Medication Cabinet (optional)

Build digital medication cabinets, assign them to activities, and let students dispense, waste, and return medications alongside the patient chart.

The Medication Cabinet is ChartFlow's digital pharmacy and inventory system. It replicates an automated dispensing cabinet (like a Pyxis or Omnicell) so students can pull, waste, and return medications during clinical scenarios, while every transaction is recorded in an Audit Log.

This guide follows the full workflow: build a cabinet, stock it, assign it to an activity, see how students use it, and review the Audit Log.

The Medication Cabinet is an optional feature that must be enabled for your program.
To activate it, please contact us at [email protected].

 

1. Click Organizations in the left sidebar and open your organization. Note: cabinets can only be built by Organization Admins.
2. Select the Cabinets tab. This is your organization's list of digital medication cabinets.
3. Use the Search bar to find a cabinet by name, which is useful for organizations with multiple simulation labs.
4. Click + New Cabinet at the top right to create a new cabinet from scratch.
5. Click Manage Cabinet next to any existing cabinet to open its settings. Inside you will find three tabs: Layout, Inventory, and Audit Log.

💡 Tip: Avoid generic names like "Cabinet 1". Use a naming convention based on your physical labs, courses, or clinical settings (e.g., Nursing Sim Lab A - MedSurg or EMS Pharmacy Bag). This makes it much easier for instructors to assign the correct cabinet to their activities.

 

1. The Layout tab opens by default. Enter or edit the Cabinet Name at the top.
2. Click + Add Drawer to create a main tier of the cabinet. Drawers represent the shelves or drawers of a real dispensing cabinet.
3. Give each drawer a name that matches your lab setup (e.g., Drawer 1, Top Shelf, Narcotics Drawer).
4. Expand a drawer using the chevron on the right, then click + Add Bin to create compartments inside it. Each bin will hold one medication.
5. Name each bin (e.g., Bin 1, Pocket A). Use the up and down arrows to reorder drawers and bins, or the red trash can to delete one.
6. Click Save Layout at the bottom left. Layout changes do not save automatically.

💡 Tip: For the most realistic simulation, mirror the physical medication carts or dispensing machines in your lab. This builds spatial familiarity that carries over to real clinical practice.

 

📋 Inventory Table Details

💻 Device Registration

Next to the cabinet name you may see a green Registered on this computer badge. This means the current device (computer or tablet) is bound to this cabinet, which is typically used for kiosk stations in physical simulation labs. Click Unregister This Computer if you need to move the hardware to a different station or lab.

1. Make sure the drawer and bin already exist. If not, add them on the Layout tab and click Save Layout.
2. Open the Inventory tab. A bin with nothing assigned shows Empty in the Medication column, with Quantity and Par Level both at 0.
3. Click the Edit pencil on that row. For an empty bin, the Select Medication search window opens right away.
4. Search by generic name, brand name, strength, or form (e.g., "Aspirin" or "325 MG Tablet") and click the matching result. ChartFlow's shared library holds well over a thousand pre-built medications.
5. Back on the Edit Bin panel, enter the Quantity (units stocked right now) and the Par Level (target amount for this bin).
6. Click Save. The row updates with the medication's full details, including its Drug Schedule, pulled automatically from the shared library.
7. To swap a medication in a bin that is already stocked, click the same Edit pencil, then click the Change link next to the medication name to reopen Select Medication. Choose the new drug, adjust Quantity and Par Level, and Save.

 

Building a cabinet does not by itself put it in front of students. Each activity decides whether a cabinet is available and which one it is.

1. Open the course, then open the activity (or create a new one) and go to its Details tab. For help creating activities, see our Activities Guide.
2. Under Activity Modules, tick Medication Cabinet. The four modules an activity can switch on are Patient Chart, Simulation, Medication Cabinet, and Learning Module.
3. A new Medication Cabinet tab appears alongside Details and Grading. Open it.
4. Choose how the cabinet should behave (see the 📝 Cabinet Types info box below).
5. Save the activity.

📝 Cabinet Types

💡 Tip: Use a Physical Cabinet when the exercise is built around a real unit standing in the lab, especially where that station has its own registered computer. Use a Virtual Cabinet for homework or large cohorts, where every student needs a full, untouched inventory of their own.

 

📝 Two Ways Students Access the Cabinet

The screenshot above shows the split-screen view from within the patient chart. The cabinet panel and its actions work the same way on a registered device.

 

The Audit Log tab in a cabinet's settings records a timestamped history of every interaction with that cabinet. Use it to monitor student dispensing, verify medication administration, and track inventory adjustments.

🔍 Filters & Search

📋 Audit Log Columns

💡 Tip: The Audit Log is a powerful grading and debriefing tool. If a student makes a medication error during a scenario, pull up the log during the debrief to show the exact timestamp, medication, and quantity they withdrew compared to the provider's order.