PHARMACY AUTOMATION: A SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF TECHNOLOGIES, BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES

This paper reviews recent evidence on the impact of pharmacy automation on dispensing errors, efficiency, cost and user satisfaction. It draws on eleven sources published between 2016 and 2026: four systematic reviews, a scoping review, a narrative review, two Saudi implementation studies, a Qatari study, a French study, and a trade article from the UAE. Robots and automated dispensing cabinets consistently reduce dispensing errors in hospitals, with a pooled standardized difference of −3.89 across 23 studies, but the effect on dispensing time is inconclusive. The initial investment is large, heterogeneity between studies approaches 100% in most analyses, and evidence outside hospitals is sparse. Artificial intelligence is so far limited to workflow support, with limited evidence. The paper concludes that integration with prescribing and inventory systems, together with training, are the conditions for realizing the benefits.