Abstract
Introduction: Pakistan's evolving healthcare infrastructure makes the integration of smart technologies in hospital pharmacies both an opportunity and a challenge for the pharmacy workforce.
Aims and objectives: To review the dynamic role of pharmacy technicians within smart hospital settings in Pakistan and to present a conceptual framework, Pharmacy Technician 4.0
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was done quantitatively on pharmacy technicians in five governments, privately operated non-profit tertiary hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used to analyze data based on 150 respondents and the statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results: The degree of automation was found to differ among the hospitals, with some having simple manual systems in place and others having partially automated dispensing and inventory management systems. Technicians in the partially automated hospitals showed a decrease in dispensing time (12 to 7 minutes per prescription), a decrease in medication errors (8–3%), and an improvement in patient adherence (65% to 78%). Mean scores demonstrated a moderately positive attitude towards automation, with the highest agreement that AI and robotics positively impact technician roles (mean = 3.81 ± 1.28). The Chi-square test showed a significant difference in the distribution of responses (χ2 = 282.7, p < 0.0001), which indicated overall acceptance of sophisticated technologies.
Conclusion: Pharmacy technicians in Pakistan are showing willingness to be transformed to a Technician 4.0 figure in smart hospital systems