BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ballad Health is excited to announce that Bristol Regional Medical Center has installed three Omnicell XR2 Central Pharmacy Dispensing robots to support the operations of Ballad Health Pharmacy’s Central Fill Services – with the robots nicknamed Dolly, Johnny and June.
They were unveiled in a special event at Bristol Regional on Thursday, Jan. 11.
This groundbreaking robotic technology will be a huge benefit to our patients, as it will improve patient safety, reduce medication errors and improve efficiency of medication inventory management, as Bristol Regional serves as a central pharmacy filling location for all Ballad Health hospitals.
It also aligns with our mission, as a High Reliability Organization, of a continuous pursuit of safety, using processes that help reduce risk.
Bristol Regional was selected to receive the new Omnicell XR2 robots for a number of reasons, with a big one being its central location in the Appalachian Highlands and in the Ballad Health service area. No matter which hospital needs medication, Bristol Regional will be within a reasonable driving distance.
More about the names
Each robot was given a name associated with country music, since Bristol is widely known for the 1927 Bristol Sessions that sparked the creation of country music. The final three names, selected by Ballad Health Pharmacy team members, pay homage to iconic singer-songwriters Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.
Giving each XR2 robot a unique name will simplify communication among team members related to their incorporation into our workflow.
More about the XR2
The XR2 has fewer touchpoints and will help free our pharmacy team members to focus on more clinical initiatives. Other benefits include:
- Decreasing the manual handling of medications by technicians and pharmacists
- Reducing expired medication waste by dispensing earliest-to-expire and optimizing on-hand inventory across Ballad Health
- Providing complete, real-time visibility to every dose and corresponding expiration date
- Enhancing patient safety by leveraging 100% barcode scanning
This project is a great investment in patient safety and part of our continuous effort to provide the best patient care possible!
