BD and Henry Ford Health partner to automate pharmacies
BD is a global medical technology company that aims to improve medical discovery, diagnostics, and the delivery of care. | Source: BD
Becton, Dickson and Co., or BD, today announced a pharmacy automation partnership with Henry Ford Health. The companies plan to develop a robotic system that will enable patients to pick up select prescriptions at their convenience, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Through this collaboration in the U.S., BD and Henry Ford Health will develop multiple applications of the BD Rowa Vmax, a pharmacy automation robot. The first deployment will enhance the prescription-retrieval processes at Henry Ford Health’s hospital-based community pharmacies in Southeast and Central Michigan.
“Modern pharmacy needs industrial-grade reliability and human-centered design. That’s the driving force behind our High Value Pharmacy Enterprise — uniting every pharmacy touchpoint under one vision to deliver safer care, better access, and measurable outcomes,” stated Jennifer Tryon, the chief pharmacy officer at Henry Ford Health. “This partnership with BD advances that vision. By introducing this automation, we free our teams to focus on high-impact, patient-centered work. It’s a bold step toward transforming how we serve our patients, our communities, and our industry.”
Already in use across Europe, BD Rowa Vmas is a high-speed, modular, high-capacity robotic system that automates the storage and dispensing of medications. By integrating it into Henry Ford Health’s pharmacy operations, patients will benefit from enhanced access to their prescriptions — whether picking up from a community location or upon discharge from the hospital.
BD to free up pharmacists from repetitive tasks
The partners said their collaboration offers several benefits, including:
Use of automation to improve the overall community pharmacy experience
Automated, high-capacity storage that safely and accurately retrieves patients’ prescriptions while improving pharmacy staff efficiency, enabling them to focus on higher-value patient care tasks
24/7 prescription access supports continuity of care and ensures convenience for patients
Real-time prescription tracking and modular scalability
Housing prescriptions, refrigerated medication, supplies, and over-the-counter products that patients may need for their ongoing care
“Henry Ford Health has one of the most innovative and patient-centered visions for what a health system pharmacy can do for patients,” said Chad Glover, vice president and general manager of pharmacy automation at BD. “BD’s robotics and pharmacy automation technologies are well aligned to support such a vision, and we are looking forward to this initial implementation as well as future collaborations to further advance Henry Ford Health’s hospital and community pharmacies.”
BD said it is working closely with Henry Ford Health to identify additional use cases for this pharmacy automation and other cutting-edge technologies. The Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based medical technology company said it works closely with its customers to enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety, and expand access to healthcare.
