What’s inside:
In this article we will discuss how to select a smart narcotics cabinet that is suitable for decentralized dispensing.
We’ll look at:
- Why strong security is required for decentralized dispensing systems
- The 3 security features that prevent drugs diversion
- Secured Narcotics Cabinet features
Decentralized dispensing is a growing trend, but it’s not just a matter of installing narcotics cabinets in surgical areas.
Automated dispensing cabinets help healthcare facilities secure controlled substances, prevent drug diversion, and improve medication accountability. However, not all ADC systems offer the same level of protection. Here are three essential security features every healthcare organization should evaluate before implementing decentralized dispensing.
Why is Strong Security Required for Decentralized Dispensing Systems?
Drug diversion is rife in the healthcare sector, so decentralized dispensing needs to be carefully planned and rolled out.
Automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) are increasingly being used, but selecting an appropriate system is not simple.
Not all narcotics cabinets are equal. Many are far less secure than you may think.
The aim for any healthcare organization is to achieve secure clinical dispensing with strong pharmacy oversight.
Unsecured dispensing cabinets are a ticking time bomb. Just recently, a former nurse at a Surgery Center in Florida was charged with replacing 450 vials of fentanyl with saline, and this is far from an isolated case.
So, let’s look at the top three security features that provide a high level of protection against drug diversion in the healthcare setting.
Secured Access Controls for Automated Dispensing Cabinets
In order to restrict access to controlled drugs and narcotics, the best automated dispensing systems have two-tier security in place.
- Restricting system access: A robust cabinet will limit system entry to authorized personnel only.
Healthcare organizations may use a system that verifies staff using passwords or electronic ID cards, but these aren’t ideal as they can be compromised due to theft or sharing. More robust systems offer enhanced protection via biometrics or face recognition technology – both of which require the individual themselves to be present to gain system access.
But even when the system carefully verifies the user, there are still security issues.
Drug diversion is often carried out by trusted staff members who have been granted access to the system, so a further level of protection is required.
- Restricting item access: Some carts and cabinets contain drawers that store multiple items. This setup means that a user has access to a wide range of narcotics, not just the items they need to dispense. In addition, there are no checks and balances to monitor which items individual staff members remove from the drawer.
Single cell dispensing is the most secure setup for a smart narcotics cabinet, as it enables all user activity to be monitored.
Systems offering the double protection of locked drawers plus locked individual cells provide secure, restricted access to narcotics and controlled drugs.
How Automated Dispensing Cabinets Improve Drug Accountability
A crucial element of any drug diversion prevention program is to put a system in place that tracks individual usage.
Automated Dispensing Cabinets that create a digital trail of all dispensing activity at the user and item level ensure individual accountability and optimal security.
Robust, single-cell dispensing systems facilitate this close management of all dispensing activity. Users will need to request a particular drug and will be signposted to a specific cell. They will only be given access to the single cells that contain the drugs they request. All activity is digitally tracked, so there is total clarity of who the user is and the drugs they accessed.
Preventing Drug Diversion with Tracked Narcotics Returns
Many systems focus on the dispensing element of narcotics management, but when it comes to drug returns, system security often falls apart.
While some systems do ensure single-cell dispensing, most only offer a general compartment for returns.
This is a severe security risk. Does drug diversion only occur at the point of dispensing?
General returns compartments are tempting for drug diverters. They can open a drawer full of returns and return the item they don’t need, then remove any other item they want. The system will not be able to identify which of the users who placed returns in the compartment was the culprit. Some hospitals require manual authorization of returns, but this process can still be problematic and is far less reliable than digital tracking.
Systems with single cells for returns are the most secure and offer complete item tracking for both items removed and returned.
So, the three important security features that you need to check when selecting an automated dispensing cabinet are:
- Secured access
- Individual accountability
- Single cell returns
Secured Narcotics Cabinet with Advanced Security Features
There are many automated dispensing cabinets on the market. These may even look fairly similar, but their functionality varies, and many do not offer the sophisticated level of protection that is required for decentralized dispensing.
IDENTI’s Secured Narcotics Cabinet complies with the ASHP Preventing Diversion of Controlled Substances guidelines and provides robust protection against drug diversion in operating rooms and procedural spaces.
The system includes biometric authentication, single-cell dispensing, digital audit trails, and tracked return management to help reduce drug diversion risk.
The Secured Narcotics Cabinet comes in two sizes:
– A large cabinet with 990 dispensing compartments and 64 return cells.
– A desktop cabinet with 192 dispensing compartments and 34 separate returns cells.
IDENTI’s smart Narcotics Cabinet was designed especially for decentralized dispensing, allowing clinicians ease of use, while retaining full pharmacy management and control.
Contact us to find out how your healthcare organization can put an efficient automated dispensing system in place while at the same time ensuring high levels of security.
An automated dispensing cabinet is a system used for the decentralized dispensing of controlled drugs and narcotics in the healthcare setting.
These cabinets store and dispense drugs at the point of care.
Decentralized dispensing is when hospitals or surgery centers move the storage and dispensing of drugs into clinical areas.
This means that the physician or anesthetist is responsible for the dispensing or return of drugs. The cabinet, stock and drugs management is all dealt with by the Pharmacy.
The system therefore requires a good tracking system to monitor users and dispensing, as well as strong management information and systems.
New technology is providing greater flexibility in the management of pharmaceutical inventory in the healthcare sector.
The system should have a positive impact on patient safety, with non- pharmaceutical staff being able to access and dispense drugs in the clinical setting.
Having an automated dispensing cabinet in clinical areas means quick and easy access to medication at the point that it is required, without any delays. Adverse drug reactions can also be swiftly responded to.
The move to decentralization is popular with clinicians, reducing stress levels and improving autonomy.
There are two distinct roles with decentralized dispensing.
Clinicians manage the drugs at the point of care and are responsible for providing timely and accurate medication to patients by using an automated dispensing cabinet.
Pharmacists manage the dispensing cabinet, monitoring item usage to ensure timely restocks, tracking user activity to ensure security and handling returns. In addition, they need to look at data analytics to optimize their pharmaceutical inventory planning.
Drug diversion is when controlled prescription drugs are redirected for personal use, sale, or distribution to others. It is an illegal activity that is prevalent across the US healthcare sector.
Drug diversion is dangerous. It can result in medication switches, for example, fentanyl can be switched with saline – both are clear liquids. This results in patients who need the original drug being given a replacement that does not give them the pain relief they need. Drug diversion may lead to infection where syringes are contaminated and poses a risk to patients.
Drug diversion can result in stock shortages and present management issues, including human resources, regulatory compliance, inventory management, patient care, and finance.
One concern is the potential for inadequate standards of care from impaired healthcare workers.
Ensuring a drug diversion prevention system is a high priority.
