Automated drug substitution, verification, and reporting system
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving prescription information identifying a requested medical item;
creating a substitution reference list in response to said prescription information, said substitution reference list identifying at least one of said requested medical item and an equivalent medical item; and
automatically outputting dispensing information related to a selected medical item on said substitution reference list in response to the application of substitution rules in a database.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated pharmacy system receives prescription information, creates a substitution reference list identifying the requested medical item and a plurality of equivalent medical items, automatically selects one of the items identified on the substitution reference list, fills the prescription, checks the accuracy of the filled prescription, facilitates the sales exchange, and creates an archive of the transaction, although not all steps need to be performed for every application. The integrated pharmacy system can also prevent unauthorized users from performing improper functions such as, for example, attempting to dispense an item which is not a proper substitute for the requested item. The present invention, by automatically substituting equivalent medical items for a requested medical item and by automatically archiving each prescription transaction, simplifies the prescription filling and record keeping requirements for the pharmacy technician and pharmacist.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving prescription information identifying a requested medical item;
creating a substitution reference list in response to said prescription information, said substitution reference list identifying at least one of said requested medical item and an equivalent medical item; and
automatically outputting dispensing information related to a selected medical item on said substitution reference list in response to the application of substitution rules in a database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15)
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4. A method, comprising:
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receiving prescription information;
automatically applying substitution rules from a database to said received information; and
automatically outputting dispensing information related to a selected medical item based on the application of said substitution rules.
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13. The method of 6 additionally comprising updating an inventory level in response to said dispensing.
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14. The method of 6 additionally comprising printing medical item attributes in response to said dispensing.
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16. A method for manually filling a prescription, comprising:
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receiving prescription information identifying a requested drug;
automatically applying substitution rules from a database to said received information;
automatically outputting stock location information based on the application of said substitution rules;
retrieving a stock bottle based on said stock location information; and
dispensing from said retrieved stock bottle. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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23. The method of 16 additionally comprising updating an inventory level in response to said dispensing.
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24. The method of 16 additionally comprising printing drug attributes in response to said dispensing.
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30. A method for automatically filling a prescription, comprising:
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receiving prescription information identifying a requested drug;
automatically applying substitution rules from a database to said received information;
automatically outputting information to an automated dispensing device based on the application of said substitution rules; and
automatically dispensing in response to said output information. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40)
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37. The method of 30 additionally comprising updating an inventory level in response to said dispensing.
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38. The method of 30 additionally comprising printing drug attributes in response to said dispensing.
- 41. The method of claim 41 wherein said creating a substitution reference list includes determining whether an equivalent drug may be dispensed in place of said requested drug.
Specification