If all physicians prescribed 100% according to guidelines? We would've been replaced yesterday. However, they don't prescribe 100% according to guidelines. Have you ever heard the term "off-label"? It is where a medication is prescribed for a condition that the medication is not "approved" for. There is also a lot of "grey" areas in meds, for example: drug-drug interactions that are severe, but the physician feels the benefit outweighs the risk. OR what about drug allergies? Patient says they have a penicillin allergy, and the doc writes for Keflex. Well keflex is in the penicillin class, but it is a cephalosporin and cross-reactivity is about 3-5%. Will a machine approve the med for the patient?
That being said, mail-order pharmacies are just about getting to that point. Pharm Techs are only there to fill the robots and deal with insurance, and pharmacists are there for over-sight, final verification, and to answer questions. Someone still has to open the stock bottles and poor them into a robot, and what if a tech pours the wrong bottle into the wrong spot in the robot? could cause thousands of drug injuries.
DRx