FormWeb • Pyxis Troubleshooting Guide

Recovery of a Failed Drawer

Patients Not Showing Up at a Station

The Station Display Screen is Black

Keyboard Is Unresponsive

Station Printer Does Not Work

BIO-ID Not Working

Emergency Med Removal

Touch Screen Is Unresponsive

Critical Override/System Failure

Pyxis Carousel Gets Off Track

A. Recovery of a Failed Drawer Back to Top

The most common reason for a failed drawer:
A package is protruding above a pocket.

Under normal operation, the drawer’s sensors detect the obstruction and stop the drawer from releasing to prevent damage.

When a drawer (whether matrix, carousel, mini, or cubbie) is jammed, the Recover Drawer button appears in the Station Management Section of the Main Menu.

To recover the drawer:

From the Main Menu > Station Management section > select the Recover Drawer button.
A list of jammed drawers appears.
Select the drawer you want to recover.
You will need a witness, unless you have the independent or no witness required Station privilege.
NOTE: If the failed drawer is carousel, “Unlock Drawer” appears > select Unlock Drawer to release the cover.
If a Witness screen does not appear, go to step #8.
If a Witness screen appears, have a witness type his user ID use BioID to witness.
The witness is there to verify the inventory process at the end of a successful recovery. The Station attempts to force the drawer open.
With the drawer fully extended, check the medication packages in each pocket to make sure none are above the top of the pocket.
Close the drawer.
If the recovery is successful and the meds do not require the count verified, the process is complete. A Verify Count screen appears if a med count is required.
If the recovery is not successful, unlock and remove the back access panel using the Pyxis back right and left panel keys located in the narcotic room.
Press the red release lever on the right side of the drawer and push drawer out.
With the drawer fully extended look from the back to make sure nothing in the failed drawer or in the drawer below it is above the top of the pockets.
Also check the connection cable on the back of the drawer to insure it is completely plugged in. (It is a plastic connection with pins attached to a flat, gray plastic cable).
If the recovery is successful, the process is complete.
If the process is not successful, contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.

NOTE: For a Failed Tower Door, the process for recovery is the same.

The only difference is:

When the door opens, check for any obstruction in the door lock mechanism that might be preventing it from closing properly.

Also, if the decision is made to open a door for immediate access, the Pyxis right and left front panel keys located in the narcotic room should be used.

B. Patients Not Showing Up at a Station Back to Top

If a patient’s data does not appear as expected at a Station, the problem could be:

A communications problem.
The patient data has not been received via interface from the host system.
Occasionally, there is a high level of data traffic within the System, and it can take several minutes for the data to arrive at its final destination.

If the patient’s data still has not appeared consider these possibilities:

Was the patient recently admitted to the hospital or transferred to this unit from within the hospital?
1. If yes, the patient’s data may appear soon.
Is the patient in the admission system?
1. Have the nurse check the terminal at the nurses’ Station.
2. The pharmacist with Console privileges should check for the patient at the Console.
There could be a communications interface problem between the host Console and the Station:
1. Check the Comm Status screen at the Console for the Station in question.
2. Contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person for further instruction.
There could also be a communications problem between the ADT system and the Console system.
1. Check the status box at the top of the Console screen for interface messages.
2. If more than one report is received by nursing of patients not crossing from MIS to Pyxis Station, contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.
If Eclypsis is down and no interface data is passing to Console:
1. immediately contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person for instruction.

C. The Station Display Screen is Black Back to Top

If you receive a call that the station display screen is black, ask the following question:

Is the Station still plugged into the wall socket?

If YES, the pharmacy technician will need to do the following diagnostics:

Touch the screen on the Station and listen for the usual key click.
1. If there is no click, the Station may not have properly started up from a power failure or other cause.
If the screen remains black, turn the power switch (located on the right rear of the Station) to the OFF position.
Wait at least one minute before switching it back to the ON position.
1. If this does not work, call the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person for instruction.

D. Keyboard is Unresponsive Back to Top

Sometimes the Station keyboard seems unresponsive because the computer is processing another transaction. Wait a few moments and try again. The System 2000 Station is fully functional via the touch screen. Therefore, in the event of a keyboard failure, the system will still function properly in all other aspects until the keyboard is repaired.

