Purchasing 100% of medications packaged in bar coded unit dose remains an elusive goal for pharmacy; just 2% of facilities have successfully attained this target. Yet, manufacturers are providing an increasing number of medications in bar coded unit dose. Four years ago, just 17% of hospitals were able to purchase 90% or more of their medications in bar coded unit dose; this year, 26% were able to. Many items still require manual packaging; fortunately, some excellent systems are available to bring safety and efficiency to this process.

For more information, visit www.pppmag.com/automation and click on Unit Dose Packaging Systems.