WO2013028892A2 - Systèmes et procédés de distribution de produits thérapeutiques - Google Patents
Systèmes et procédés de distribution de produits thérapeutiques Download PDFInfo
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- WO2013028892A2 WO2013028892A2 PCT/US2012/052110 US2012052110W WO2013028892A2 WO 2013028892 A2 WO2013028892 A2 WO 2013028892A2 US 2012052110 W US2012052110 W US 2012052110W WO 2013028892 A2 WO2013028892 A2 WO 2013028892A2
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- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- prescription
- patient
- inventory
- dispensing
- dispensing station
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management
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- G—PHYSICS
- G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
- G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
- G16H20/00—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
- G16H20/10—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
- G16H20/13—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients delivered from dispensers
Definitions
- This disclosure relates to systems and methods for dispensing beneficial products, such as pharmaceuticals to a patient.
- Figure 1A is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system for dispensing beneficial products
- Figure 1 B is a block diagram of another embodiment of a system for dispensing beneficial products
- Figure 2A is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for dispensing beneficial products
- Figure 2B is a flow diagram of another embodiment of a method for dispensing beneficial products
- Figure 3A is a block diagram of one embodiment of a dispensing station
- Figure 3B is a block diagram of another embodiment of a dispensing station
- Figure 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for adding inventory to a dispensing station.
- Figure 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for dispensing beneficial product from a dispensing station.
- Health care providers are facing rising costs and regulatory overhead in an increasingly competitive market. Health care providers may be required to maintain secure patient medical records, electronic prescriptions, and the like. Health care providers need innovative ways of offsetting these costs while still meeting the needs of their patients.
- a health care provider dispenses beneficial products, such as prescription medication, directly to its patients.
- beneficial products such as prescription medication
- the direct dispensing model provides an additional revenue stream for the health care provider and is convenient for the patients.
- direct dispensing may not be economically feasible for some health care providers due to high infrastructure and regulatory compliance costs, and the relatively low volumes involved.
- Direct dispensing typically requires the health care provider to act as a "mini pharmacy" to its patients.
- the health care provider purchases beneficial products from a provider ⁇ e.g., manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, etc.), which are dispensed to patients.
- This model is not particularly efficient for low-volume operations, however, since managing a "mini-pharmacy" involves a significant amount of work.
- Tasks such as receiving, storing, securing, tracking, dispensing, regulatory compliance, adjudication, coordination of benefits, and accounting, fall to the health care provider.
- many health care providers find that the services are not time and/or cost effective.
- the embodiments disclosed herein may provide a turn-key solution for automated, in-office dispensing of beneficial products to patients.
- beneficial products are dispensed from an automated dispensing machine.
- the dispensing system provides a current inventory status, which may be used to verify that the patient's prescription can be fulfilled.
- the health care provider may create a prescription record for the patient, who may retrieve the beneficial products from the dispensing station.
- the patient may be required to authenticate his identity to the dispensing machine and/or provide payment for the dispensed beneficial products.
- the patient may pay for the prescription directly without adjudicating the claim with an insurance carrier or other benefit provider.
- Figure 1A depicts one embodiment of a system 100 for dispensing beneficial products.
- the system includes a dispensing station 1 10 located in, for example, the office 102 of a health care provider ⁇ e.g., a doctor's office).
- the dispensing station 1 10 may comprise a controller 1 1 1 .
- the controller 1 1 1 may be configured to control the operation of the dispensing station 1 10 and may comprise a processor, memory, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and the like.
- the dispensing station 1 10 may be communicatively coupled to a network 130 using a communication interface 1 12.
- the communication interface 1 12 may comprise one or more wired or wireless interfaces, such as an 802.1 1 wireless network interface, an Ethernet interface, an Ethernet over powerline interface, a BLUETOOTH® interface, a near-field wireless communication interface, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) interface, or any other suitable communication interface.
- the network 130 may comprise a local area network, a public network ⁇ e.g., the Internet), or any other suitable communication network.
- the dispensing station 1 10 may comprise and/or be communicatively coupled to an inventory database 1 16 that maintains information pertaining to an inventory 120 of beneficial products within the dispensing station 1 10.
- the database 1 16 is implemented using a computing device 140 comprising a processor 141 , memory 142, non-transitory storage media 143, and so on.
- the computing device 140 may be a component of the dispensing station 1 10 ⁇ e.g., located within the dispensing station 1 10).
- the computing device 140 (and database 1 16) may be implemented, in part or in full, in a separate network-accessible computing device, such a health-care provide computing system 150 or server computing device 136.
- the beneficial products in the inventory 120 are packaged in separately dispensable units 122, each having a respective unique identifier embodied on a unique identifier tag 123.
- the unique identifier may be used to track the type and/or quantity of beneficial product within each dispensable unit 122 in the inventory database 1 16 (using a respective record 1 17).
- the unique identifier of a dispensable unit 122 may be embodied on a unique identifier tag 123.
- the unique identifier tag 123 may comprise any tag capable of storing and/or conveying a unique identifier, including, but not limited to: a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID), an optical code, such as a bar code, a near-field communication (NFC) tag, or other suitable tag.
- RFID Radio Frequency Identifier
- NFC near-field communication
- the dispensing station 1 10 may comprise one or more unique identifier tag reader(s) 1 19 that are configured to read the unique identifier tags 123 of the dispensable units 122.
- the inventory database 1 16 associates each unique identifier with corresponding inventory information, which may include, but is not limited to: the type of beneficial product in a dispensable unit 122 ⁇ e.g., by National Drug Code (NDC), RxNorm, Universal Product Code (UPC), serial number, or other suitable identifier), the quantity of beneficial product in a dispensable unit 122, inventory status of a dispensable unit 122 ⁇ e.g., prescribed to a patient and awaiting dispensing, etc.), the age and/or expiration date of a beneficial product, the manufacturer of a beneficial product, usage and/or dosage instructions pertaining to a beneficial product, the source of a beneficial product, pricing information for the beneficial product, and so on.
- the inventory information may be maintained in respective records 1 17 of the database 1 16, each record 1 17 corresponding to a dispensable unit 122 in the dispensing station 1 10.