If the keyboard is unresponsive, check the following:

If you are at the Standby screen, are any characters showing in the ID field?
1. If yes, press DELETE key to remove the characters and enter BIOID (or OD and password).
Is the time on the clock changing?
1. If not, then the Station is down.
If the keyboard remains unresponsive:
1. Turn the power switch (located on the right rear of the Station) to the OFF position.
2. Wait at least one minute before switching it back to the ON position.
3. Try to type on the keyboard again.
4. If the keyboard is still unresponsive, call the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.
If you are at a screen other than the Standby screen:
1. Wait a few minutes to see if the Station will time out and return to the Standby screen.
2. If it does not time out, call the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.

E. Station Printer Does Not Work Back to Top

If the Station printer quits working, there are several immediate possibilities to check:

Is the printer out of paper?
1. Lift the paper cover on the top of the Station and see if there is paper.
2. If out of paper, replace paper supply.
Is the black lever on the printer pushed back (away from you)?
1. If not, and it is in the forward position, the printer will not function.
Was the paper just changed?
1. If yes, it could be improperly installed.
2. Reinstall the paper.

If the Station printer is still not responding:

Does the Paper Advance Button (right side of the Station) cause the paper to advance when pushed?
1. If the paper advance button still functions, then the problem is probably how the paper was loaded.
2. Remove the paper.
3. Reinsert it into the upper slot.
If the paper advance button does not cause the paper to advance, the printer has probably shut itself down.
You need to reset the printer:
1. Move the black lever on the printer forward and then backward (the paper should “jog” up a little when the lever is pushed back).
2. Try to rerun the report.
3. If the report still does not’t print, remove the paper and reload it.
4. This resets the printer.
If the printer still is not’t working:
1. Shut Down the Station by pressing the System Menu button.
2. When the System Menu appears, press the Shut Down button to shut the Station down.
3. Turn the power switch (located on the right rear of the Station) to the OFF position.
4. Wait at least three minutes before turning to the ON position again.
5. Try to print the report again.
6. If this does not’t work, contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call.

F. BIO-ID Not Working Back to Top

If BIO-ID is not functioning correctly, the following problems may occur:

Individual users may have trouble signing on using the BIO-ID.
The BIO-ID on Pyxis might have lost connection to the network.
Finally, a BIO-ID may simply be out of order and need replacing.

In order to determine which of these is the problem, the following steps should be followed:

Did an individual user call and report his BIO-ID as not working?
1. If so, instruct the user to try to log on (rubbing the finger on pants will often help since the sensors are heat sensitive).
2. If the user is able to log on, go to system menu and reset the ID at the Station.
  This will allow the user to once again do an original scan.
3. If the user cannot log on after several attempts, the pharmacist with Console privileges should contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person for instruction on how to reset at the Console. The pharmacy Pyxis On Call person may also instruct the pharmacist with Console privileges how to turn off the BIO-ID for the individual user.
  This should be done only after approval from pharmacy Pyxis On Call person because MIS must be notified if a user ID is turned OFF.
Are ALL users at a Station UNABLE log in with BIO-ID?

If yes, try to “ping” the IP address and reset BIO-ID using the following procedure:

Unplug the network cable from the wall plug (this looks like a telephone cable and goes from the Pyxis Station into a wall jack).
Go to the System Menu at the Station and choose Shutdown.
When Station shows a MSDOS prompt (C:\), turn off Station at the power switch (located on the back right of the Station).
Leave the Station off for at least three minutes.
Turn the power switch back on.
When the Station is totally back up at the Pyxis Main Menu screen, plug the network cable back into wall.
Try to log on using the BIO-ID.
If you are successful, the problem is resolved.
If you are not successful, the pharmacist with Console privileges should contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person. The On Call person will instruct the pharmacist on how to turn off the BIO-ID at the Station level. The failure should also be reported to the Pyxis World Wide Service Center so that it may be logged and repaired as soon as possible.

G. Emergency Med Removal Back to Top

In the event of a catastrophic power failure, an internal battery backup at the Station provides about one minute of power to automatically initiate a safe shutdown of the Station.

