Choosing a Pill Counter

There are several factors that go into choosing a pill counter that counts pills by weight.  One is the maximum weight of the pills that will go into a single prescription.  Another is how many scripts are there to be filled in a single day that will be filled by this pill counter.  Of these scripts how many are less than 30 pills, how many are 30 to 59, how many are 60 to 89, and how many are 90 pills or greater?  Another is how many different people will operate the unit and how often will new personnel will need training?  Yet another is do we want Rx Verification (compare NDC bar code on the supply bottle with the NDC code on the script label pack).  Another is how large a database we need and what information should it store.  Finally, how important are compounding features to our operation.

Let’s look at these one at a time.  First, in order to determine the weight capacity that is required, we need to understand that the actual weigh of a pill is greater than its specified dosage weight.  For instance, you might have a prescription for 270 of a pill with a dosage weight of 800.mg, clearly less than 300g.  However, the actual weight of that pill might be 1200mg because of the added weight of other ingredients which go into each pill.  That makes the total weight of the pills 270 pills x 1200mg per pill = 324g.  In addition, since the pills are being poured directly onto the customers vial, there may be an added 30 to 60 grams of vial weight on the scale.  Also, if you want to do inventory with the same scale you may be dealing with large numbers of pills, and larger weights. In this case a scale with a capacity of 300g will not be sufficient. However if you think that the average size of your counted prescription will come out to be less than 250g a 300g scale will do just fine.

Knowing the number of scripts per day, and the distribution of these scripts by pill quantity, will allow you to get a better figure for the total time savings per day, which must be translated to a dollar savings per day, which is an important number in determining the ROI for the scale. If the scale’s primary purpose is not pill counting you might want to consider models such as the DRX-300 / 200 or DRX-4C2. These units do not come with a barcode scanner or database storage capability, and require you to establish an average piece weight each time you count. However if the unit will be mainly used for pill counting you should select the DRX-300s / 500s or the DRX-4C. Pill counting with these units is a fast 3 step process.

On screen instructions are always useful, but especially in situations where personnel are changed frequently. This feature is available on all DRX-5 series models. These are TORBAL’s most intuitive pill counters. Essentially ready to be used out of the box.

Rx Verification is a very valuable feature to provide safety for your customers and your employees. It is highly recommended to use this feature every time pill counting is performed. The feature compares the NDC number found on the prescription label to the NDC number on the supply bottle. This feature is available on all pill counters furnished with a barcode scanner (DRX-300s / 500s and the DRX-4C).

The database capacity is usually expressed in terms of drugs stored.  A first figure would be how many drugs the pharmacy has in stock that is likely to be counted by this pill counter.  Then add the likely number of drugs that you will add to the database during the next five years.

Think about what compounding features mean to your pharmacy and try to give them value. Pharmacies that compound as much as they count pills should consider the DRX-5 series scales. These units offer excellent compounding functions. If the primary application is compounding and tablet counting will not be performed, you should look into the DRX-200, and these units offer plenty of compounding capacity with internal automatic calibration and onscreen instructions.

The scale is likely to be with you for a long time and become a valued asset.  It is one of the least expensive forms of pharmacy automation.  Buy the best you can justify.