Hospital pharmacy automation is gaining ground across Asia-Pacific as healthcare providers look to reduce dispensing errors, improve medication management and ease pressure on pharmacy workforces.
Australia, Japan and Singapore are among the region’s more established markets, with hospitals increasingly adopting automated medication storage, dispensing and unit-dose systems.
But integrating these technologies with existing hospital information systems, managing implementation costs and ensuring pharmacists retain clinical oversight remain important challenges.
PengHui He.
Pulse+IT spoke with PengHui He, managing director for Asia-Pacific at Swisslog Healthcare, about the growing adoption of pharmacy automation, its impact on patient safety and workforce efficiency and how robotics, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics could shape the next generation of hospital pharmacy services.
How widely is pharmacy automation being adopted in hospitals across the Asia-Pacific region and which countries are leading the way?
Across Asia-Pacific, hospitals are adopting pharmacy automation at different rates, with Japan, Australia and Singapore among the more established markets. Adoption is shaped by healthcare systems, workforce demands and existing investment in medication management.
In Australia, Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne introduced automated medication storage and dispensing systems in 2024, with capacity to store up to 37,000 medication packs and dispense 9 medication packs per minute. Japan is also making progress, with hospitals such as Mie University Hospital adopting automated medication-picking systems to reduce manual dispensing work and improve medication management. In Singapore, SingHealth institutions use unit-dose and automated medication management systems to streamline pharmacy workflows and enhance patient safety.
Having worked closely with healthcare institutions across the region, we at Swisslog Healthcare see the greatest value of pharmacy automation in addressing the practical challenges pharmacists encounter every day. For instance, our automated medication storage solutions help improve inventory control and minimise picking errors through controlled medication retrieval. Our unit-dose automation solutions support medication safety by enabling individual doses to be packaged, verified and tracked from the pharmacy to the patient. We also offer integrated solutions that automate patient-specific medication dispensing, helping hospitals reduce medication waste and improve operational efficiency. Together, these capabilities can ease the burden of repetitive tasks on pharmacy teams, giving pharmacists more time to focus on clinical care.
What are the main challenges in hospital pharmacy and medication management that automation is helping to address, and where do you see the greatest opportunities for improvement?
Hospital pharmacy is an exacting environment, where even routine tasks demand considerable attention. Pharmacists must manage the complexities of dispensing, maintaining adequate stocks, handling medicines safely and coordinating their movement between departments. These responsibilities require accuracy and careful coordination, but manual processes can be time-consuming and take pharmacists away from clinical care. The potential for improvement is significant. For instance, a 2025 study at a hospital in Taiwan found that the introduction of automated dispensing and related medication-management technologies reduced dispensing error rates by nearly 78 per cent, demonstrating how automation can strengthen medication safety.
The benefits extend to operational efficiency. A 2026 systematic review found that pharmacy automation improved dispensing efficiency and medication safety, while another study reported a 60.3 per cent reduction in weekly inventory processing time after introducing a digital inventory application.
At Swisslog Healthcare, we see these challenges firsthand. One example is University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The UCSF experience demonstrates how pharmacy automation can improve both operational performance and patient safety. By deploying Swisslog Healthcare’s PillPick system, the hospital reduced manual workload, lowered dispensing errors, and achieved substantial cost savings of approximately US$300,000 in the first six months. The solution also provided the scalability needed to support a growing hospital population while maintaining high standards of medication management.
I believe the greatest opportunity lies in connecting medication storage, dispensing and transport into more coordinated hospital workflows. By improving inventory visibility, reducing repetitive tasks and enabling the timely movement of medicines, automation can help pharmacists dedicate more time to clinical decisions and patient care.
What does pharmacy automation look like in practice? Which parts of the medication-management process can be automated and which still require direct pharmacist involvement?
A medicine passes through several stages before reaching the patient, and each presents opportunities for automation. From receiving and storing medication to preparing individual doses and dispensing medicines, automation can streamline tasks that require precision and reliable traceability.
Swisslog Healthcare’s solutions illustrate the practical applications of this approach. For inpatient pharmacy operations, PillPick Octave and BoxPicker automate unit-dose packaging, storage and dispensing, preparing patient-specific medication doses ready for administration. For outpatient pharmacy operations, EvoTec automates medication storage and retrieval, helping improve inventory control and minimise picking errors.
The possibilities are becoming more sophisticated, with advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and sensing technologies enabling machines to undertake a broader range of physical activities. Clinical responsibility, however, remains with qualified professionals. Pharmacists must assess the appropriateness of prescribed therapies, recognise potential interactions, reconcile treatment histories and exercise discretion when individual circumstances warrant a different course of action.
I would regard this distinction as fundamental to the future of hospital pharmacy. Technology can bring a high degree of consistency to pharmaceutical handling, but decisions concerning a patient’s treatment demand the knowledge, experience and considered judgement of a pharmacist.
How does pharmacy automation integrate with existing hospital systems, including electronic medical records, pharmacy information systems and electronic medication management platforms? What are the main interoperability challenges?
The effectiveness of pharmacy automation depends heavily on how well it communicates with the hospital’s existing digital infrastructure. Electronic medical records, pharmacy information systems and medication management platforms each hold information essential to the safe handling of medicines. Connected systems allow prescription details to be sent directly to automated dispensing equipment, while inventory updates and dispensing records are shared with relevant clinical systems.
