Omnicell Tackles Medication Inefficiency with RFID, AI, and a Vision for the Autonomous Pharmacy

As healthcare systems grapple with persistent staffing shortages and rising patient volumes, the need for streamlined, tech-enabled workflows has become urgent. A 2024 time-motion study across four hospitals found that clinical pharmacists spend over 80% of their time on clinical activities, with nearly 12% dedicated to face-to-face patient interaction. That leaves less than 20% for administrative and logistical tasks like inventory management, highlighting the opportunity for automation to further maximize clinical value. Omnicell’s push toward an “autonomous pharmacy” seeks to rebalance this equation by automating routine operations and freeing up clinicians for patient-facing care.

Can real-world automation and AI truly relieve cognitive burden without removing the human touch from healthcare?

This second episode in a two-part Highway to Health series, hosted by David Kemp, features Omnicell’s CEO and Founder, Randall Lipps, and Nish Parekh, the SVP and Chief Product Officer. They discuss how robotics, RFID, and predictive analytics are transforming medication workflows while restoring human connection in clinical care.

Key Takeaways:

• The Autonomous Pharmacy Vision: Omnicell aims to automate repetitive pharmacy tasks, allowing over 200,000 pharmacists to reengage directly in patient care.

• Real-World AI and RFID in Action: The lab’s MedTrack OR system uses RFID to track anesthesia meds in real time, solving inventory blind spots and reducing manual counts.

• Collaboration is the Catalyst: Every solution stems from customer-driven feedback. The Innovation Lab is not a showroom—it’s a collaborative workspace to solve “big, hairy” problems.

Randall Lipps is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Omnicell, where he has led the company from a single-product startup to a global leader in pharmacy automation and medication management. Drawing from his background in airline operations and logistics, he pioneered Omnicell’s vision of the Autonomous Pharmacy, now serving over 5,000 hospitals and 40,000 pharmacies worldwide. Lipps also serves on several healthcare and digital health advisory boards and is recognized for his leadership in automation, innovation, and operational efficiency.

Nish Parekh is a healthcare technology executive and current SVP and Chief Product Officer at Omnicell, where she leads global product strategy, innovation, and marketing. Her career spans leadership roles at IBM Watson Health, Epic, and AppliedVR, with a focus on AI, digital therapeutics, and advancing pharmacy automation. A recognized voice in health tech, she has been featured in Fast Company, spoken at SXSW and CES, and was named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders in Health Tech.

Article written by MarketScale.