Lake Forest, IL - Kirby Lester, LLC, a leading pharmacy automation provider, experienced a significant increase in demand for its KL1 and KL1Plus tablet counting devices during the month of October 2014. The nationwide spike in Kirby Lester automated counting device sales was directly related to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) reclassification of widely prescribed hydrocodone combination products to Schedule II.
The DEA's rescheduling took effect October 6. C-II drugs such as hydrocodone combination products now carry numerous restrictions to ensure safe handling, including a mandate to double-count every prescription before it reaches the patient and more stringent auditing and inventory control. Manual methods such as tray-and-spatula counting are proven to be slow, inaccurate (95% accurate at best) and untrackable. Kirby Lester pharmacy automation is an ideal solution for C-II dispensing and accounting.
Kirby Lester pill counters use patented optic sensors to automatically count medications, which eliminates human inaccuracy and speeds the process of double-counts. The company's latest model, the KL1Plus, also includes scan-verification software to prevent a patient from receiving the wrong medication, strength or quantity. The KL1Plus keeps a record of every dispensed order.
"The October hydrocodone reclassification presents a new challenge to pharmacies that are already striving to improve their prescription fulfillment process. The use of the KL1 and KL1Plus for double-counting purposes enables the pharmacy to quickly and efficiently verify that all Schedule II drugs are dispensed accurately," says Dave Johnson, Kirby Lester's Vice President of Sales.
The October increase in demand reflects a growing awareness among pharmacy managers that manual methods are costly — in terms of manpower, potential mistakes, inventory discrepancies, and accountability.
About Kirby Lester
Founded in 1971, Kirby Lester (Lake Forest, IL) is a leading developer and provider of medication tablet/pill counters and robotic dispensing technology. Kirby Lester products significantly improve medication counting accuracy and reduce labor time associated with medication dispensing and prescription fulfillment. Kirby Lester products can be found in more than 40,000 retail, hospital, specialty, and mail order pharmacies in more than 40 countries. Kirby Lester is a Capsa Solutions company. To learn more, visit www.kirbylester.com or call 800-641-3961.
The KL1 (left-below) improves counting speed, accuracy and inventory control. The KL1Plus (right-below) adds scan-verification and Rx archiving.
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