If the power failure continues, use the following procedure to gain emergency access to the meds:

Call the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.
You will be instructed on whether the Station or Stations should be set into "Emergency Removal".
Turn OFF the power to the Station (if Station not already OFF) by switching the power switch (located on the right rear of the station) to the OFF position.
Obtain the back access panel keys from the narcotic room.
They will be labeled “right back panel” and “left back panel”.
Remove the back access panel.
Press the red release lever on the right side of the drawer and push drawer out.
For towers, unlock using the front right and left access panel keys.
Repeat step #6 for each drawer that nursing will need to access.
Nursing should record any and all removals using a log out sheet.
When the power returns, close all drawers.
Contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person for instructions on bringing the Station current with the meds that were removed during the outage.

H. Touch Screen Is Unresponsive Back to Top

Sometimes the Station touch screen may seem unresponsive because the computer is processing another transaction. Wait a few moments and try again. The System 2000 Station is fully functional via the keyboard with hot keys for the screen.
Therefore, in the event of a touch screen failure, the system will still function properly in all other aspects until the touch screen is repaired.

Try the following steps to attempt to restore function to the touch screen:

If you are at the Standby screen, touch the screen and listen for the beep the screen makes when it is active.
1. If there is no beep, the Station could be down.
2. The pharmacy Pyxis On Call person should be contacted for instruction.
If the time on the clock changing?
1. If it is not, then the Station is down.
2. Contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.
Turn the power switch (located on the right rear of the Station) to the OFF position.
1. Wait at least three minutes before switching it on.
2. Once the Station is back at the Pyxis Main Menu, attempt to touch the screen again.
3. If it does not’t work, contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.
If you are at a screen other than the Standby screen, wait a few minutes to see if the Station will time out and return to the Standby (Main Menu) screen.
1. If it does not, contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.

I. Critical Override/System Failure Back to Top

In a rare instance, there is a malfunction of a part of the hardware relaying Pyxis information or a breakdown in the interface engine transmitting patient data.

In order to determine the problem, several troubleshooting methods may be attempted:

If nursing reports no information coming to the Station, look first at the Console:
1. Is it at the Main Pyxis screen with the logo showing?
  If so, what color is the attention notice box?
2. Is it yellow, orange, or red?
  If orange or red, look at the message and call the pharmacy Pyxis On Call to report.
If the Pyxis Console is blank (no color at all):
1. Check the power at the server.
2. There should be a green blinking light if the power is ON.
If the power has been turned OFF:
1. Call the World Wide Service Center to power the Console back up according to correct procedures.
If the power appears ON, or if the Console cannot be booted back up:
1. Contact the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person.
2. The pharmacy Pyxis On Call person will provide instruction as to whether to initiate Critical Override or Emergency Med Removal.
NOTE: If there is a total Console failure, the system should automatically place all Stations into Critical Override mode.
If the problem is interface related:
1. The pharmacist with Console privileges may be instructed by the pharmacy Pyxis On Call to manually set the Stations into Critical Override.
If it is determined to be an interface issue:
1. The pharmacy Pyxis On Call person will coordinate with MIS to resolve the problem.
Nursing should ALWAYS be notified of an extended system failure to insure that patient medication administration is not delayed.

J. Pyxis Carousel Gets Off Track Back to Top

The Pyxis Carousel will sometimes get off track. This can caused by the carousel sensing movement while it is trying to operate. Example: When a user sticks a hand into the machine while it is moving.

If the Pyxis carousel gets off track follow the steps below:

Turn the Station OFF at the carousel -- NOT at the computer.
Twist the top, round orange knob to the left into the OFF position.
Wait 5 seconds.
Turn the orange knob back to the right into the ON position.
Look at the main menu screen on the carousel (NOT the computer) that is located above the rotating shelves.
1. There should be a menu screen with choices #1 through #6.
Choose #4 Carrier.
Find the blue down arrow on the keypad:
1. Press and hold.
2. The shelves should begin rotating.
3. Continue to hold and allow the shelves to rotate without stopping for 3 to 4 rotations.
4. Stop the last rotation at a shelf above the tenth shelf.
On the menu screen on the carousel:
1. Touch the #1 on the keypad
2. This causes the carousel to rotate back to Shelf 1.
3. The sensors are now RESET.
Return the carousel menu back to the Main Menu.
1. Select the HOST option.
The machine should now rotate correctly into the right position.
If it does not, call the pharmacy Pyxis On Call person for further instruction.

For further information regarding Formweb
please call 800.467.1907.

Rpharmy Memorial