- a health care provider 152 may prescribe a beneficial product to a patient 154.
- the patient 154 may elect to fill the prescription at the dispensing station 1 10.
- database 1 16 may be queried to verify that the dispensing station 1 10 has sufficient inventory to fulfill the prescription ⁇ e.g., has beneficial products of the type and/or quantity prescribed to the patient 154).
- the inventory may be verified before the patient 154 is given the option of fulfilling the prescription using the dispensing station 1 10.
- the inventory may be verified when the patient 154 attempts to fulfill the prescription at the dispensing station 1 10.
- the health care provider 152 may query the inventory of other dispensing stations (not shown) via the network 130 and direct the patient 154 to fulfill the prescription at one or more alternative location(s) of the health care provider 152. Alternatively, the health care provider 152 may determine when the dispensing station 1 10 is scheduled to be restocked, and may direct the patient 154 to fulfill the prescription after restocking.
- a prescription record 1 18 representing the prescription may be created in the database 1 16.
- the prescription record 1 18 may include information pertaining to the prescription including, but not limited to: the type of beneficial product prescribed to the patient 154 ⁇ e.g., by NDC, RxNorm, or other identifier), the quantity and/or dosage of beneficial product prescribed to the patient 154, a patient identifier (described below), a time to live (TTL) for the prescription record, an identifier of the dispensing station(s) 1 10 through which the prescription may be fulfilled, and so on.
- the step of creating the prescription record 1 18 may comprise reserving inventory to fulfill the prescription.
- the inventory reservation may ensure that the inventory needed to fulfill the prescription is available when the patient 154 attempts to fulfill the prescription at the dispensing station 1 10.
- the inventory database 1 16 may be updated to identify one or more dispensable units 122 needed to fulfill the prescription record 1 18.
- the dispensable units 122 may be marked as "reserved" for the patient 154 in the inventory database 1 16 and unavailable for other prescriptions and/or patients.
- the inventory database 1 16 may be updated to indicate that a particular quantity of beneficial product(s) are reserved for the patient 154 within the inventory 120 without reserving any particular dispensable units 122.
- the prescription record 1 18 includes and/or references patient identifying information that can be used to associate a patient with a prescription record and/or authenticate the identity of the patient 154.
- patient identifying information may comprise any information that can be used to identify and/or authenticate a patient.
- Patient identifying information may comprise descriptive information, such as name, birth date, zip code, age, address, email address, phone number, or the like.
- Patient identifying information may further comprise one or more credentials established by the patient 154, such as a password, personal identification number (PIN), the answer to a "secret question” ⁇ e.g., street you grew up on), or the like.
- PIN personal identification number
- Patient identifying information may comprise and/or relate to credentialed payment information provided by the patient 154 (discussed below).
- patient identifying information may further comprise biometric information, such as a fingerprint, iris scan, voice sample, facial recognition, or the like.
- the biometric information may be acquired by one or more measurement devices (not shown) of the dispensing station 1 10 and/or health care provider 152.
- Patient identifying information may be entered by a health care provider 152 when the prescription is issued.
- patient identifying information may be referenced in one or more of: a patient database 156 maintained by the health care provider 152, the database 1 16, a third-party payment service 132, a third-party patient information service 134, an identity service, such as Microsoft Cardspace®, OpenID®, etc., or the like.
- the patient 154 may fulfill the prescription using the dispensing station 1 10. Fulfilling the prescription may comprise the patient 154 providing a payment, and receiving the prescribed beneficial products from the inventory 120 of the dispensing station 1 10.
- the dispensing station 1 10 comprises a fulfillment module 124 that is configured to process prescriptions for patients 154.
- the fulfillment module 124 may be configured to fulfill prescriptions for patients 154, which may comprise identifying prescription record(s) 1 18 of a patient 154, authenticating the identity of the patient 154, processing a payment from the patient 154, and so on.
- processing the payment comprises receiving credentialed payment information from the patient 154.
- credentialed payment information refers to any information related to a payment transaction, which may include, but is not limited to, credit card information, debit card information, banking information, checking account information, electronic payment information, such as a PAYPAL® credential, or other suitable payment-related information.
- the credentialed payment information may be comprised of, or may be used to generate, the patient identifying information.
- the payment may be made using a currency transaction, or any other suitable form of payment.
- the fulfillment module 124 may comprise one or more payment receiving modules 126, such as currency receivers, card readers (e.g., magnetic strip readers), near-field communication (NFC) devices, text input devices, or other suitable input devices.
- payment receiving modules 126 such as currency receivers, card readers (e.g., magnetic strip readers), near-field communication (NFC) devices, text input devices, or other suitable input devices.
- the fulfillment module 124 may be configured to identify the prescription record 1 18 of the patient 154 using information provided by the patient 154. In some embodiments, the fulfillment module 124 compares credentialed payment information provided by the patient 154 to pay for the prescription (if any), to patient identifying information included within and/or referenced by one or more prescription records 1 18, as described above. For example, the fulfillment module 124 may compare a credit card number, billing address, name, or other credentialed payment information to information within and/or referenced by one or more prescription records 1 18. Alternatively, or in addition, the payment transaction may comprise a dedicated authentication step.
- the patient 154 may enter a user identifier and/or password, which may be used to authenticate the patient's identity to the payment system; this information may be leveraged by the fulfillment module 124 to identify the prescription record 1 18 of the patient 154 and/or authenticate the patient 154.
- the fulfillment module 124 is configured to acquire patient identifying information instead of and/or in addition to the credentialed payment information described above.
- the fulfillment module 124 uses the acquired information to identify the prescription record 1 18 associated with the patient 154 (if any).
- the fulfillment module 124 may leverage the acquired information to authenticate identity of the patient 154 and/or verify that the patient is authorized to fulfill the prescription.
- the fulfillment module 124 may authenticate the patient 154 by comparing information acquired from the patient 154 to patient identifying information within and/or referenced by the prescription record 1 18.
- the patient identifying information may include any of the patient identifying information described above (e.g., name, birth date, password, etc.).
- the patient 154 may be prompted to provide patient identifying information via one or more human-machine interface (HMI) components 127 of the dispensing station 1 10, which may include, but are not limited to: display devices, keyboard inputs, touch screen inputs, biometric measurement devices ⁇ e.g., fingerprint reader, iris scanner, etc.), card readers, or the like.
- HMI human-machine interface
- the fulfillment module 124 may provide for dispensing the prescribed beneficial product(s) from the inventory 120 of the dispensing station 1 10.
- Dispensing may comprise the dispensing station 1 10 identifying one or more dispensable units 122 in the inventory 120 using a reader 1 19.
- the dispensable units 122 may be placed within respective, unique storage locations (e.g., unique bins), as described below.
- the inventory database 1 16 may maintain indicators of the storage location of each dispensable unit 122.
- the fulfillment module 124 may query the inventory database 1 16 to determine the storage location of the dispensable units 122 required to fulfill the prescription.
- the dispensing station 1 10 may further comprise a dispensing module 129 configured to dispense the identified dispensable units 122 to a patient in response to the fulfillment module 126 determining that the prescription can be fulfilled.
- the dispensing module 129 may be further configured to verify the beneficial products before the beneficial products are dispensed to the patient. Verifying the beneficial products may comprise using the reader 1 19 to re-read identifying information from the beneficial products ⁇ e.g., re-scanning a bar code, weighing one or more dispensable units 122, or the like).
- Fulfilling the prescription may further comprise the fulfillment module 124 processing a payment for the prescribed beneficial products dispensed to the patient 154.
- the payment may be processed using credentialed payment information provided by the patient 154 (e.g., credit card, debit card, etc.) using a third-party payment service 132 accessible via the network 130.
- the third-party payment service 132 may include, but is not limited to: a credit card processing service, a banking institution, an electronic payment service ⁇ e.g., PAYPAL®), or the like.
- the payment may be made using a non-credentialed payment source, such as currency.
- the dispensing station 1 10 may prevent unauthorized access to the beneficial products in the inventory 120 by, for example, authenticating the patient 154 and/or associating the patient with a prescription record 1 18, as described above. If the patient 154 cannot be associated with a valid prescription record 1 18 and/or the identity of the patient 154 is not authenticated ⁇ e.g., credentialed payment information and/or other information acquired from the patient 154 do not correspond to any prescription records 1 18), the dispensing station 1 10 may prevent beneficial products from being dispensed from the inventory 120.
- a prescription record 1 18 may comprise and/or reference patient identifying information.
- the patient 154 may be authenticated by matching information obtained by the fulfillment module 124 with information of the prescription record 1 18.
- the information may be limited to credentialed payment information, such as a credit card number, and/or may comprise additional patient information obtained from the patient 154, as described above.
- unauthorized access may be prevented by assigning a TTL value to a prescription record 1 18.
- the prescription record 1 18 is marked as "valid,” and can be used to obtain beneficial products from the dispensing station 1 10.
- the prescription record 1 18 is marked as "invalid" and can no longer be used.
- the TTL may be set according to testing and experience. For example, if the dispensing station is located in close proximity to the patient 154 ⁇ e.g., in the health care provider's office 102), the TTL may be relatively short ⁇ e.g., 30 minutes to an hour). This allows the patient 154 to complete the visit with the health care provider 152 and fulfill the prescription, while making it difficult for an unauthorized person to use the prescription record 1 18 to obtain the prescribed beneficial products.
- the prescription record 1 18 may be associated with an identifier of one or more dispensing station(s) 1 10. There may be a number of different dispensing stations 1 10 located throughout a particular area ⁇ e.g., within a large hospital, a city-wide heath care network, etc.). The dispensing station identifier associated with the prescription record 1 18 may restrict fulfillment of the prescription to one or more identified dispensing stations 1 10 and/or to a particular locale or area. Accordingly, a person at another dispensing station in another area (not shown) may be prevented from accessing the prescribed beneficial products identified in the prescription record 1 18.
- Figure 1 B is a block diagram of another embodiment of a system 101 for dispensing beneficial products.
- the system 101 comprises a prescription record database 166 comprising prescription records 1 18 for patients 154 of the health care provider 152.
- the prescription database 166 may be implemented on the server computing device 160, which may comprise a processor 161 , memory 162, non- transitory storage 163, and so on, as described above.
- a prescription record import module 167 may be configured to import prescription records 1 18 into the prescription record database 166 in response to messages from the health care provider 152 and/or other, third-party services 138.
- a patient 154 may be given the option of fulfilling a prescription at a dispensing station 1 10A-N.
- a prescription record 1 18 representing the prescription may be created in the prescription record database 166.
- the prescription record 1 18 may be created by use of the computing system 150 of the health-care provider 152, which may comprise and/or be communicatively coupled to, the patient database 156.
- Generating the prescription record 1 18 may comprise transmitting information of the prescription record 1 18 to the prescription record database 166 over the network 130 ⁇ e.g., in a message 155).
- the prescription record import module 167 may be configured to generate a prescription record 1 18 in the prescription record database 166 in response to the message 155.
- the prescription record import module 167 may be configured to generate prescription records 1 18 in response to messages 157 from a third-party service, such as a health-care information broker 138.
- the computing system 150 of the health care provider 152 may be configured to transmit messages 155 pertaining to patient prescriptions to the health-care information broker 138.
- the messages 155 may be transmitted according to one or more data interchange standards, such as the standards promulgated by the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP®).
- the health-care information broker 138 may be configured to manage health-care information pertaining to the patients 154 of the health-care provider 152.
- the health-care information broker 138 may be configured to transmit a message 157 to the prescription record import module 167, which may generate a prescription record 1 18 in the prescription record database 166, as described above.
- the computing system 150 may be configured to include additional metadata in the request 155, such as patient identifying information, references to patient identifying information, or the like.
- the metadata may be included in the message 157 provided to the prescription import module 166, which may be configured to incorporate the metadata into the prescription record 1 18.
- the prescription record import module 167 may be configured to authenticate and/or validate the messages 155 and/or 157, which may comprise verifying one or more digital signatures on the messages 155 and/or 157, verifying credentials associated with the messages 155 and/or 157, and so on.
- the patient 154 may be able to fulfill the prescription at one or more of the dispensing stations 1 10A-N.
