Medication management system

• US 20050144043A1
• Filed: 08/31/2004
• Published: 06/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ICU Medical Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hospira Incorporated (Pfizer Inc.)
• Inventors: Silkaitis, Raymond P., Holland, Geoffrey N., Rubalcaba, Bernardino Jr., Moran, Charles P., McNeela, Martin A., Haque, Imtiyaz, Huang, John W., Keely, Patrick B., Pelletier, Jeff
• Granted Patent: US 7,895,053 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

A medication management system (MMS) includes a medication management unit (MMU) associated with a medical device. The MMU downloads medication delivery code based on a medication delivery order to the medical device only if information from a first input matches information from a second input. The medical device receives delivery information electronically only from the MMU. The medication order is performed only after delivery data validation. The MMU also determines drug-drug incompatibility. The MMU can modulate (start, stop, sequence and dynamically adjust) medication order performance.

Claims

4. A medication management system, for use with an information system in a hospital environment that includes a hospital information system, first input means and second input means;

wherein the first input means delivers a medication order prescribed for a patient to the hospital information system; and

wherein the second input means inputs to the hospital information system machine-readable patient-specific, drug container specific, caregiver specific and medical device specific delivery information from the patient, drug container, caregiver and medical device respectively; and

wherein the information system includes program code for comparing the prescribed medication order with the inputted delivery information in order to insure that a correct drug/patient/route/time/dosage medication order has been requested for execution by an authorized caregiver and an appropriate medical device;

comprising;

a medical device adapted to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient;

a medication management unit adapted for electronic communication with the information system and the medical device, the medication management unit having a processing unit and a storage medium coupled to the processing unit, the storage medium containing programming code executed by the processing unit to receive the correct medication order from the information system, and send delivery programming code to the medical device based on the correct medication order;

the medical device having a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing programming code executed by the processor to receive and execute the delivery programming code to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient; and

wherein the medical device receives delivery information electronically only through the medication management unit.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the delivery information is input in any order into the second input means.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the medication management unit includes a computer server with a storage medium storing plurality of programs for interacting with the medical device.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising at least one terminal remote from the medical device connected to the server for accessing programs and manipulating data on the server.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one terminal comprises a medication management unit console and a drug library editor console in a physical location separate from the medication management unit console.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the medication management unit programming code establishes a patient-specific rule set for the delivery programming code.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the patient-specific rule set includes at least one hard limit on dosage that cannot be overridden by the local caregiver unless authorized by a supervisor.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the patient-specific rule set includes at least one soft limit on dosage that can be overridden by the local caregiver.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein overrides of the hard and soft limits are recorded by the medical device and communicated to the MMU.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the medication management unit programming code orders the medical device to adjust at least one of the hard and soft dosage limits in the delivery programming code based on updated patient-specific information.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the medication management unit generates an alert message if the delivery programming code violates any parameter of the adjusted hard and soft dosage limits.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the medication management unit is in electronic communication with a monitoring device to receive the updated patient-specific information.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the medication management unit is in electronic communication with a lab and receives lab results including the updated patient-specific information.

17. The system of claim 4, wherein the medication management unit programming code contains a plurality of clinical support decision rules and generates an alert if the correct medication order violates one of the plurality of clinical support decision rules.

18. The system of claim 4, wherein the medication management unit modulates the delivery programming code to be executed by the medical device based on patient specific information from a source selected from a group of sources consisting of a laboratory and a patient monitoring device.

19. The system of claim 4, wherein the medical device programming code permits the medical device to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient only after a caregiver has validated the delivery programming code data.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the medical device programming code permits the medical device to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient only after a caregiver has validated the delivery programming code data at the medical device.

21. The system of claim 4, wherein the medication management unit programming code and the medical device programming code permits the medical device to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient only after a caregiver has validated the delivery programming code data at the medical device and the delivery information at the second input means.

22. The system of claim 4, wherein the first and second input means are integrated into a single point of care device.

23. A method for delivering programming code to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient to a medical device, comprising:

delivering a medication order prescribed for a patient to an information system via a first input means;

inputting machine-readable patient-specific, drug container specific, caregiver specific and medical device specific delivery information from the patient, drug container, caregiver and medical device respectively, to the information system via a second input means to provide a verified medication order;

receiving the delivery information from the second input means at a medication management unit;

receiving the verified medication order from the information system based on the delivery information;

sending a delivery programming code to the medical device based on the verified medication order and the delivery information received at the medication management unit;

receiving and executing the delivery programming code at the medical device to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient; and

wherein the medical device receives delivery information electronically only through the medication management unit.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of the medication management unit receiving the verified medication order comprises the steps of receiving the verified medication order from the information system at the second input means, sending the verified medication order from the second input means to the medication management unit, and receiving the verified medication order at the medication management unit.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of permitting the medical device to perform a medication order prescribed for a patient only after a caregiver has validated the delivery programming code data at the medical device.

26. A medication management system, for use with an information system and first and second input means;

wherein the first input means delivers a medication order prescribed for a patient to the information system; and

wherein the second input means inputs machine-readable patient-specific, drug container specific, and medical device specific delivery information from the patient, drug container, and medical device respectively;

comprising;

a medical device adapted to perform a medication delivery order based upon a medication order prescribed for a patient; and

a medication management unit adapted for electronic communication with the information system, the medical device and the second input means, the medication management unit having a processing unit and a storage medium coupled to the processing unit, the storage medium containing programming code executed by the processing unit to receive a first medication delivery order and a second medication delivery from the information system, compare the first and second sets of delivery information with an expert rule set to determine if there is drug-drug incompatibility, and generate an alarm where drug-drug incompatibility is found.

1. A method for administering a medication to a patient, comprising the steps of:

electronically inputting patient-specific medication order information into a medication management computer containing clinical decision support rules and associated with a medical device;

electronically inputting delivery information including patient-specific, drug container specific and medical device specific information into the medication management computer;

screening the delivery information and patient-specific medication order information against at least some of the clinical decision support rules; and

alerting a caregiver if any of the clinical decision support rules screened against are violated.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising downloading a device specific medication order to the medical device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of alerting a caregiver comprises generating the alarm at the medical device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the medication management unit programming code determines if there is drug-drug incompatibility between the first and second medication delivery orders based on delivery to the patient in a given time sequence.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the medication management unit programming code determines if there is drug-drug incompatibility between the first and second medication delivery orders based on concurrent delivery to the patient.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the medication management unit receives the first and second medication delivery orders and delivery information only through the second input means.

28-1. The system of claim 27, wherein the medication management unit programming code determines a suggested time delay interval between delivery of the first and second medication delivery orders that would avoid drug-drug incompatibility.