Phone Interruptions and Dispensing Errors: How to Protect the Bench
Interruptions raise dispensing error rates, and the phone is a leading interrupter. What the research shows, and how to cut phone interruptions in a pharmacy.
dispensing error rate when staff are interrupted, roughly double the 3.23% baseline
Source: Flynn et al., AJHPof dispensing errors are attributable to interruptions and distractions
Source: Pharmacy scoping review, 2025In this article
Ask any pharmacist what breaks their concentration at the dispensing bench, and the phone will be near the top of the list. It rings mid-count, mid-check, mid-conversation. Each time, attention leaves the medicine in hand and goes to the handset. That switch is not just annoying. It is a measurable safety risk.
This guide covers why interruptions matter more in a pharmacy than most settings, what the research actually shows, why the phone is a leading interrupter, and how to reduce phone interruptions without missing calls. At the end we explain how Krepko’s Emily helps.
Why interruptions matter more in a pharmacy
Dispensing is precise, sequential work. You are matching a script to a product, checking strength and form, and confirming the label. Break that sequence and the risk is not a lost thought. It is a wrong label or a wrong medicine.
Unlike many jobs, the cost of a slip here lands on a patient. That is why interruptions at the bench are treated as a patient-safety issue, not just a productivity one.
What the research actually shows
The evidence is clear and consistent. A study of more than 5,000 prescriptions found the dispensing error rate more than doubled during interruptions, rising to 6.65 percent from a 3.23 percent baseline.
The effect compounds with each interruption. Research on medication safety found the risk of an error rises 12.7 percent with every interruption, and the risk of a harmful error doubles when a task is interrupted four times.
And this is not a rare event. A 2025 review found that interruptions and distractions account for around 9.4 percent of dispensing errors, with staff interrupted anywhere from fewer than 5 to more than 20 times an hour.
The phone is a leading interrupter
Interruptions come from many directions: a customer at the counter, a colleague with a question, a delivery. But the phone is uniquely disruptive because it demands an answer now and gives no warning.
Worse, most phone interruptions are routine. A caller wants opening hours, a price, or whether a script is ready. None of that needs the person currently checking a dose, yet that is often who ends up answering because no one else is free.
The result is a bad trade: a high-stakes task is interrupted to handle a low-stakes question.
How to reduce phone interruptions
The goal is not to stop answering the phone. Missed calls cost scripts and customers. The goal is to keep routine calls away from the dispensing bench while still answering every one. A few approaches help.
Route routine calls away from the bench
The person dispensing should be the last resort for the phone, not the first. Any system that answers routine calls before they reach the bench protects the most error-sensitive work.
Batch non-urgent callbacks
Not every call needs an instant human response. Capturing non-urgent requests and handling them in a batch, at a planned moment, replaces many small interruptions with one controlled block of time.
Let an AI voice agent absorb routine calls
An AI voice agent answers the phone and resolves the common questions itself: hours, prices, refill status, directions. Staff are only pulled away for calls that genuinely need a person, which is a small fraction of the total.
Protect the dispensing bench explicitly
Whatever the tools, the principle is the same: treat the moment of dispensing as protected time. Reducing phone interruptions is one of the most direct ways to do that.
How Emily helps
Krepko built Emily to answer pharmacy calls so your team does not have to break away from the bench for every ring. It handles routine questions end to end, using live information from your dispense software, phone line, email, and SMS.
Because Emily resolves the routine calls, the interruptions that reach your staff are the ones that actually warrant attention. Clinical or complex calls are escalated to a person; everything else is handled without touching the bench. Given what the research shows about interruptions and dispensing errors, keeping routine calls off the bench is not just a workflow gain. It is a safety one.
Frequently asked questions
- Do interruptions really cause dispensing errors?
- Yes. A study found the dispensing error rate roughly doubled during interruptions, rising to 6.65 percent from a 3.23 percent baseline, and other research shows the risk of a medication error rises with each interruption.
- How often is pharmacy staff interrupted?
- A 2025 review found pharmacists and technicians are interrupted anywhere from fewer than 5 to more than 20 times an hour, with the phone a leading source.
- How can a pharmacy reduce phone interruptions?
- Route routine calls away from the dispensing bench, batch non-urgent callbacks, and use an AI voice agent to answer and resolve common calls automatically so staff are only pulled away for calls that genuinely need them.
- Does an AI voice agent replace the pharmacist on the phone?
- No. It handles routine questions like hours, prices, and refill status, and escalates anything clinical or complex to a person, so the pharmacist's attention stays on dispensing until it is truly needed.
Sources
- Impact of interruptions and distractions on dispensing errors in an ambulatory care pharmacy · American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (Flynn et al.)
- Sidetracks on the Safety Express: Interruptions Lead to Errors · ISMP (citing Westbrook et al., Archives of Internal Medicine)
- How do interruptions and distractions affect pharmacy practice? A scoping review · PubMed (peer-reviewed, 2025)
