Unit Dose Packaging & Pharmacy Automation

Unit-Dose Packaging operations are becoming a key element in hospital pharmacies due to the lack of ability to purchase all medications in barcoded unit dose format. Manual packaging systems are increasingly popular and serve as an ancillary packaging solution for many facilities.

According to PP&P about 71% of facilities purchase three-quarters of their medications in barcoded unit-dose format, while only about 3% of facilities purchase all their medications in this format. Though the purchasing of bar-coded unit dose medications seems to be trending upward, the ability to purchase all needed medications in bar-coded unit-dose format remains indefinable. Because of this, packaging operations are a key component in many hospital pharmacies.

While mid-sized hospitals are most likely to purchase more than 90% of their medication in bar-coded unit dose format, this is still not the majority practice for facilities of any size. The majority of facilities dispense at least 96% of their medication in bar-coded unit-dose format, meaning that facilities have to figure out a way to repackage their medications into barcoded unit-dose format. Luckily, a multitude of highly rated packaging solutions are available to meet your increasing packaging needs, including Medical Packaging Inc., LLC. 

As a company, Medical Packaging Inc., LLC (MPI) is committed to providing efficient unit dose packaging solutions that assist health system pharmacies in achieving their medication management goals while enhancing patient care and safety. 

At the top of the list of packaging vendors is Medi-Dose. They remain the leader in this arena. Medical Packaging has partnered with Medi-Dose to create a way to make their blister packs serialization-ready utilizing MPI’s Pak-EDGE™ UD Barcode Labeling Software. In order to utilize this software, the customer must have an MPI Auto-Print® and be running Pak-EDGE™ UD Barcode Labeling Software Version 1.2 or greater.

This partnership between these top unit-dose packaging companies allows you to package both hazardous (Medi-Dose) and nonhazardous (Auto-Print®) solids in a bar-coded unit-dose format, resulting in an efficient in-house packaging system.