PharmaService is one of the leading providers of automated dose dispensing services in Finland
29.1.2018
Oriola provides automated dose dispensing services in Sweden and in Finland.
In Finland, PharmaService, as part of Oriola Corporation, provides the service and Espoonlahti pharmacy operates as a contract manufacturer. The core of the business is Anja, an automated dose dispensing service offered in Finnish pharmacies and intended for private persons, retirement homes and home health care. The service, supporting medicine safety, is available via 300 pharmacies and reaches more than 21 500 patients.
Quality guaranteed
Automated dose dispensing is conducted in premises similar to a pharmaceutical plant, and the production follows a quality system in accordance with the good manufacturing practices (GMP). At the moment, Anja assortment includes over 700 products.
“The risk of medication errors is extremely low in the automated dose dispensing service. When dispensed manually, the error level is between 1% and 20%, depending on the study used, while the error level in the Anja service is as low as 0.003%.
Each dose pouch is automatically checked and photographed before being sent to the pharmacy,” says Niina Mäntylä, responsible pharmacist for dose manufacturing.
The automated dose dispensing system is being continuously developed by the competent multi-professional team. “Our production volumes are high; at the moment we dispatch around 21 million dose pouches. The inspection process of our dose pouches is very reliable, and we are really proud of the high quality,” Mantylä continues.
Expert service supports medical safety
With Anja service, pharmacies can provide their customers with a two-week supply of tablets and capsules, packed in single-dose pouches. The date and time for taking the medication is written on the pouch along with other information. Before starting the dose dispensing service, a patient’s medication is assessed in cooperation with a doctor and the pharmacy. Anja’s pharmacists help in the assessment by drafting a preview report.
“In the preview, our pharmacist checks the suitability of the product in question for the assortment of the dose dispensing devices, studies possible interactions and drafts a Salko-report. This saves time for the pharmacy staff,” says customer manager Marjo Vainio.
In addition to inspecting the patient’s overall medication, Anja’s pharmacists also check changed medicine orders to avoid interactions or overlap. ‘’This makes our service unique and most importantly, it serves medical safety and supports successful treatment’’, Vainio summarises.
The text is edited on 12.6.2019
