PHARMACY DISPENSING SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20140309773A1
• Filed: 06/24/2014
• Published: 10/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ArXium, Inc. (Van Humbeck Family)
• Original Assignee: AutoMed Technologies Incorporated (Cencora, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chudy, Duane S., Schulz, David A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,916,426 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/241
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/62 in which the articles are stored in compartments in fixed receptacles
• 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 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/60 for the operation of medical equipment or devices
• 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

A system for filling a prescription order for a patient includes a plurality of trays each having an RFID tag for storing a unique identifier corresponding to the prescription order, and a plurality of workstations operatively linked to one another, each workstation having an antenna for detecting the unique identifier in one of the plurality of trays, where the detecting is operative to trigger displaying of a profile of at least one prescription item for the corresponding prescription order.

Claims

1. A filling workstation for filling a prescription order for a patient within a pharmacy having a plurality of trays each including a unique identifier and the unique identifier of one of the trays is associated with a prescription order of the patient, the workstation comprising:

a computer;

a display screen in communication with the computer; and

a reader configured to read the unique identifier of each tray when each tray is located at the filling workstation and transmit identifier data representative of the unique identifiers to the computer;

wherein the prescription order includes individual prescription items and the computer is configured to communicate with the display screen to display information related to an individual prescription item to be placed in the tray associated with the unique identifier.

2. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the unique identifier is an RFID tag located within each tray, and the reader includes an antenna configured to receive a signal from the RFID tag.

3. The filling workstation of claim 2 further comprising a tray programmer configured to program the RFID tag with the unique identifier.

4. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the prescription order includes at least two individual prescription items to be placed in the tray, and further wherein the computer is configured to highlight on the display, at least one of the individual prescription items stored in an area proximate the workstation.

5. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the information related to the individual prescription item includes an image of the unfilled individual prescription item.

6. The filling workstation of claim 5 wherein the information related to the individual prescription item includes text information identifying the patient, text information identifying the individual prescription item and the image of the individual prescription item.

7. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the information related to the individual prescription item includes information regarding a storage location of the individual prescription item within the pharmacy.

8. The filling workstation of claim 7 wherein the information related to the storage location is an indication of a shelf location where the individual prescription item is stored within the pharmacy.

9. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the prescription order includes at least two individual prescription items to be placed in the tray, and further wherein the computer is configured to order the display of information for the individual prescription items to minimize a cost function associated with filling the prescription order.

10. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the prescription order includes at least two individual prescription items to be placed in the tray, and further wherein the computer is configured to order the display of information for the individual prescription items to minimize a distance traveled within the pharmacy by pharmacy personnel to fill the prescription order.

11. The filling workstation of claim 1 wherein the computer is configured to trigger dispensing of the individual prescription item by an automated dispenser in response to the reader reading the unique identifier.

12. A computerized prescription filling workstation for filling a prescription order within a pharmacy, the order including at least one prescription item, the workstation including a a reader configured to read unique machine-readable identifiers from each of a plurality of containers and a database which includes prescription data representative of at least one prescription item, and data representative of the identifiers of for containers, wherein the database includes an association between the data representative of a prescription item and the data representative of the identifier for an associated container, the workstation comprising:

a display; and

a workstation computer configured to be communicably coupled to the display, the reader and the database, the workstation computer configured to receive the identifier read by the reader and to receive prescription data from the database;

wherein the workstation computer is configured communicate with the display to display information representative of an individual prescription item to be placed in a container having an identifier represented by data in the database associated with the prescription item.

13. The computerized prescription filling workstation of claim 12 wherein the workstation computer is configured to display textual information representing at least one of:

the individual prescription item of the prescription order; and

a respective storage location for the individual prescription item of the prescription order.

14. The computerized prescription filling workstation of claim 12 wherein the workstation computer is configured to display an image representing the individual prescription item of the prescription order in response to the identifier received from the reader.

15. The computerized prescription filling workstation of claim 12 wherein the workstation computer is configured to display a graphical user interface symbol representing a respective storage location for the individual prescription item of the prescription order in response to the identifier received from the reader.

16. A computerized method for filling a prescription order for a patient within a pharmacy, the method comprising:

associating an individual prescription item of a prescription order with a unique container identifier;

receiving the unique container identifier from an electronic reading device of a prescription filling workstation; and

controlling a display screen to display information representative of an individual prescription item to be placed in the container having the unique container identifier associated with the individual prescription item.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the prescription order includes at least two individual prescription items, the method further comprising controlling the computer to highlight on the display, at least one of the individual prescription items stored in an area proximate the filling workstation.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the information related to the individual prescription item of the prescription order includes text information identifying the patient, text information identifying the individual prescription item, and an image of the individual prescription item.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the information related to the individual prescription item of the prescription order includes information regarding a storage location of the individual prescription item within the pharmacy.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the information regarding the storage location of the individual prescription item within the pharmacy includes a graphical user interface symbol representing the respective storage location.