Method and apparatus for bar code driven drug product verification with equivalency links
First Claim
1. A method for automatic verification of drugs to be dispensed in accordance with a prescription that identifies a particular drug product, the method comprising:
- a) printing a prescription label corresponding to the prescription, said prescription label including a first bar code symbol that encodes a first code number assigned to the particular drug product of the prescription;
b) performing a first scanning operation wherein said first bar code symbol is scanned, and processing results of the first scanning operation to recover said first code number;
c) selecting a container that holds a drug product, the container having a second bar code label affixed thereto that encodes a second code number assigned to the drug product held in the container;
d) performing a second scanning operation on said second bar code label, and processing results of the second scanning operation to recover said second code number;
e) comparing said first and second code numbers to determine if said first code number matches said second code number;
f) if a match is not determined in e), accessing a database of equivalency links to determine if said second code number is equivalent to said first code number; and
g) selectively dispensing the drug product from said container selected in c) based upon the determination in f).
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved apparatus and corresponding method are provided for verification of drugs to be dispensed by a pharmacy. A data processing platform and a bar code scanner perform first and second scanning operations. In the first scanning operation, a first bar code symbol (which is part of a prescription label for a given prescription) is scanned and the results are processed to recover the first code number encoded therein (which is assigned to the particular drug product of the given prescription). In the second scanning operation, a second bar code label (which is affixed to a selected container from the inventory of drug products maintained by the pharmacy) is scanned and the results are processed to recover the second code number encoded therein (which is assigned to the particular drug product held in the selected container). If the first and second code numbers match, the bar code verification is successful. If a match is not found, a database of equivalency links is accessed to determine if the second code number is equivalent to the first code number, The results of such equivalency link processing is used in selectively dispensing the drug product from the selected one container. Such operations allow for accurate dispensing of generic equivalents (or functional analogs) as specified by an authorized user of the system.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for automatic verification of drugs to be dispensed in accordance with a prescription that identifies a particular drug product, the method comprising:
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a) printing a prescription label corresponding to the prescription, said prescription label including a first bar code symbol that encodes a first code number assigned to the particular drug product of the prescription;
b) performing a first scanning operation wherein said first bar code symbol is scanned, and processing results of the first scanning operation to recover said first code number;
c) selecting a container that holds a drug product, the container having a second bar code label affixed thereto that encodes a second code number assigned to the drug product held in the container;
d) performing a second scanning operation on said second bar code label, and processing results of the second scanning operation to recover said second code number;
e) comparing said first and second code numbers to determine if said first code number matches said second code number;
f) if a match is not determined in e), accessing a database of equivalency links to determine if said second code number is equivalent to said first code number; and
g) selectively dispensing the drug product from said container selected in c) based upon the determination in f). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for automatic verification of drugs to be dispensed by a pharmacy in accordance with a prescription that identifies a particular drug product, the pharmacy employing a printer and an inventory of containers holding drug products, wherein the printer prints a prescription label corresponding to the prescription, said prescription label including a first bar code symbol that encodes a first code number assigned to the particular drug product of the prescription, and wherein one of the containers has a second bar code label affixed thereto that encodes a second code number assigned to the drug product held in the container, the apparatus comprising:
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a data processing platform and a bar code scanner interfacing with said data processing platform;
said data processing platform and said bar code scanner having means for performing;
i) a first scanning operation wherein said first bar code symbol is scanned and results of the first scanning operation are processed to recover said first code number;
ii) a second scanning operation wherein said second bar code label is scanned and results of the second scanning operation are processed to recover said second code number;
iii) a comparison of said first and second code numbers to determine if said first code number matches said second code number;
iv) if a match is not determined in ii), an operation that accesses a database of equivalency links to determine if said second code number is equivalent to said first code number; and
v) an operation that stores the result of the determination in iv) for use in selectively dispensing the drug product from the one container. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification