Integrated, non-sequential, remote medication management and compliance system

• US 20050240305A1
• Filed: 12/15/2004
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EMMA Health Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: INRange Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Rogers, C. David, Downey, Harvey E., Grafius, Gerald R., Bossi, Christopher E., Bogash, Robert C., Vereb, Christopher J., Coon, Dennis, Papp, Mary Anne
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,471 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/242
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2200/30 Compliance analysis for taking medication
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0084 for multiple medicaments
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/04 Arrangements for time indication or reminder for taking medicine, e.g. programmed dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/66 Trinkets, e.g. shirt buttons or jewellery items recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/68 in which the articles are torn or severed from strips or sheets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

An integrated medication management and compliance system for enabling a care provider to remotely manage and deliver individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient, in a non-sequential fashion. The system includes delivery apparatus remotely located from the care provider, wherein the apparatus stores a plurality of sealed unit dose packages that are delivered to a patient at a scheduled dosing time. The delivery apparatus is coupled to a control facility and to a computer terminal of the care provider by way of a secure communications network. The system enables the patient'"'"'s medication regimen to be remotely tailored in real-time to accommodate fluid medical conditions.

Claims

1. A system for storing and delivering individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient, comprising:

(a) computer software used by a care provider for remotely managing and delivering individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient and for storing identifiers associated therewith;

(b) delivery apparatus located remotely from said care provider and in proximity to said patient for storing a plurality of sealed unit dose packages that each contain an individual dose of a therapeutic product, wherein each package includes an identifier on a surface thereof for tracking the package, enabling the package to be remotely and non-consecutively accessed by the care provider; and

(c) a communications network for providing data to and from the delivery apparatus and for providing a command signal from the computer software of said care provider to said apparatus;

wherein said command signal identifies one or more sealed unit dose packages selected by the care provider to be released to the patient from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus, based on the package identifiers associated therewith.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications network is configured with security controls for protecting patient identifiable information.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said delivery apparatus further comprises an electronic reader for reading said package identifier and verifying release of the sealed unit dose package to the patient.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said delivery apparatus outputs a time-stamped notification signal to the communications network, indicative of patient compliance or non-compliance.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said computer software initiates a follow-up routine in the event of non-compliance following output of said notification signal by the delivery apparatus.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a device for generating a detectable signal to prompt the patient to take a therapeutic dose.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising an interface for input of a patient confirmation signal prior to release of said sealed unit dose package.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said delivery apparatus is actuated by the command signal received from said remote computer software.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a receptacle for holding said plurality of sealed unit dose packages, the receptacle having an identifier that is correlated with each of said package identifiers for inventory control.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said therapeutic product comprises a medication, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, diagnostic material, solid dose, liquid dose, or injection device containing doses.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said package identifier comprises a bar code or radio frequency identification tag containing information regarding the therapeutic product contained within the unit dose package.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an assembly for removing the sealed unit dose package selected by the care provider from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus for retrieval by the patient.

37. The system of claim 4, further comprising analyzing said time-stamped notification signal to identify patterns of patient compliance and non-compliance.

38. The system of claim 1, further comprising electronically billing said patient, said care provider or a third party payor, at the time said sealed unit dose package is delivered to the patient.

13. A system for storing and delivering individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient, comprising:

(a) computer software used by a care provider for remotely managing and delivering individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient and for storing identifiers associated therewith, wherein said computer software provides dosing regimen information for the patient to a control computer;

(b) delivery apparatus located remotely from said care provider and in proximity to said patient for storing a plurality of sealed unit dose packages that each contain an individual dose of a therapeutic product, wherein each package includes an identifier on a surface thereof for tracking the package, enabling the package to be remotely and non-consecutively accessed by said care provider;

(c) a communications network for providing data to and from said delivery apparatus; and

(d) a control computer for inventorying said plurality of unit dose packages according to their package identifiers and communicating a command signal to said delivery apparatus identifying one or more sealed unit dose packages selected by the care provider to be released to the patient from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus, based on the package identifiers associated therewith.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said communications network is configured with security controls for protecting patient identifiable information.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein said delivery apparatus outputs a time-stamped notification signal to the communications network, indicative of patient compliance or non-compliance with said dosing regimen.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said control computer initiates a follow-up routine in the event of patient non-compliance following output of said notification signal by the delivery apparatus.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein said computer software initiates a follow-up routine in the event of patient non-compliance following output of said notification signal by the delivery apparatus.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein said control computer includes a day and time indicative clock for actuating said delivery apparatus in accordance with the dosing schedule of the patient.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising a receptacle for holding said plurality of sealed unit dose packages, the receptacle having an identifier that is correlated with each of said package identifiers for inventory control.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein said computer software transmits a unique address associated with the delivery apparatus to said control computer.