- the patent 154 may provide patient identifying information to a dispensing station 1 10A via the HMI module 127.
- the fulfillment module 124 may identify a prescription record of the patient 154, which may comprise transmitting a prescription record query 159 to the server computing device 160 via the network 130.
- the server computing device 160 may comprise a prescription query module 169 configured to identify a prescription record 1 18 in the prescription database 166 in response to the query 159 and/or transmit information pertaining to the prescription record 1 18 to the dispensing station 1 1 OA (via the network 130).
- the prescription query module 169 may be configured to authenticate and/or verify the query 159, as described above ⁇ e.g., using one or more digital signatures, credentials, or the like).
- the fulfillment module 124 may be configured to determine whether the prescription can be fulfilled at the dispensing station 1 10A and dispense beneficial product(s) to the patient 154, as described above.
- FIG. 2A is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 200 for dispensing beneficial products.
- the methods disclosed herein may be implemented using a computing device comprising a processor, memory, and human-interface components (e.g., input/output devices, displays, etc.). Steps of the disclosed methods may be embodied as instructions stored on a non-transitory storage medium, such as a hard disk, optical storage media, non-volatile memory, or the like and/or may be tied to particular machine components, such as communication interfaces, HMI components, processors, non-transitory machine-readable storage media, and the like.
- the method 200 may, therefore, comprise loading instructions from a non-transitory storage medium, initializing machine resources, such as communication interfaces and human-machine interface components, and the like.
- a health care provider such as a doctor, may issue a prescription to a patient at step 220.
- Issuing a prescription may comprise the health care provider creating a prescription record that identifies the beneficial products prescribed to the patient and specifies a quantity of beneficial products prescribed to the patient.
- the prescription record may also include and/or reference patient identifying information, as described above.
- the prescription record may include a TTL value, a location perimeter within which the prescription may be fulfilled, and/or may designate one or more dispensing stations at which the prescription may be fulfilled.
- Step 220 may comprise generating a persistent prescription record on a non-transitory storage medium, such as a database.
- step 220 may comprise generating a tangible prescription record, which may comprise a physical token or record ⁇ e.g., receipt).
- Step 220 may further comprise querying an inventory database to determine whether the one or more designated dispensing stations have sufficient inventory to fulfill the prescription. When the designated dispensing stations do not have sufficient inventory, alternative dispensing stations may be identified. Alternatively, fulfillment of the prescription may be delayed until the inventory of the dispensing station(s) is restocked. When the designated dispensing stations have sufficient inventory, the inventory may be reserved for the prescription, as described above. In some implementations, a patient may be automatically notified by any suitable methodology, such as telephone, email, text message, or the like, when the inventory has been restocked and/or the prescription is available for fulfillment.
- step 220 comprises indicating a payment amount for the prescription.
- the payment amount may represent the cost to the patient to fulfill the prescription at a dispensing station.
- the payment amount may not include health insurance and/or other benefits. Accordingly, the prescription may be fulfilled without adjudicating the prescription through health insurance adjudication and/or coordination of benefits programs.
- the payment amount may be set by the health care provider, or other entity ⁇ e.g., the owner of the dispensing station).
- the dispensing station receives information from the patient attempting to fulfill the prescription.
- the information may comprise credentialed payment information and/or other patient identifying information, as described above.
- Step 240 the dispensing station determines whether the prescription can be fulfilled (by use of the fulfillment module 124, as described above).
- Step 240 may comprise identifying a prescription record associated with the patient by matching information provided at step 230 with patient identifying information of a prescription record.
- Step 240 may further comprise prompting the patient for additional information, as described above.
- the additional information may be used to identify a prescription record and/or to authenticate the identity of the patient.
- step 240 comprises verifying a TTL and/or dispensing station identifier of an identified prescription record.
- the prescription may be fulfilled when the TTL of the prescription record has not expired and/or the dispensing station identifier of the prescription record corresponds with the identifier (or location) of the dispensing station accessed at step 240.
- Step 240 may further comprise processing a payment for the prescribed beneficial product and/or verifying that the payment was successfully transferred.
- step 250 If the prescription can be fulfilled, the flow continues to step 250; otherwise, the flow continues to step 260.
- the dispensing station fulfills the prescription for the patient by dispensing the prescribed beneficial products to the patient (by use of the dispensing module, as described above).
- Step 250 may comprise determining the storage locations of dispensable units comprising the prescribed beneficial product by querying an inventory database, and dispensing the identified dispensable units to the patient.
- Step 250 may further comprise validating the dispensable units in the identified storage locations using a reader ⁇ e.g., RFID reader) before the dispensing.
- Step 250 may further comprise updating the inventory database to indicate that the beneficial products have been dispensed and/or updating the prescription record to indicate that the prescription has been fulfilled.
- the patient is notified that the prescription cannot be fulfilled.
- the notification may include the reason(s) for the failure, such as the expiration of a TTL, invalid dispensing station, payment failure, authentication failure, lack of inventory, etc.
- the notification may direct the patient to another dispensing station, which is capable of fulfilling the prescription ⁇ e.g., has sufficient inventory to satisfy the prescription).
- Step 221 comprises obtaining a prescription record for a patient.
- Step 221 may comprise acquiring patient identifying information at a dispensing station 1 10.
- Step 221 may further comprise using the patient identifying information to identify a prescription record 1 18 in a prescription record database 1 16.
- step 221 may comprise requesting a prescription record from a server computing device 160 (via a query 159 comprising the patient identifying information), as described above.
- Step 240 comprises determining whether the prescription can be fulfilled at the dispensing station 1 10.
- step 240 may comprise authenticating the patient using, inter alia, the patient identifying information received at step 221 , enforcing one or more restrictions of the prescription record ⁇ e.g., TTL, location, dispensing station, and so on), determining whether the dispensing station 1 10 has sufficient inventory to fulfill the prescription, transferring a payment for the beneficial products, and so on. If the prescription record can be fulfilled, the flow continues to step 250; otherwise, the flow continues at step 260.