At Swisslog Healthcare, integration forms an important part of implementing pharmacy automation, including the use of established healthcare communication standards such as HL7 to connect our technologies with third-party hospital systems.
Complications tend to arise from differences in how these platforms record, interpret and exchange information. Hospitals often operate a mixture of legacy and newer applications, where inconsistent data standards, fragmented information systems and variations in communication protocols can make interoperability difficult to achieve. Addressing these discrepancies requires careful attention to how information is structured and shared, especially when the accuracy of medication records has a direct bearing on patient safety.
What evidence is emerging about the impact of pharmacy automation on medication safety, dispensing errors, operational efficiency and the amount of time pharmacists can spend on clinical care?
The consequences of a dispensing error can be serious, which is why I believe medication safety deserves to be at the centre of any discussion about pharmacy automation. Technologies that automate medicine retrieval and support patient-specific dispensing can reduce opportunities for picking errors, while providing a more dependable record of how medicines are handled throughout the hospital.
Beyond improving medication safety, pharmacy automation is also helping hospitals address operational inefficiencies. A 2026 systematic review of hospital pharmacy automation across G20 countries, including Australia, China, and Japan found that automation reduced medication errors and medication administration time while improving dispensing efficiency.
At Swisslog Healthcare, we are helping hospitals improve medication safety and efficiency through solutions tailored to inpatient and outpatient pharmacy needs. Our flagship PillPick Octave and BoxPicker supports inpatient medication management through automated unit-dose packaging and patient-specific dispensing, reducing manual handling and the risk of errors. For outpatient pharmacies, solutions such as EvoTec and UniPick 2 help streamline medication storage, picking and order fulfilment, improving inventory accuracy and dispensing efficiency.
I believe hospitals that are willing to embrace pharmacy automation have an opportunity to make better use of their pharmacists’ expertise. By reducing repetitive tasks and improving dispensing accuracy, automation can give pharmacists more time for medication reviews, therapeutic monitoring and other clinical responsibilities, while strengthening operational efficiency and patient safety.
How does Australia’s adoption of hospital pharmacy automation compare with other countries in APAC, and are there particular international implementations or approaches Australian hospitals could learn from?
Australia has an established healthcare system and a growing appetite for technologies that can improve the functionality of hospitals. Pharmacy automation has a place in this, especially as healthcare providers contend with workforce pressures, rising service demands and the need to derive more value from existing resources. These concerns are also evident in Australia’s wider healthcare agenda, where the sustainability of service delivery and the judicious use of technology remain important considerations.
From my perspective, Australia’s next opportunity lies in taking a more comprehensive view of how pharmacy services are organised. Decisions about automation must account for the volume and complexity of prescriptions, the configuration of hospital facilities and the demands placed on pharmaceutical personnel. There is also much to be gained from ensuring that new installations can accommodate changing clinical requirements without necessitating extensive modifications later.
At Swisslog Healthcare, our work across different healthcare environments has shown us the importance of understanding these practical considerations before determining the most suitable approach for a hospital.
What are the main barriers to implementing pharmacy automation, particularly around upfront costs, infrastructure, workforce readiness and changes to established clinical workflows? How can hospitals demonstrate a return on investment?
The upfront cost of automation is a major consideration for hospitals, along with expenses such as infrastructure upgrades, system integration, maintenance and staff training. Introducing automation into an existing pharmacy also requires careful planning, as workflows and staff responsibilities may need to change.
I believe preparing staff is just as important as investing in technology. Pharmacists and other clinical staff need proper training to use automated systems confidently. Involving them in the implementation process can also help ensure new workflows are practical. Building digital skills is especially important as hospitals expand their use of automation.
Hospitals should assess the financial benefits of automation by comparing results before and after implementation. Measures such as dispensing times, inventory losses, staff hours, medication errors and equipment use provide a clearer picture of its value than productivity estimates alone. Ongoing costs and the expected lifespan of the systems should also be considered.
Looking ahead, how do you see technologies such as AI, robotics and predictive analytics changing hospital pharmacy operations over the next five years, and where does pharmacy automation fit within the broader development of the digital hospital?
Over the next five years, I expect robotics to play a greater role in hospital pharmacy operations, improving how medicines are stored, retrieved and dispensed. Automated systems can help reduce manual handling, minimise dispensing errors and improve the efficiency of medication management. By integrating AI with pharmacy automation systems, hospitals can move from reactive to predictive operations. AI can help forecast medication demand and preparation requirements, enabling pharmacists to optimise inventory, staffing, and workflow planning. In addition, AI-powered support tools can assist pharmacy teams in rapidly diagnosing and resolving system issues, reducing downtime and allowing pharmacists to focus more on patient care.
The appetite for these capabilities is evident. According to a 2026 industry report by Business Market Insights, the Asia-Pacific hospital and pharmacy robotics market is projected to reach US$1.19 billion by 2033, with medication dispensing robots accounting for the largest product segment in 2025.
I envisage pharmacy automation becoming an integral part of the digital hospital, where medication requirements, stock availability and dispensing activities are managed with a more complete understanding of clinical demand. At Swisslog Healthcare, our solutions, including PillPick Octave, BoxPicker and EvoTec, are helping hospitals automate medication handling and improve inventory visibility. We see the greatest promise in connecting these processes to create more efficient and coordinated medication management workflows.
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