21. The system of claim 13, further comprising an assembly for releasing the sealed unit dose package selected by the care provider from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus for retrieval by the patient.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein said delivery apparatus is actuated by the command signal received from said remote computer software.

23. Apparatus for storing and delivering individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient located remotely from a care provider, comprising:

(a) a controller, coupled to a data communications network, for operating the apparatus in response to a command signal from said network;

(b) a housing for storing a plurality of sealed unit dose packages that each contain an individual dose of a therapeutic product, wherein each package includes an identifier on a surface thereof for tracking the package, enabling the package to be remotely and non-consecutively accessed by a care provider;

(c) a device for generating a detectable signal to prompt the patient to take said therapeutic dose;

(d) an interface for providing a patient confirmation signal in response to said detectable signal; and

(e) a delivery assembly for removing the sealed unit dose package selected by the care provider from a known location in the housing out of the housing for retrieval by the patient.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said data communications network is configured with security controls for protecting patient identifiable information.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising an electronic reader for reading said package identifier and verifying delivery of the sealed unit dose package to the patient.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller outputs a time-stamped notification signal to the communications network, indicative of patient compliance or non-compliance.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a device for generating a detectable signal to prompt the patient to take a therapeutic dose.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising an interface for input of a patient confirmation signal prior to delivery of said sealed unit dose package.

29. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a device for modulating the temperature of the apparatus.

30. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a receptacle for holding said plurality of sealed unit dose packages, the receptacle having an identifier that is correlated with each of said package identifiers for inventory control.

31. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said therapeutic product comprises a medication, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, diagnostic material, solid dose, liquid dose, or injection device containing doses.

32. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said package identifier comprises a bar code or radio frequency identification tag containing information regarding the therapeutic product contained within the unit dose package.

33. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said data communications network includes a computer terminal of said remotely located care provider.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein said information includes a serial number, manufacturer'"'"'s lot number, expiration date, or a combination thereof.

35. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said housing includes one or more bays that each contain a slider for moving the sealed unit dose package into the vicinity of an ejector for removal of said package out of the housing.

36. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising imaging means for providing visual confirmation of delivery of said sealed unit dose package to the patient.

39. A method for storing and delivering individual doses of therapeutic products to a patient, comprising:

(a) providing electronic storage for storing dosing regimen information for a patient and identifiers associated with individual doses of therapeutic products in said regimen;

(b) storing a plurality of sealed unit dose packages in delivery apparatus located remotely from said electronic storage and in proximity to said patient, wherein each sealed unit dose package contains an individual dose of a therapeutic product and includes an identifier on a surface thereof for tracking said package, said identifier enabling the package to be remotely and non-consecutively accessed by a care provider; and

(c) communicating a command signal from said electronic storage to said remotely located delivery apparatus via a data communications network;

wherein said command signal identifies one or more sealed unit dose packages selected by the care provider to be released to the patient from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus, based on the package identifiers associated therewith.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising generating a detectable signal to prompt the patient to take a dose of a therapeutic product in accordance with a prescribed dosing schedule.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the step of releasing the sealed unit dose packages from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus is initiated after a confirmation signal is provided by the patient.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the delivery apparatus outputs a time-stamped notification signal to the communications network, indicative of patient compliance or non-compliance.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein said communications network is configured with security controls for protecting patient identifiable information.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein said package identifier comprises a bar code or radio frequency identification tag containing information regarding the therapeutic product contained within the unit dose package.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein said delivery apparatus includes an electronic reader for reading said package identifiers and verifying release of the sealed unit dose packages to the patient.

46. The method of claim 39, wherein said delivery apparatus includes a receptacle for holding said plurality of sealed unit dose packages, the receptacle having an identifier that is correlated with each of the package identifiers for inventory control.

47. The method of claim 39, wherein said therapeutic product comprises a medication, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, diagnostic material, solid dose, liquid dose, or injection device containing doses.

48. The method of claim 39, further comprising initiating a follow-up routine in the event of patient non-compliance following output of said notification signal by the delivery apparatus.

49. The method of claim 46, further comprising recording the location of each unit dose package within the receptacle in said electronic storage.

50. The method of claim 39, further comprising electronically billing said patient, said care provider, or a third party payor at the time said sealed unit dose packages are released to the patient.

51. The method of claim 44, wherein said information includes a serial number, manufacturer'"'"'s lot number, expiration date, or a combination thereof.

52. The method of claim 39, further comprising using the package identifiers stored within said electronic storage to identify unit dose packages to be quarantined.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising the step of initiating a dose sequestration procedure after identifying the unit dose packages to be quarantined.

54. The method of claim 39, further comprising imaging means for visually confirming release of the sealed unit dose packages to said patient.

55. The method of claim 39, wherein said delivery apparatus is actuated in response to the command signal received from said electronic storage.

56. A system for delivering or immediately quarantining remotely located therapeutic products, comprising:

(a) computer software used by a care provider for storing and retrieving dosing regimen information for a subject and identifiers associated with individual doses of therapeutic products in said regimen;

(b) delivery apparatus located remotely from said care provider and in proximity to said subject for storing a plurality of sealed unit dose packages that each contain an individual dose of a therapeutic product, wherein each package includes an identifier on a surface thereof for tracking the package, enabling the package to be remotely and non-consecutively accessed by said care provider; and

(c) a data communications network for providing data to and from the delivery apparatus and for providing a command signal from the computer software of said care provider to said delivery apparatus;

wherein said command signal identifies one or more sealed unit dose packages selected by the care provider to be released to the subject from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus or sequestered within the apparatus, based on the package identifiers associated therewith.

60. The system of claim 56, wherein said data communications network is configured with security controls for protecting subject identifiable information.

61. The system of claim 56, wherein said delivery apparatus further comprises an electronic reader for reading said package identifier and verifying release of the sealed unit dose package to the subject.

62. The system of claim 56, wherein said delivery apparatus outputs a time-stamped notification signal to the communications network, indicative of subject compliance or non-compliance.

63. The system of claim 56, wherein said computer software initiates a follow-up routine in the event of non-compliance following output of said notification signal by the delivery apparatus.

64. The system of claim 56, further comprising a device for generating a detectable signal to prompt the patient to take a therapeutic dose.

65. The system of claim 56, further comprising an interface for input of a patient confirmation signal prior to release of said sealed unit dose package.

66. The system of claim 56, wherein said delivery apparatus is actuated by the command signal received from said remote computer software.

67. The system of claim 56, further comprising a receptacle for holding said plurality of sealed unit dose packages, the receptacle having an identifier that is correlated with each of said package identifiers for inventory control.

68. The system of claim 56, wherein said therapeutic product comprises a medication, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, diagnostic material, solid dose, liquid dose, or injection device containing doses.

69. The system of claim 56, wherein said package identifier comprises a bar code or radio frequency identification tag containing information regarding the therapeutic product contained within the unit dose package.

70. The system of claim 56, further comprising an assembly for removing the sealed unit dose package selected by the care provider from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus for retrieval by the subject.

71. The system of claim 56, further comprising electronically billing said subject, said care provider, or a third party payor at the time said sealed unit dose packages are released to the subject.

72. The system of claim 69, wherein said information includes a serial number, manufacturer'"'"'s lot number, expiration date, or a combination thereof.

57. A method for delivering or immediately quarantining remotely located therapeutic products, comprising:

(a) providing computer software used by a care provider for storing and retrieving dosing regimen information for a subject and identifiers associated with individual doses of therapeutic products in said regimen;

(b) providing delivery apparatus located remotely from said care provider and in proximity to said subject for storing a plurality of sealed unit dose packages that each contain an individual dose of a therapeutic product, wherein each package includes an identifier on a surface thereof for tracking the package, enabling the package to be remotely and non-consecutively accessed by said care provider; and

(c) communicating a command signal from the computer software of said care provider to said delivery apparatus via a data communications network;

wherein said command signal identifies one or more sealed unit dose packages selected by the care provider to be released to the subject from a known location in the delivery apparatus out of the apparatus or sequestered within the apparatus, based on the package identifiers associated therewith.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising employing a telemetry unit located in proximity to said subject for remotely monitoring the subject'"'"'s environment prior to release of said sealed unit dose packages.

59. The method of claim 57, further comprising employing a telemetry unit located in proximity to said subject for remotely monitoring the subject'"'"'s health status prior to release of said sealed unit dose packages.