9 MAY 2025APACof hypersensitivity reaction. Sadly, a 73 year old woman passed away in November 2022, since the involved HIS generated too many alerts. "Alert fatigue" in this case, caused the alerts to become a distraction which prescribers unconsciously ignored. This illustrates the importance in striking the correct balance of alert frequency in order to achieve patient safety. Moving on to automated dispensing cabinets and medication repackaging systems. These have been shown to have a positive impact on dispensing efficiency and accuracy, medication security, as well as freeing up pharmacists' time on clinical services. Unfortunately, automated systems still require human intervention in providing the correct medication / information, to ensure that safety is not compromised. There is little standardization across automated systems, which can complicate matters when you employ staff who trained on a different system. Previous encounters highlight the necessity to scan medication before filling it into the medication cabinet, especially for look alike, sound-alike drugs, and drugs with multiple strengths. When various innovative measures are placed at different points of care, BCMA is able to pick up differences in medication strength before the medication is administered. It is important to remember that technologies such as barcode systems are meant to facilitate and support, rather than replace human judgement. This was demonstrated in a recent incident in a hospital pharmacy when an inventory executive scanned the bar-code on an invoice and the order number on the packaging, the two of which correctly matched. However, although the type of medication listed is correct, the barcode system incorrectly dispensed medication that was double the required strength. This highlights the need for human intervention, through additional checks and verification processes, to ensure the proper functioning of technological systems. It is also important to not only train staff to use these technologies, but also to understand the concepts behind them. We should strive to integrate AI and automation in a way that enhances rather than replaces human involvement in the healthcare system. Personally, I welcome the introduction of new technologies and seeing these incorporated into not only the medication management process, but also the patient journey- sometimes even before a medication reaches the commercial stage. My recent involvement in coordinating medical research made me realize the frustration in seeing 90 percent of drug candidates fail during the early phase of clinical trials -making it far more challenging to develop translational treatments. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in clinical research has the potential to be useful in many ways: from patient matching to handling data and drug discovery, benefiting patients especially those suffering from the rarest conditions for which limited treatments are available. I am excited to be part of a healthcare team, at the vanguard of a revolution in technology assisted patient care. AUTOMATED DISPENSING CABINETS AND MEDICATION REPACKAGING SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON DISPENSING EFFICIENCY AND ACCURACY, MEDICATION SECURITY, AS WELL AS FREEING UP PHARMACISTS' TIME ON CLINICAL SERVICES
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