With a heartfelt passion for improving patient care and pharmacy efficiency, Sudbury pharmacy technician Avalon Lupini found an innovative solution for labelling hospital drugs with expiry dates. The solution is called SmartyPrints, a smart printing solution.
SmartyPrints is, simply, a small printer that quickly and accurately creates batches of expiration labels for prescription drugs. In addition to the printer, the custom labels are the most important feature.
Lupini, a member of Nipissing First Nation, has been working as a pharmacy technician for the past 18 years, most recently with Health Sciences North for the past eight years.
“I noticed in the hospital setting we were using expired labels at a large volume. These are time-sensitive drugs and kept in refrigeration,” Lupini explained.
“When they come out of the fridge, they’re only good for a certain number of days; for example, 28 or 90 days. And there is a different expiry date for every drug.”
The hospital services about 600 patients a day and has been handwriting expiry dates on labels affixed to drugs, which can easily smear and become illegible. It would also take staff a considerable amount of time to write the dates.
“This is a lot of work, and I think there’s a better solution,” Lupini thought before coming up with the idea for a label-maker — a solution that would be well received by hospital management.
Lupini and her husband, Dean Lupini, who owns and operates Key Logic Software Solutions, decided to explore what might already exist in the market, but they didn’t find any viable solution, which gave them a good reason to proceed.
Working with her husband has been a great match.
“To get this off the ground needs someone with an idea, but there was a lot of work involved to get to where we are today,” Lupini shared about the partnership.
The couple developed the printer and the software, while the labels are sourced from a label-maker in British Columbia.
Custom made for SmartyPrints, the labels are suitable for all temperatures, with a special adhesive that ensures they remain affixed to cold or moist products. This means they can be refrigerated, get wet or come into contact with alcohol or other chemicals and remain legible.
To avoid error, SmartyPrints allows pharmacy staff to upload the data and enter the required expiry date. With over 3,000 labels used per week, this solution reduces errors and time.
“Once we had it in the pharmacy and it was validated that this is an amazing solution, we brought the prototype to management and they’re like, ‘This is amazing!’” Lupini recalled.
“SmartyPrints can solve a lot of problems for just under $4,000.”
For her work developing SmartyPrints, Lupini was recently recognized by the Pharmacy Practice + Business Awards with the 2024 Technician Initiative Award. The awards recognize Canadian pharmacy professionals who provide exceptional patient care and demonstrate creativity and innovation in pharmacy practice.
SmartyPrints is an "incredible technology invention to promote patient safety in hospitals, which streamlines care and prevents waste as well," the judges said in awarding her the prize.
“It was an amazing feeling to know that it was me who thought of the solution,” said Lupini, who knew the positive impact her invention would make not only to hospital resources and staff, but also for patients and their families.
“This is the moment we’re gonna make a difference. And that’s what everybody at the hospital said, ‘You’re gonna change everything.’”
Throughout her life, Lupini has been influenced by both her maternal and paternal grandmothers. Her maternal grandmother was an inspiration for her.
“She just really instilled positive thinking, such as thoughts are things, and smudging. She always said to me that I should be grateful every day because the more you say thanks, the more you receive — for the land and the people in your life, your family and your health,” Lupini said.
“She was very traditional, my grandmother. Full of hopefulness and [the idea that] we can do anything we desire.”
The road to building and marketing SmartyPrints started in August 2023 with a team of supporters. Aside from her husband, she received advice from the Sudbury Regional Business Centre, which suggested she get an intellectual property lawyer and incorporate. Working quickly, she obtained trademarks for Canada and the U.S.
She found family and community support through Nipissing First Nation and Waubetek Business Development Corporation.
Lupini has also been working with Steven Becker, a mentor from Futurepreneur Canada, the business consulting firm Breaking Forward, and the NORCAT innovation centre where her husband received support over 20 years ago for his business.
The Lupinis now have 40 units built, with six sold, and plans to build more.
Manufacturing is done in Sudbury, with domestic and imported parts. But all the design work, engineering, software development, labels, marketing materials, and some of the electronics were all done in Canada.
Lupini spends less time in the pharmacy now and more time connecting with colleagues across Canada and the United States to share the benefits of SmartyPrints.
“I just feel that having a database for time-sensitive drugs is a smart way to go as well as moving away from anything handwritten when it comes to health care,” she said.
“It also means not having to discard drugs where an expiry date is illegible. Drugs that can cost $100 each and if they discard even just five for illegible expiry dates, that’s $500 every day. That can add up over time.”
