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Handwritten prescriptions and manual medication pickup processes plague healthcare systems with inaccuracies, inefficiencies, and contamination risks. Key problems include prescription errors from illegible scripts, overcrowding and long waits at pharmacies exposing patients to contamination, and lack of contactless self-service medication access. This integrated cloud architecture comprehensively solves these issues through electronic prescription (e-prescription) management enabling digital workflows, Internet of Things (IoT) remote patient monitoring, and automated contactless pharmacy dispensing. Doctors electronically prescribe and manage medications while monitoring patient vitals via IoT devices. Patients authenticate e-prescriptions at automated units for self-service pickup, eliminating wait times and person-to-person contact risks like COVID-19. The cloud platform centrally orchestrates e-prescriptions, IoT integration, medication tracking, and dispensing across providers and patients. Enhancing prescription safety, optimizing pharmacy operations, and enabling convenient contactless access, the system demonstrated over 95% accurate dispensing and 80% reduced wait times in evaluations. The proposed architecture introduces a paradigm shift by cohesively combining cloud computing, IoT, and pharmacy automation to transform healthcare delivery into a safer, more efficient, and more convenient access to medications.
Elshaer et al. (Tue,) studied this question.