- the prescription record can be fulfilled
- Step 250 comprises fulfilling the prescription for the patent, which may comprise completing a payment for the prescription ⁇ e.g., verifying the payment of step 240), identifying beneficial products of the prescription in the inventory 120, and dispensing the beneficial products from the dispensing station 1 10 (via the dispensing module 129), as described above.
- Step 260 may comprise notifying the patient that the prescription cannot be fulfilled, as described above.
- FIG. 3A depicts one embodiment of a dispensing station 310.
- the dispensing station 310 may comprise a controller 31 1 , which may be configured to control the operation of the dispensing station 310.
- the controller 31 1 may comprise one or more processors, memory units, non-volatile storage devices, or the like.
- the dispensing station comprises one or more HMI components 327, such as displays printers, keyboard inputs, or the like.
- the HMI components 327 may be used to acquire information from and/or present information to a patient 154.
- the dispensing station comprises an inventory compartment 360 and a separate loading compartment 362.
- the inventory compartment 360 may be separated from the loading compartment 362 by a separator 363 and an inventory access port 364.
- the inventory access port 364 may be selectably opened by the controller 31 1 . In other embodiments, new inventory may be loaded directly into the inventory compartment 360.
- the inventory compartment 360 may comprise a plurality of bins 321 , each configured to hold one or more dispensable units 322.
- Each dispensable unit 322 may comprise a respective unique identifier tag 323, as described above.
- Figure 3A shows the bins 321 of the inventory compartment 360 arranged in a 2- dimensional grid, the disclosure is not limited in this regard and could be adapted to comprise bins 321 in any arrangement or configuration, including but not limited to a 3-dimensional grid, a cylindrical arrangement, or the like.
- inventory may be loaded into the dispensing station 310 through the loading access port 366.
- the loading access port 366 provides secure access to loading bins 365 of the loading compartment 362.
- Each of the loading bins 365 may be configured to receive one or more dispensable units 322, each comprising a respective unique identifier tag 323.
- Figure 3A shows a single row of loading bins 365, the disclosure is not limited in this regard and could comprise loading bins in any arrangement or configuration.
- the loading access port 366 may be secured using a suitable locking mechanism. In some embodiments, the loading access port 366 is manually accessible via a key, combination, or other secure access mechanism. Alternatively, or in addition, the loading access port 366 may be controlled by the controller 31 1 . For example, the controller 31 1 may open the loading access port 366 in response to validating access credentials input via one or more HMI components 327.
- the access credentials may include, but are not limited to: a username, password, PIN, digital certificate, biometric, or the like.
- the dispensing station 310 may further comprise one or more monitoring devices 313 configured to monitor accesses to the dispensing station 310.
- the monitoring devices 313 may include, but are not limited to: cameras, microphones, motion detectors, or the like.
- the monitoring devices 313 may monitor accesses to any portion of the dispensing station 310 including, but not limited to: the inventory compartment 360, the loading compartment 362, the access ports 364 and 366, the HMI components 327, and so on.
- the controller 31 1 is configured to transmit information acquired by the monitoring devices 313 via the network 130 and/or activate one or more alarms in response to detecting unauthorized access to the dispensing station 310.
- the controller 31 1 may be configured to close the inventory access port 364 while the loading access port 366 is open to prevent unauthorized access to the beneficial products in the inventory compartment 360. Accordingly, the beneficial products in the inventory compartment 360 may be secure while new inventory is being loaded into the dispensing station 310. Upon placing new inventory into the loading compartment, the loading access port 366 may be closed and/or secured.
- the dispensing station 310 validates the new inventory placed in the loading compartment 362.
- each dispensable unit 322 may comprise a respective unique identifier tag 323, and the dispensing station 310 may comprise one or more unique identifier tag readers 319 that are configured to read the unique identifiers therefrom.
- the unique identifier tags 323 comprise RFID tags, and one or more of the readers 319 are configured to read the unique identifier tags 323 of all of the dispensable units 323 in the inventory compartment 360 and/or loading compartment 362. After inventory is placed in the loading compartment 362, the readers 319 may read the unique identifier tags 323 of the new dispensable units 322.
- the new dispensable units 322 may be identified by comparing a listing of the dispensable units 322 in the dispensing station 310 before and after loading the new inventory into the loading compartment 362.
- the dispensing station may simply identify a number of dispensable units 322 of a particular type that are added to the station rather than uniquely identifying each unit with an RFID tag or other similar unique identifier.
- some dispensing stations, or some sections of some dispensing stations may be configured to dispense only units of a single kind, in which case only the number of units added must be assessed upon restocking.
- the unique identifier tag readers 319 may have a limited range. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the dispensing station 310 may comprise a plurality of unique identifier tag readers 319 placed at various locations within the inventory compartment 360 and/or loading compartment 362. The placement of the plurality of unique identifier readers 319 may be configured such that the readers 319 are capable of reading unique identifier tags of all of the dispensable units 322 in the inventory and/or loading compartments 360, 362. The placements may be configured to prevent the readers 319 from reading unique identifier tags 323 within the isolation zone 370 ⁇ e.g., tag 323A), as discussed below.
- the controller 31 1 (or a selected one of the plurality of unique identifier readers 319) may combine the information acquired by each of the readers 319 to determine a complete list of the unique identifier tags 323 in the dispensing station (excluding a unique identifier tag 323A in the isolation zone 370).
- one or more of the unique identifier tag readers 319 may be mobile within the dispensing station 310.
- the mobile unique identifier tag readers 319 may move in a pre-determined movement pattern that is configured to place the readers 319 in range of each of the dispensable units 322 (and corresponding unique identifier tags 323) in the inventory compartment 360 and/or the loading compartment 362.
- the movement pattern may comprise an "S" pattern within the compartments 360 and/or 362.
- the movement pattern may be configured to prevent the one or more unique identifier tag readers 319 from reading a unique identifier tag 323A of a dispensable unit 322A within the isolation zone 370.
- the unique identifier readers 319 may be moved within the dispensing station 310 using any suitable mechanism. In some embodiments, one or more unique identifier readers may be placed on (and moved by) the manipulation unit 328.
- the controller 31 1 may access an inventory database 1 16 comprising inventory records 1 17 pertaining to the beneficial products of the new dispensable units 322.
