Saudi’s King Salman Hospital launches world’s first automated medication dispensing machine

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense's General Directorate for Health Services (MODHS), through the King Salman Armed Forces Hospital in the Northwestern region, launched what it claims is the world's first automated medication dispensing device that transforms the way medications are distributed — eliminating the need for hospital visits.

Key features

Olayan Alatawy, the director of the hospital's pharmacy department, explained that the machine includes:

• A workstation for processing the prescription barcode,
• An interactive screen for beneficiaries,
• A specialized operating system,
• A messaging platform that notifies beneficiaries while their medication is being prepared for delivery.

It can store between 102 and 700 medical prescriptions and fill them with multiple medications while ensuring high protection against damage, tampering, or theft. The machine also provides statistical data on dispensed medications to beneficiaries daily, monthly, or yearly.

How does it work?

Beneficiaries submit requests by scanning the barcode on their prescription. They then enter the necessary information and choose the closest dispensing machine to their location. A pharmacist then verifies the prescription data electronically.

Once verified, a text message containing a code, the device's location, and the request status is sent to the beneficiary. Beneficiaries can then retrieve their medication from the machine within 48 hours by entering the required data and the verification code received on their phone.