Decentralized automated dispensing devices: systematic review of clinical and economic impacts in hospitals.

Technologies have been developed over the past 20 years to automate the stages of drug distribution in hospitals, including ordering, dispensing, delivery, and administration of medications, in attempts to decrease medication error rates. Decentralized automated dispensing devices (ADDs) represent one such technology that is being adopted by hospitals across Canada, but the touted benefits, in terms of improved patient safety and cost savings, are increasingly being questioned.