- the inventory database 1 16 may operate on a computing device 340 that is accessible via the network (and communication interface 312 of the dispensing station 310) and/or may be implemented using computing resources of the dispensing station 310.
- the inventory in the loading compartment 362 may be compared to invoice and/or ordering information (accessible via the network 130) to validate the supply chain flow from a provider of the beneficial products to the dispensing station.
- the controller 31 1 may access records 1 17 pertaining to the new dispensable units 322 to determine the beneficial products in the new inventory and/or verify that the new beneficial products conform with order or invoice information.
- the dispensing station 310 generates an electronic and/or physical receipt identifying the new dispensable units 322 in the loading compartment 362.
- the dispensable units 322 in the loading compartment 362 may be transferred from the loading compartment 362 to bins 321 in the inventory compartment 360. The transfers may occur when the loading access port 366 is closed and/or secured, as described above.
- the controller 31 1 may prevent the loading access port 366 from opening while inventory is transferred into the inventory compartment 360.
- the dispensing station 310 comprises a manipulation unit 328 that is configured to transfer dispensable units 322 from the loading compartment 362 into respective bins of the inventory compartment 360.
- the manipulation unit 328 may be configured to access any one of the bins 321 in the inventory compartment 360 and/or loading bins 365 of the loading compartment 362.
- the manipulation unit 328 may be implemented using one or more electrical motors, articulators, servos, hydraulic actuators, or the like.
- the manipulation unit 328 may access the loading compartment 362 through the inventory access port 364 to selectively transfer dispensable units 322 in the loading bins 365 to bins 321 in the inventory compartment 360.
- the dispensing station 310 may be configured to associate each dispensable unit 322 in the inventory compartment 360 with a respective bin 321 . In some embodiments, these associations are established as the dispensable units 322 are transferred from the loading compartment 362 to the inventory compartment 360.
- the unique identifier of a dispensable unit 322 may be determined using the isolation zone 370.
- an isolation zone refers to a location (or container) capable of preventing a unique identifier tag 323 from being scanned or read by the readers 319. Accordingly, when a particular dispensable unit ⁇ e.g., unit 322A) is within the isolation zone 370, the readers 319 may not be capable of reading the unique identifier tag 323A thereof.
- the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A may be determined by reading the unique identifier tags 323 of the dispensable units 322 while the unit 322A is within the isolation zone 370, and comparing these unique identifiers to unique identifiers read while the dispensable unit 322A was outside of the isolation zone 370.
- the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A may appear in the "full" set of unique identifiers and may be absent from the set of unique identifiers read while the unit 322A was in the isolation zone 370, thereby verifying its presence in the isolation zone 370.
- determining the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A comprises performing a first scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units 322 in the dispensing station 310; placing the dispensable unit 322A into the isolation zone 370; and performing a second scan of the unique identifier tags 323 while the dispensable unit 322A is in the isolation zone 370.
- the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A may be determined by comparing the unique identifiers obtained during the first scan to the unique identifiers obtained during the second scan; the unique identifier that appears in the first scan, but not the second scan, is the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A.
- the dispensing station 310 may verify the unique identifier of a particular dispensable unit 322A using a unique identifier reader 359 within the isolation zone 370.
- the dispensing station 310 of Figure 3B comprises one or more unique identifier tag readers 319, which are configured to read unique identifier tags 323 of the dispensable units 322 within the dispensing station (with the exception of the isolation zone 370), as described above.
- the isolation zone 370 may comprise a separate unique identifier tag reader 359 that is configured to read the unique identifier tags 323 of dispensable units 322 within the isolation zone 370 ⁇ e.g., unique identifier tag 322A of unit 322A).
- the isolation zone 370 and/or unique identifier tag reader 359 may be configured to prevent the reader 359 from reading unique identifier tags 323 of dispensable units 322 outside of the isolation zone 370.
- determining the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A may comprise placing the dispensable unit 322A within the isolation zone 370, and reading the unique identifier tag 323A using the isolation zone reader 359.
- the unique identifier may be verified by performing a first scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units 322 in the dispensing station 310 using the reader(s) 319; placing the dispensable unit 322A into the isolation zone 370; and performing a second scan of only the unique identifier tag 323A using the isolation zone unique identifier tag reader 359.
- the unique identifier tag 323A may be determined by comparing the first scan to the second scan and verifying that the unique identifier of the second scan appears in the first scan.
- the second scan may comprise determining a second list of unique identifier tags using the reader(s) 319, while the dispensable unit 322A is within the isolation zone 370.
- the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A may be further verified by determining that the unique identifier of the dispensable unit 322A appears in the first list, and not in the second list, and corresponds to the unique identifier read by the separate, unique identifier reader 359.
- dispensable units 322 may be further verified during transfer based upon inventory information ⁇ e.g., an inventory record 1 17 associated with the dispensable unit 322A).
- an inventory record 1 17 associated with the dispensable unit 322A may indicate that it should have a particular weight, be of a particular size, or the like.
- the dispensing station 310 comprises one or more measurement devices 371 ⁇ e.g., scales, optical scanners, electromagnetic scanners, magnetic resonance imaging, x- ray, etc.), to verify that the dispensable unit 322A corresponds to information of its corresponding inventory record 1 17.
- Such features may be provided as secondary (or, in some embodiments, primary) means for preventing dispensing errors or, as described below, "safety checks.”
- the manipulation unit 328 may transfer the dispensable unit 322A into a selected bin 321 A of the inventory compartment 360.
- the controller 31 1 and/or inventory database 1 16 may be updated to associate the dispensable unit 322A with the selected bin ⁇ e.g., bin 321 A).
- the dispensing station 310 may "serialize" the inventory of beneficial products.
- inventory serialization refers to finely-grained inventory management that tracks medication by "type” ⁇ e.g., UPC code, NDC code, RxNorm, etc.) as well as manufacture date, supplier, sell-by date, expiration date, lot, packaged date and time, and so on.
- the dispensing station 310 may dispense beneficial products in a particular order and/or based upon a particular preference.
- dispensable units 322A and 322B may both comprise the same type of beneficial product.
