send alerts through text messages and emails in the case that the temperature exceeded the required limit. It will provide electronic reports regarding the medical storage and safety of the medication.
It will provide electronic reports regarding the medical storage and safety of the medication. These systems can also be controlled electronically through their own website.” Dr Ali Al Sayed, director, pharmaceutical services depart, DHA
These systems can also becontrolled electronically through their own website,” he said.
Dr Sayed added that small smart technology will document the temperature while transporting the medication from the storage to the pharmacies.
“These small smart devices are connected to the computer and display in graph form the temperatures the medication was subjected to through the transportation process.
“The system was implemented by the authority to maintain patient’s safety and achieve customer satisfaction as these systems preserve the safety of the medication by tracking and controlling the temperature the medication is subjected to throughout the transportation process until the medication reaches the patient.”