Published by Computachem Services

P.O Box 297.
Alstonville. 2477
NSW Australia

Phone:
61 2 66285138

Editor's Note: Sheryl Frame is a consultant who is involved in the development and marketing of an automated and remote controlled medication dispensing system.
She originally hails from South Africa, but for many years now, has called Australia "home", and has an impressive list of achievements in marketing and developing IT systems.
While the concept of remote dispensing is not new, the many innovations built into this system are unique, and thus patentable.
This is an Australian system and well worth investigating.
For those interested, there will be an opportunity to invest and own a "piece of the action".
It would be of interest to multi-group pharmacies wishing to centralise some aspects of dispensing and remote communities.

Pharmacies and the delivery of drugs and related restricted products have, until recently, faced similar problems to most other retail directed industries - offering accurate, convenient, reliable and accessible services to their customers.
With changes in legislation, and the advent of significant technologies, the pharmaceutical industry is now poised to address these problems.

Pharmaceutical products have now joined the list of vending convenience successes!
Vending has now made another quantum leap!
That's right!
Anything medicinal that you now have to get from a pharmacy or medical rooms - dispensed, OTC or off the display shelves - can now be delivered reliably, safely, securely and above all accurately and in absolute compliance with our stringent drug laws, from one of AVIL's patented vending machines, through the control of the responsible pharmacist.
These machines can be sited in pharmacies themselves for after hours dispensing, in medical facilities (hospitals, clinics, practices) and in convenient points in remote areas.

In rural areas particularly, where pharmacists are not on-hand to dispense vital medication, certain communities have already been given special dispensation for non pharmacists to dispense vital medication.
Although this has gone some way to address the problem of getting medicine to the patient quickly, errors often occur, and there is no "check and balance" type operation which a pharmacist would provide.
The use of AVIL's secure vending facility will mean that pharmaceuticals, both prescription and over the counter (OTC's) items, can now be dispensed by a remote pharmacist, timeously, and accurately. Discussions are underway with ATSIC in this regard.

Vending machines and vending technology are already well proven.
They are universally accepted as a merchandising and delivery channel for a wide and varied range of delivered product - we already get Coke, crisps, tools, condoms, fuel, gas, perishable food, stationery and perhaps most importantly cash from them without so much as a second thought!
We trust fuel bowsers to fill our tanks and ATM's to dispense with no more than a yawn of interest as to their reliability and accuracy, because these are expected!

The technology and systems now available ensure that the necessarily rigid restrictions of pharmaceutical vending are well met and enable even prescription linked product to be optimally delivered to customers.
Quite simply, this demands that pharmaceutical vending is achieved with absolutely no risk.
This frees-up pharmacists to be available to their customer even more easily and to enable medical practitioners to offer a really "total" service to their patients.

These systems enable complete control over accuracy, reliability and absolute adhesion and performance in line with existing and future safeguards.
It also covers the expected requirements of stock control, monitoring, dispensing, packaging and convenient delivery, and provides complete audit logs and records of what drugs have been dispensed, by whom, to whom and when.
Video cameras further record the image of the person collecting the pharmaceuticals, and enable the pharmacist to "see" who they are dealing with.

It is not surprising that vending remains one of Australia's three potentially dramatic growth industries, along with Aged Care and Biometrics.

For the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, which already experience problems with outdated reporting practices, pharmacy viability, remote area servicing, legal practices (such as discounting National Health Scheme scripts) and legislation such as the Federal Government's Public Benefit Scheme, vending offers significant problem-solving opportunities useful to retail and Government, as well as to the creation of revenue for the potentially wide user base.

For AVIL, the innovation promises the opportunity to place conveniently vending services that support various revenue and operational opportunities and options.
The Healthcare industry can never be "one size fits all" in its processes and workings; there will always be a need for individual applications, for such is the nature of dealings with people.
However, the advent of pharmaceutical vending reinforces definitively the elements of convenience and accessibility, always useful as foundations for any relationship driven industry.

AVIL's technology and systems are Australian and are covered by local patent.
The developers are working closely within their company environment to ensure rapid and responsible commercialisation of pharmaceutical vending potential.
Opportunities still exist for investors into this ground-breaking service provision area.

And, just as the demanding technology and systems needed for pharmaceuticals vending have been achieved and are milestones, they are also a door to the potential diversification into new dimensions of other metered and monitored vending in retail, wholesale and site specific applications.

For more information, contact Sheryl Frame on 0402-213-409 or via e-mail sframe@westnet.com.au