The Central Fill Pharmacy uses the McKesson pharmacy automation high-volume system that was purchased back in 2006. At that time, the system was rated for an output of about 3000 scripts per day. With the recent expansion of Valley Health Center (VHC) outpatient clinic pharmacies and the significant shift towards mail-order services triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of prescriptions required to be filled have simply exceeded the current McKesson automation system's capacity. The Central Fill Pharmacy currently fills 5,000-5,500 scripts per day. They have been able to address this volume increase by allocating additional personnel to the pharmacy, extending hours of operation, and adding robots such as a Parata Express filling robot, an auto-bagger device, and a puck-return line. However, due to limited space constraints, the pharmacy is not able to scale further. There is still a daily backlog of ~3,500 scripts carried forward each day, which can potentially lead to delays in patient care. To address the space issue, the Central Fill Pharmacy is being relocated out of its current location on the VMC campus as part of the hospital's campus redevelopment project. By Dec 2026 the plan is to move the central fill pharmacy to a new 27,000 square feet facility that will be large enough to accommodate the pharmacy's needs. The pharmacy will need to be completely operational with a new pharmacy high-volume system by this time. The goal is to have the new vendor's automation system up and running that will not just meet the current need of 5,500 scripts per day but support the anticipated growth of filling up to 10,000 scripts/day.
Background
The County of Santa Clara Health System (CSCHS) Department of Pharmacy Services is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to provide a high-volume automated prescription fulfillment system for the Central Fill Pharmacy. The County aims to enhance its pharmacy services to meet the growing demand for prescriptions, which has increased significantly due to recent expansions and shifts in service delivery.
The goal is to implement a system that can handle at least 12,000 prescriptions per day, ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations and standards.
Work Details
The project scope includes providing a high-volume system capable of processing a minimum of 6,000 prescriptions daily, scalable up to 12,000 prescriptions. Key requirements include:
- Integration with the hospital’s Electronic Health Record (Epic/Health Link), specifically the Willow Ambulatory module.
- Capability to receive and process prescription orders, including grouping based on business rules and routing them through various automation hardware for labeling, filling, verification, packing, sorting, and manifesting.
- Integration with third-party postage providers for shipping manifest labels and tracking updates.
- Customizability for future software development needs.
- Implementation of a conveyor system for efficient prescription handling.
- Use of automated robotics for high-speed dispensing and quality control mechanisms.
- Inventory management capabilities and barcode scanning technology for verification processes.
- Comprehensive training for staff on maintenance and operations of the new system.
By December 2026, the pharmacy must be operational in a new facility with the new system fully integrated.
Period of Performance
The contract will have an initial term of four years with options for three additional two-year renewals. The complete implementation must be operational by December 2026.
Place of Performance
The services will be performed at the County of Santa Clara's Central Fill Pharmacy, which is scheduled to relocate to a new 27,000 square foot facility.
