OBJECTIVE： To change the drug management mode in wards， promote drug use for patients timely and rationally. METHODS： Automated dispensing cabinet （ADC） was used to manage the drugs in some wards in our hospital， and introduce its use practice from aspects of drug management mode， pharmacists’ management to ADC， related measures when using ADC managing ward drugs， effect evaluation after using ADC （using species of base drugs， average time of dispensing temporary medical orders， drug returning times in 5 wards before and after using ADC as indexes）， etc. RESULTS： Drug management method was established in ADC by screening drugs into the cabinet and developing process of taking drugs out. And pharmacists had achieved drug management in wards by establishing drug lists， conducting replenishment and inventory management， developing emergency plan， enhancing supervision and inspection， etc. Compared with before using ADC， average species of base drugs in the 5 wards increased from 65.8 to 157.2； average time of dispensing temporary medical orders dropped from 24.5 min to 5.8 min； and average drug returning times in 3 months decreased from about 200 times to about 20 times （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： Using ADC in wards for drug management has not only improved use convenience of drugs in wards， working efficiency of nurses as well as pharmaceutical care quality of pharmacists， but also has changed drug management mode and promoted rational drug use of patients.