RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology is used to automate common workflows. It is an advanced software technology that helps you create and manage software robots (in a form of a .exe file) that accomplish given or repetitive tasks the same as the humans on a computer system.

Just like humans, software robots can understand, analyze, manage, and complete assigned tasks, but they act faster and more efficiently than humans.

You need RPA tools to build or deploy a successful RPA technology into your pharmacy system. For that, UiPath is one of the leading RPA platforms. With UiPath, a pharmacy can build software robots to enhance efficiency, flexibility, and scalability.

UiPath contains three major components – studio, robots, and orchestrator. All the UiPath components work together seamlessly. For instance, here is the whole process.

• You can create RPA workflows by doing drag & drop, manual coding, and process recording features.
• Robots are software workers that utilize the animations created in the studio.
• Orchestrator deploys robots, schedules work, and reports, on the overall performance.

After creating a program in UiPath, you can download a .exe file. However, there are two options for that, attended and unattended programs.

Attended means, you need to start the program manually while unattended means, the program will automatically run as per the scheduled time.

Now you just need to install the .exe file into your computer to automate common computer-based tasks within your pharmacy store. This computer program is built and trained to automate a process and it does the same.

• Efficient workflow makes the pharmacy business more profitable, flexible, and convenient
• Employees can focus on the other important tasks
• No chance of error which improves the accuracy
• It facilitates work productivity
• Simplifies the patient data management
• Helps you avoid the time-consuming inventory management process
• Auto-refill prescriptions and reduce the burden on the patient
• Improves patient care experience
• Reduces overall cost, valuable time, and efforts
• Automate patient data collection helps you communicate with them efficiently

Auto refill prescriptions help patients to not worry about the medication due date. The system automatically refills prescriptions before the patients run out of medication if the patient has already agreed to join the auto-refill program.

As a result, patients don’t need to text or call their pharmacist regarding prescription refills.

Using automation software for inventory management, you don’t need to repeat the same procedure every time. It generates an automatic inventory report and not only saves your time but also reduces human errors and helps you focus on the other key important tasks.

Furthermore, the software offers insightful inventory data in which you can analyze how your inventory is performing and what’s missing in real-time.

It automates and streamlines all the accounting-related workflows for your pharmacy business.

Automatic billing or invoice reduces your manual accounting errors, saves valuable time, and eliminates time-consuming processes.

For instance, let’s assume a scenario in which the automation system will extract and send the patient billing data from the master pdf.

• OCR technology scans and extracts the complete billing data from the master pdf.
• It creates individual billing pdf for every consumer.
• Automatically sends it via SMS or Email.

Using email or SMS automation, you don’t need to manually reply or notify the patients regarding medication queries, prescription refills, and payments.

Furthermore, it automatically generates and sends all the essential medication information to the patients via email or SMS, with error-free data.

It is an all-in-one automation solution for the pharmacy.

Operating a pharmacy store without PMS (Pharmacy management system) is like running your life without a mobile phone.

By automating the PMS, you can automate multiple tasks in the pharmacy system such as – stock level, sales, billing or invoicing, email communication, and EPS (Electronic Prescription Services).

It can be used to monitor patients’ medication adherence, vital signs, and other health parameters.

This can help pharmacists in identifying any potential issues with a patient’s medication regimen, and intervene before a more serious problem occurs.

Remote monitoring can be done using a variety of devices, such as wearable sensors, mobile apps, and telehealth platforms.

The data collected from these devices can be transmitted to the pharmacist or other healthcare provider in real-time, allowing them to monitor the patient’s health status and adjust their medication regimen as needed.

Telepharmacy is the provision of pharmacy services remotely, using telecommunications technology.

Along with medication dispensing, it can include patient counseling and medication therapy management.

Pharmacists can communicate with patients and other healthcare providers using video conferencing, phone calls, or other telecommunication methods.

This allows them to provide medication-related services to patients who may not have access to a physical pharmacy.

Telepharmacy can also be used in combination with pharmacy automation systems to provide more comprehensive medication management services.

For example, a pharmacist could use a pharmacy automation system to dispense medications, and then follow up with the patient via telepharmacy to provide counseling and medication therapy management services.

As we discussed earlier, how RPA helps pharmacies to reduce workflow burdens and automates the manual data entry process, while at the same time improving patient satisfaction. However, there is also a limitation of the RPA in the automation system.

RPA lacks the ability to think for itself. In other words, if the input and output are not fixed, RPA won’t be able to automate the process. Additionally, RPA requires well-structured data to perform and deliver the required results for the given tasks.

OCR is a technology that extracts the data automatically from the print image, written text, or document and converts it into a readable, editable, and searchable format to utilize in data processing.

However, OCR also needs a well-structured or pre-planned template to extract fast and accurate data from the image or documents.

When it comes to the pharmacy business, there is a huge amount of patient data that needs to be collected, managed, and stored in a well-structured manner.

AI helps you fully automate all the tasks that need to be done in real-time, while at the same time focusing on the accurate and convenient output.

Additionally, the most important part is that AI can deliver the definitive result as per the change in needs. In other words, AI contains the ability to think for itself for the given instruction.

For instance, Cognitive OCR. It is a combination of AI and traditional OCR.

Unlike traditional OCR, Cognitive OCR doesn’t need a fixed or pre-planned template to extract the data from the given image or document. In other words, it thinks and performs the same as humans.