Drugs and vaccines need to be stored in controlled temperature and humidity environments, that  require continuous monitoring. The Rotronic Monitoring System (RMS) provides secure and reliable monitoring in hospital and pharmacy refrigerators and freezers. Additionally Rotronic can monitor laboratories operating rooms and other critical areas.

Pharmacies throughout Switzerland are subject to strict laws (HMG Therapeutic Products Act), which state the temperature at which specified medications must be stored. To meet these requirements, the temperature in the refrigerated medicine cabinets are checked and documented regularly. Following some damaged drugs in a Pharmacieplus AG pharmacy due to an excessively high temperature, some pharmacies have now opted to use the Rotronic Monitoring System to assist with the prevention of any further occurrence.

Monitoring Technology
At Pharmacieplus pharmacies, the monitoring system incorporates Rotronic compact data loggers, which communicate with the software via an 868 MHz wireless connection using gateways or directly via LAN connection. The data loggers are positioned as required and are set to record the temperature. Depending on the requirement, this can vary from every 10 seconds up to every 15 minutes.

Most of the Rotronic devices are used in refrigerators, since the medicines stored in them are particularly sensitive to temperature changes. The mini logger sends the data via secure radio signals to a gateway, This is installed at a point in the Pharmacy where the configured connections to all the data loggers are located. The data is transmitted to a server via the network and stored there securely. The alarm function ensures that a warning message is triggered immediately if the temperature rises or falls from the defined tolerance. This can be easily set individually in each pharmacy.

Implementation

After setting up the software on one of the hosting company’s servers in Geneva, an initial RMS logger was installed at the company in Bremblens, Switzerland by remote engineering and with support from Rotronic. After successful evaluation, the other Pharmacieplus sites were able to access the application directly. The necessary infrastructure needed to be installed in these pharmacies, but was easily completed. Pharmacieplus AG has launched a campaign that enables interested pharmacists to purchase the system on special terms and, to take                                                                                                  advantage of support during the                                                                                                        installation work.

Outcome
This year the Rotronic (RMS) system was installed in half of all Pharmacieplus pharmacies. Soon after its introduction, users were enthusiastic about the simplicity of system handling and appreciated the  value of automated temperature monitoring and individually configurable alarms. Data is recorded reliably and accurately every minute and can be viewed at any time, whenever required. This saves time and simplifies compliance with temperature regulations.

The Pharmacieplus group was established 24 years ago by a number of independent pharmacists. They offer their customers personal health advice and high-quality healthcare services.