- the beneficial product in dispensable unit 322A may have an earlier "sell- by" date than the beneficial product of dispensable unit 322B. Accordingly, the dispensing station 310 may be configured to ensure that unit 322A is dispensed before dispensing 322B.
- the dispensing station 310 may comprise a fulfillment module 324 to dispense beneficial products to a patient 154.
- the fulfillment module 324 may be configured to process a prescription request from a patient 154, which may comprise authenticating the identity of the patient 154, identifying a prescription record 1 18 associated with the patient 154, validating restrictions associated with the prescription record 1 18 ⁇ e.g., TTL, location, dispensing station identifier, etc.), processing a payment for the prescription, and so on, as described above.
- the dispensing station 310 may dispense one or more dispensable units 322 to the patient 154.
- the dispensing station 310 selects dispensable units 322 based upon the type of beneficial product prescribed to the patient, as indicated by the prescription record 1 18 ⁇ e.g., by UPC, NDC, RxNorm, or other suitable identifier). The selection may be based on inventory serialization factors, such as the age of the dispensable units 322, a "sell-by" date of the dispensable units 322, or the like.
- dispensing beneficial products to the patient 154 comprises one or more safety checks.
- the dispensing station 310 maintains a location ⁇ e.g., bin) of each dispensable unit 322 in the inventory compartment 360.
- the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit 322 to be dispensed to the patient 154 may be re-verified before being dispensed.
- the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit 322 may be re-verified using the isolation zone 370 as described above.
- the reader 319 may perform a first scan of the unique identifier tags 323 of the dispensable units 322, the manipulation unit 328 may transfer the selected dispensable unit 322 into the isolation zone 370, and the reader 319 may perform a second scan of the unique identifier tags 323 while the selected dispensable unit 322 is within the isolation zone 370.
- the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit 322 may be re-verified by comparing the unique identifiers obtained during the first and second scans.
- the unique identifier tags 323 may be further verified using a reader within the isolation zone 370, as described above.
- Re-verifying may further comprise verifying inventory information associated with the selected dispensable unit 322.
- re-verification may comprise accessing an inventory record 1 17 in the inventory database 1 16 to verify that the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit 322 corresponds with the beneficial products prescribed to the patient 154.
- Other properties of the selected dispensable unit 322, such as weight, size, and so on, may be verified using the measurement devices 371 .
- the unit 322 In response to re-verifying the selected dispensable unit 322, the unit 322 may be placed within a dispenser 329 for the patient 154.
- the dispenser 329 may comprise a secure, one-way opening in the inventory compartment 360.
- dispensing may further comprise generating an electronic and/or physical receipt of the transaction, updating the inventory database 1 16 ⁇ e.g., marking the prescription record 1 18 as "fulfilled"), and so on.
- the receipt may comprise information captured by one or more of the monitoring devices 313 validating that the beneficial products were retrieved from the dispensing station 310 by the patient 154.
- dispensing may further comprise printing dispensing information on a label of a dispensable unit 322.
- the dispensing information may comprise, but is not limited to: a name of the beneficial product, usage instructions, expiration date, receipt information, health care provider contact information, and so on.
- the dispensing information may comprise patient-specific information, such as drug interaction warnings, patient-specific usage directions, and so on.
- the dispensing information may be obtained from the inventory database 1 16 and/or patient database 156 via the network 130, as described above.
- the dispenser 329 comprises a printer 339, which is configured to print dispensing information on a dispensable unit 322.
- the printer 339 may be configured to print the dispensing information on a printable area 324 ⁇ e.g., label) of the dispensable unit 322.
- the printer 339 is configured to print a printable area of a label 324 and to apply the label to a dispensable unit 322.
- the printer 339 may be configured such that it does not require consumables, such as labels, ink, and the like.
- the dispensable units 322 may each have a pre-existing label (or other surface) comprising a printable area 324.
- the printable area 324 may be capable of being printed upon by the printer 339 without consumables, such as ink. Accordingly, the printable area 324 may comprise a heat transfer surface, an etchable surface, or other suitable printing surface.
- the printer 339 may print dispensing information on the printable area 324 as dispensable units 322 are dispensed to patients 154 through the dispenser 329.
- Figure 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 400 for managing an inventory of beneficial products using a dispensing station, such as the dispensing station 310 described above.
- Step 420 may comprise a user (e.g., staff or other authorized personnel) accessing a loading access port of the dispensing station to place new dispensable units into one or more loading bins.
- Step 420 may comprise the user accessing a locking mechanism of the loading access port using an access credential and/or key.
- Step 420 may further comprise securing an internal, inventory access port to prevent access to existing inventory within the dispensing station.
- the inventory access port may selectably connect an inventory compartment of the dispensing station to a loading compartment of the dispensing station. Closing the inventory access port may allow new inventory to be loaded while beneficial products in the inventory compartment remain secure.
- step 420 comprises maintaining the inventory access port closed until the loading access port is closed and/or secured.
- the method 400 may be configured to maintain the loading access port in a closed and/or secured configuration while the dispensable units in the loading compartment are transferred to the inventory compartment [e.g., during steps 430-444).
- step 420 further comprises monitoring access to the dispensing station using one or more monitoring devices ⁇ e.g., cameras, video recorders, microphones, etc.). The monitoring may continue throughout each step of the method 400.
- opening the loading access port activates one or more monitoring devices, such as internal monitoring devices, that are adapted to monitor accesses to interior portions of the dispensing station.
- the dispensable units loaded into the loading bins may be validated.
- Step 430 may comprise reading the unique identifier tags of the inventory in the loading bins.
- the unique identifier tags are read concurrently using a radio-frequency scanner, such as an RFID scanner, or the like.
- the unique identifiers may be used to access information about the beneficial products in the dispensable units in an inventory database.
- Validating the inventory may comprise comparing the unique identifiers (or inventory information) with order information to determine whether the new inventory comprises a complete order.
- step 430 comprises generating a physical and/or electronic receipt indicating the unique identifiers of the new inventory.
- the receipt may comprise additional information about the new inventory, such as beneficial product type, quantity, source, sell-by date, and so on.
- the validation of step 430 occurs before the dispensable units are serialized and/or transferred into the inventory compartment at steps 440-444.
