Pharmaceutical tracking
First Claim
1. An apparatus for tracking medical products, each of the medical products having a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag uniquely associated therewith, the apparatus comprising:
- a casing comprising a compartment for receiving one or more medical products therein;
a reader for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products in the compartment, the reader including a plurality of RFID antennas disposed in the casing; and
a processor coupled to the reader for receiving and processing readings of the RFID tags in the compartment to identify the medical products in the compartment.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A medication-dispensing unit is provided for tracking medical products having a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag uniquely associated therewith. The dispensing unit includes compartments for receiving medical products therein, and readers for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products in the compartments. A processor is coupled to the readers for receiving and processing readings of the RFID tags in the compartment to identify the medical products in the compartments. The processor may identify a medical product removed from a compartment by determining a difference between readings of the RFID tags in the compartment taken before and after the medical product is removed from the compartment. The processor may verify that the medical product removed from the compartment is authorized to be removed or confirmed that an identified patient is intended to receive the medical product being removed from the compartment. A system and method for counterfeit prevention is disclose, as is specimen, blood, organ and the like, tracking.
284 Citations
38 Claims
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1. An apparatus for tracking medical products, each of the medical products having a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag uniquely associated therewith, the apparatus comprising:
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a casing comprising a compartment for receiving one or more medical products therein;
a reader for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products in the compartment, the reader including a plurality of RFID antennas disposed in the casing; and
a processor coupled to the reader for receiving and processing readings of the RFID tags in the compartment to identify the medical products in the compartment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for monitoring medical products in a medical facility comprising, applying a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag to a product or its container, reading identification data to the tag uniquely associated with the medical product,
associating the product with a patient, storing product and patient identification in a medical product database, processing the product and storing data as a result thereof in the database, and ensuring that the information as a result of processing is associated with the particular patient in the database.
- 20. A method as in claim 20 wherein the medical product is a pharmaceutical.
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22. A method as in 21 wherein the product is a human organ.
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24. A method for counterfeit prevention with respect to medical products comprising the steps of
providing an RFID tag for a medical product and which tag containers a unique identification, storing the unique identification for each product in a master product database; -
sending the unique identification for products to a recipient database at a recipient facility, and transferring the products to the facility, at the medical facility, performing an RF scan of each product and verifying the unique identification from the RF scan with the identification received, in the recipient database, and providing product information and identification to the recipient database, and identifying any product that is not verified as an authentic product. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for tracking medical items, each of the medical items having a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag uniquely associated therewith, the apparatus comprising:
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a casing comprising a compartment for receiving one or more medical products therein, a terminal associated with the casing at which items intended for a patient can be selected, a reader for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products in the compartment, the reader including a plurality of RFID antennas disposed in the casing; and
a processor coupled to the reader for receiving and processing readings of the RFID tags in the compartment to identify the medical products in the compartment.
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28. A system for tracking medical products wherein the medical products have a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag associated therewith, the system comprising:
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a management computer and database for storing information relating to medical products and patients, a pharmacy terminal and RF reader/writer for scanning received medical products and for receiving patient prescription information, and providing product and patient prescription information to the computer;
a medication dispensing terminal and RF reader for receiving patient prescription information and for enabling medical products to be selected for a patient, and for allowing retrieval of the products and verifying that the proper products have been retrieved, and a bedside terminal and RF reader for allowing the RFID tags of medical products to be read into the bedside terminal and to verify that the proper medical products for the patient is to be administered. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. An apparatus for tracking medical products, each of the medical products having a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag uniquely associated therewith, the apparatus comprising:
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a dispensing terminal for receiving one or more medical products, a reader for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products, the reader including an RFID antenna disposed at the terminal; and
a processor coupled to the reader for receiving and processing readings of the RFID tags to identify the medical products at the terminal. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification