SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGEMENT OF PHARMACY WORKFLOW

• US 20110131056A1
• Filed: 11/23/2010
• Published: 06/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ArXium, Inc. (Van Humbeck Family)
• Original Assignee: AutoMed Technologies Incorporated (Cencora, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shultz, David A., Chudy, Duane S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,571,886 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/66 Trinkets, e.g. shirt buttons or jewellery items recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• 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 system and method for optimized management of pharmacy workflow, specifically, workflow associated with fulfillment of prescription orders for medications and health-related products in a pharmacy environment. A computer-controlled system coordinates and controls pharmacy workflow to sequence prescriptions for fulfillment in a most efficient path thereby minimizing a cost function associated with fulfillment of the prescription order. The system coordinates and controls prescription order fulfillment from automated and non-automated storage locations and can be easily adapted to the specific layout and level of automation desired by the operator.

Claims

1. A computerized method for filling a prescription order, comprising:

receiving by a control computer a prescription order comprising a list of two or more medications, each medication stored at a different location;

using the control computer to generate a sequence in which to gather the medications of the list at the different locations; and

generating human-readable indicia of the sequence,

wherein the sequence is determined by minimizing a cost function comprised of variables associated with the fulfillment of the prescription order.

2. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the human-readable indicia of the sequence on a display, wherein the display comprises the following information for each medication;

a name of the medication,

a stock image of the medication, and

an icon representative of the location in which the medication is stored.

3. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the human-readable indicia of the sequence in a printed form, wherein the printed form comprises the following information for each medication;

a name of the medication,

a stock image of the medication, and

an icon representative of the location in which the medication is stored.

4. The computerized method of claim 3, wherein the information is printed on a tote bag configured to hold the medications of the prescription order.

5. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a digital image of at least one of the medications stored in a dispensing apparatus provided at one of the different locations, the digital image taken by a feature of the dispensing apparatus.

6. The computerized method of claim 5, further comprising:

displaying the digital image proximate to a display of a stock image of the medication for comparison thereof.

7. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the variables include the distance required to be traveled between the different locations to fulfill the prescription order.

8. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the variables include locations of medications assigned to other prescription orders that are co-pending with the prescription order.

9. A computerized method for filling a prescription order, comprising:

receiving by a control computer a prescription order comprising a list of two or more medications, each medication stored at a different location;

using the control computer to generate a sequence in which to gather the medications of the list at the different locations;

generating human-readable indicia of the sequence; and

generating a printed sequence list which provides the sequence based on workflow considerations and minimizing costs where the medications are located in separate storage devices.

10. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein the printed sequence list comprises the following information for each medication:

a name of the medication,

a stock image of the medication, and

an icon representative of the location in which the medication is stored.

11. The computerized method of claim 10, wherein the printed sequence list is printed on a tote bag configured to hold the medications of the prescription order.

12. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the workflow considerations and costs includes the distance required to be traveled between the different locations to fulfill the prescription order.

13. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the workflow considerations and costs includes locations of medications assigned to other prescription orders that are co-pending with the prescription order.