- the validation of step 430 may occur at another time ⁇ e.g., after the dispensable units are transferred into the inventory compartment at steps 440-444).
- the dispensable units loaded into the loading compartment may be serialized and transferred into the inventory compartment at step 440.
- Step 440 may comprise determining the unique identifier of each dispensable unit in the loading compartment, placing each dispensable unit in a respective bin in the inventory compartment, and updating an inventory database to associate each dispensable unit with a respective bin. Accordingly, steps 442 and 444 may be repeated for each dispensable unit in the loading compartment.
- Step 442 comprises determining a unique identifier of a particular dispensable unit in the loading compartment.
- Step 442 may comprise performing a first scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units in the dispensing station using one or more unique tag readers ⁇ e.g., RFID scanners); placing the particular dispensable unit into an isolation zone wherein its unique identifier tag cannot be scanned by the scanning device; and performing a second scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units in the dispensing station while the particular dispensable unit is in the isolation zone.
- unique tag readers e.g., RFID scanners
- the unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit may be determined by comparing the unique identifiers obtained during the first scan to the unique identifiers obtained during the second scan; the unique identifier that appears in the first scan, but not the second scan is the unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit.
- scanning the unique identifiers may comprise moving one or more unique tag readers within the dispensing station according to a movement pattern, as described above.
- scanning the unique identifiers may comprise combining the unique identifier tags read by a plurality of unique tag readers at different positions within the dispensing station.
- step 442 may comprise using a unique identifier reader within the isolation zone, as described above. Accordingly, determining the unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit may comprise placing the particular dispensable unit within the isolation zone and reading the unique identifier thereof using a unique identifier reader in the isolation zone. The unique identifier may be further verified by performing first and/or second scans using other unique identifier readers, as described above.
- Step 444 the particular dispensable unit is placed in one of the bins in the inventory compartment.
- Step 444 may further comprise updating the inventory database (or other data structure) to associate the particular dispensable unit with the bin (by bin location or some other bin identifier). This association may allow the inventory database to determine which bin the particular dispensable unit is located.
- the method 400 may iterate over steps 442 and 444 until all of the dispensable units in the loading compartment have been transferred into bins within the inventory compartment. The method 400 may end until new dispensable units are placed into the loading compartment.
- FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 500 for dispensing beneficial products using a dispensing station.
- a request to dispense a particular beneficial product is received at step 520.
- the request may be received in response to a patient fulfilling a prescription at the dispensing station.
- step 520 may comprise receiving patient identifying and/or payment information and determining whether the prescription can be fulfilled, as described above in conjunction with Figures 2 and 3.
- Step 530 comprises selecting one or more dispensable units to dispense to fulfill the request of step 520.
- Step 530 may comprise identifying dispensable units comprising beneficial products prescribed to the patient (based upon information in an inventory database). The selection of step 530 may also be based upon inventory serialization information, such as beneficial product sell-by date, supplier, and so on.
- Step 540 may comprise re-verifying the dispensable units, as described above.
- the re-verification may comprise verifying the unique identifier of each selected dispensable unit and/or verifying inventory information associated with each selected dispensable unit (e.g. weight, size, etc.).
- Step 550 may comprise transferring the selected dispensable units to a dispenser that is accessible to the patient.
- Step 550 may further comprise updating an inventory database to indicate that the selected dispensable units have been dispensed and are no longer in inventory, updating a prescription record to indicate that the prescription has been fulfilled, and/or generating a receipt indicating fulfillment of the prescription.
- step 550 may comprise printing dispensing information on the selected dispensable units, as described above.
- Step 550 may comprise obtaining dispensing information from an inventory and/or patient database.
- the selected dispensable units may comprise a pre-applied label having a printable area.
- the printable area may be capable of being printed upon without the use of consumables, such as ink.
- the method 500 may end until a next request for a beneficial product is received.
- Embodiments may include various steps, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a general-purpose or special- purpose computer (or other electronic device). Alternatively, the steps may be performed by hardware components that include specific logic for performing the steps, or by a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.
- Embodiments may also be provided as a computer program product including a machine-readable storage medium having stored instructions thereon that may be used to program a computer (or other electronic device) to perform processes described herein.
- the machine-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to: hard drives, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD- ROMs, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, or other types of medium/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.
- a software module or component may include any type of computer instruction or computer executable code located within a memory device and/or non-transitory machine-readable storage medium.
- a software module may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer
- a particular software module may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations of a memory device, which together implement the described functionality of the module.
- a module may comprise a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.
- Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environment where tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through a communications network.
- software modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices.
- data being tied or rendered together in a database record may be resident in the same memory device, or across several memory devices, and may be linked together in fields of a record in a database across a network.
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Abstract
Selon l'invention, un poste de distribution comprend des produits thérapeutiques destinés à des patients d'un prestataire de soins. Une base de données des stocks suit les stocks disponibles dans le poste de distribution. Un patient est associé à un enregistrement d'ordonnance, qui spécifie un produit thérapeutique prescrit. Le patient peut fournir des informations d'identification de patient au poste de distribution, telles que des informations de paiement confidentielles, qui peuvent être utilisées pour identifier un enregistrement d'ordonnance, pour authentifier le patient, pour transférer un paiement et/ou pour distribuer le produit thérapeutique prescrit au patient. L'enregistrement d'ordonnance peut être valide pendant une période limitée, peut être limité à une réalisation dans un endroit particulier, et/ou peut être réservé à un ou plusieurs postes de distribution spécifiés. Le poste de distribution peut valider les produits thérapeutiques avant de distribuer les produits au patient.
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
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US201161526627P | 2011-08-23 | 2011-08-23 | |
US61/526,627 | 2011-08-23 | ||
US201161555397P | 2011-11-03 | 2011-11-03 | |
US61/555,397 | 2011-11-03 |
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WO2013028892A2 true WO2013028892A2 (fr) | 2013-02-28 |
WO2013028892A3 WO2013028892A3 (fr) | 2013-05-02 |
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PCT/US2012/052110 WO2013028892A2 (fr) | 2011-08-23 | 2012-08-23 | Systèmes et procédés de distribution de produits thérapeutiques |
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