Recall System and Method for RFID Medical Item Tracking System

• US 20100036755A1
• Filed: 09/03/2008
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wavemark, Inc. (Cardinal Health, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wavemark, Inc. (Cardinal Health, Inc.)
• Inventors: Saghbini, Jean-Claude
• Granted Patent: US 8,346,632 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A medical item recall system for medical items at one or more medical facilities at which the medical items are consumed and/or distributed to patients provides each of the medical items has stand-off readable tags, such as RFID tags. The system comprises medical facilities storage devices at the one or more medical facilities containing medical items, the medical items being identified via the stand-off readable tags and associated with individual medical facilities storage devices. The system further comprises an inventory management system that receives recall information for the medical items, receives content information concerning the medical items contained in each of the medical facilities storage devices, and issues reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information.

Claims

1. A medical item recall system for medical items at one or more medical facilities at which the medical items are consumed and/or distributed to patients, each of the medical items having stand-off readable tags, the system comprising:

medical facilities storage devices at the one or more medical facilities containing medical items, the medical items being identified via the stand-off readable tags and associated with individual medical facilities storage devices; and

an inventory management system that receives recall information for the medical items, receives content information concerning the medical items contained in each of the medical facilities storage devices, and issues reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information.

2. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the medical item recall system tracks medical items in a supply chain extending between one or more manufacturers of the medical items and the one or more medical facilities at which the medical items are consumed.

3. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the medical facilities storage devices automatically determine the presence of medical items contained in the medical facilities storage devices by periodically automatically interrogating the stand-off readable tags associated with each one of the medical items.

4. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

sales representative storage for each of multiple sales representatives for holding medical items in transit between manufacturers of the medical items, one or more distributors, and/or the medical facilities; and

sales representative scanning devices for each of multiple sales representatives for scanning the stand-off readable tags of the medical items contained in the sales representative storage, the sales representative scanning devices reporting content information to the inventory management system;

wherein the inventory management system further issues reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information including the sales representative storage.

5. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 4, further comprising:

manufacturer storage for each of the manufacturers of the medical items;

wherein the inventory management system further issues reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information including the manufacturer storage.

6. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

manufacturer storage for manufacturers of the medical items;

wherein the inventory management system further issues reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information including the manufacturer storage.

7. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising distributor storage devices in the supply chain, the inventory management system further issuing reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information in the distributor storage devices.

8. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stand-off readable tags are radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

9. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inventory management system receives the recall information initially generated by a regulatory agency or medical item manufacturer that issues recalls.

10. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recall information includes a recall class indicating a priority of the recall, a recall date, and product identification information.

11. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reports of the inventory management system include manufacturer reports that characterize inventory of the medical items at each of the one or more medical facilities and inventory held by sales representatives in sales representative storage and any medical items at distributors matching the recall information and inventory held by the manufacturer itself.

12. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reports of the inventory management system include hospital reports that characterize inventory of the medical items at one or more medical facilities matching the recall information.

13. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising medical facilities point of use readers for reading the stand-off readable tags at the point use in the medical facilities, wherein the reports of the inventory management system characterize inventory at one or more medical facilities and time of use of the medical items matching the recall information.

14. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inventory management system upon associating the medical items with the stand-off readable tags confirms whether the medical items match the recall information.

15. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inventory management system confirms whether the medical items match the recall information prior to use at the medical facilities.

16. A medical item recall system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inventory management system confirms whether the medical items match the recall information prior to shipment to the one or more medical facilities from manufacturers, distributors or sales representatives.

17. A medical item recall monitoring method for medical items at one or more medical facilities at which the medical items are consumed and/or distributed to patients, the method comprising:

associating each of the medical items with stand-off readable tags;

storing the medical items in medical facilities storage devices at the one or more medical facilities;

receiving recall information for the medical items;

receiving content information concerning the medical items contained in each of the medical facilities storage devices; and

issuing reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information.

18. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising tracking medical items in a supply chain extending between one or more manufacturers of the medical items and the one or more medical facilities at which the medical items are consumed.

19. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising the medical facilities storage devices automatically determining the medical items contained in the medical facilities storage devices by periodically automatically interrogating the stand-off readable tags associated with each one of the medical items.

20. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:

holding medical items sales representative storage during transit between manufacturers of the medical items, one or more distributors, and/or the medical facilities; and

scanning the stand-off readable tags of the medical items contained in the sales representative storage;

reporting content information for the sales representative storage to the inventory management system;

issuing reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information including the sales representative storage.

21. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising issuing reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information including manufacturer storage.

22. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising receiving the recall information initially generated by a regulatory agency and/or manufacturer that issues recalls.

23. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising issuing manufacturer reports that characterize inventory of the medical items at each of the one or more medical facilities and inventory held by sales representatives in sales representative storage matching the recall information and inventory held by the manufacturer itself.

24. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising issuing hospital reports that characterize inventory of the medical items at one or more medical facilities matching the recall information.

25. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:

reading the stand-off readable tags at a point use in the medical facilities; and

issuing reports that characterize inventory at one or more medical facilities and time of use and place of use of the medical items matching the recall information.

26. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising, upon associating the medical items with the stand-off readable tags, confirming whether the medical items match the recall information.

27. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising, prior to use of the medical items, confirming whether the medical items match the recall information.

28. A medical item recall monitoring method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising confirming whether the medical items match the recall information prior to shipment to the one or more medical facilities.

29. A medical item recall system for medical items in a supply chain extending from manufacturers to one or more medical facilities at which the medical items are consumed and/or distributed to patients, each of the medical items having stand-off readable tags, the system comprising:

medical facilities storage at the one or more medical facilities containing medical items, the medical items being identified via the stand-off readable tags and associated with individual medical facilities storage devices;

sales representative storage for each of multiple sales representatives for holding medical items in transit between manufacturers of the medical items, one or more distributors, and/or the medical facilities;

sales representative scanning devices for each of multiple sales representatives for scanning the stand-off readable tags of the medical items contained in the sales representative storage, the sales representative scanning devices reporting content information to the inventory management system;

manufacturer storage for each of the manufacturers of the medical items;

distributor storage in the supply chain; and

an inventory management system that receives recall information for the medical items, receives location information concerning the medical items contained in each of the medical facilities storage, sales representative storage, manufacturer storage, and distributor storage, and issues reports for locations of medical items matching the recall information.