SYSTEM, METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIA FOR EVALUATING SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS AND DISPLAYING A VIRTUAL PILL CASE

• US 20170220770A1
• Filed: 01/28/2016
• Published: 08/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wal-Mart Stores Texas LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Toupin, Justin, Diepenbrock, Nathan Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 10,445,473 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media that assist pharmacy customers with medication adherence are disclosed. A user interface on a user device includes a virtual pill case including prescription information about a medication. A processing device includes a pharmacy account module, a search engine module, and a communications module. The pharmacy account module receives a request to monitor a user activity, stores the request in a database, and initiates a data search operation, and transmits prescription information to the search engine module. The search engine module receives the prescription information, generates a search on a third party server, and receives and sends the results to the pharmacy account module. The pharmacy account module evaluates the results to retrieve updated medication information and updates the virtual pill case, determines a triggering event associated with the medication occurred, and generates a notification. The communications module transmits the notification to the user.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a user interface on a user device accessible to a user and including a virtual pill case, the virtual pill case including prescription information about at least one medication; and

a processing device in communication with the user interface, the processor including;

a pharmacy account module configured to;

receive a request to initiate a notification operation to monitor an activity of the user, the activity corresponding to the use of the at least one medication,

store the notification operation request in a database,

initiate a data search operation including transmitting the prescription information to a search engine module,

a search engine module configured to;

receive the prescription information and generate a search on a third party server, and

receive search results associated with the prescription information from the third party server, and

send the search results to the pharmacy account module,

the pharmacy account module further configured to;

receive the search results from the search engine module,

evaluate the search results to retrieve updated information associated with the at least one medication,

update the at least one medication in the virtual pill case with the updated information,

determine that a triggering event has occurred, wherein the triggering event is associated with the at least one medication, and

generate a notification regarding the triggering event, and

a communications module configured to transmit the notification to the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the notification operation request includes one or more user preferences.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred notification frequency.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred method of notification transmission.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred time of day.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the communications module is further configured to prompt the user to access the virtual pill case.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the communications module is further configured to prompt the user to view dosage instructions associated with the one or more medications.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a pharmacy account module of a server, a request to initiate a notification operation to monitor an activity of the user, the activity corresponding to the use of the at least one medication;

storing, in a database on the server, the notification operation request;

initiating, by the pharmacy account module, a data search operation including transmitting the prescription information to a search engine module;

receiving, by a search engine module, the prescription information;

generating, by the search engine module, a search on a third party server;

receiving, by the search engine module, search results associated with the prescription information from the third party server;

sending, by the search engine module, the search results to the pharmacy account module;

receiving, by the pharmacy account module, the search results from the search engine module;

evaluating, by the pharmacy account module, the search results to retrieve updated information associated with the at least one medication;

updating, by the pharmacy account module, the at least one medication in the virtual pill case with the updated information;

determining, by the pharmacy account module, that a triggering event has occurred, wherein the triggering event is associated with the at least one medication;

generating, by the pharmacy account module, a notification regarding the triggering event; and

transmitting, by a communications module, the notification to the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the notification operation request includes one or more user preferences.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred notification frequency.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred method of notification transmission.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred time of day.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the communications module is further configured to prompt the user to access the virtual pill case.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the communications module is further configured to prompt the user to view dosage instructions associated with the one or more medications.

15. A non-transitory information recording medium on which a computer readable program is recorded that causes a computer to function as a system comprising:

a user interface on a user device accessible to a user and including a virtual pill case, the virtual pill case including prescription information about at least one medication; and

a processing device in communication with the user interface, the processor including;

a pharmacy account module configured to;

receive a request to initiate a notification operation to monitor an activity of the user, the activity corresponding to the use of the at least one medication,

store the notification operation request in a database,

initiate a data search operation including transmitting the prescription information to a search engine module, a search engine module configured to;

receive the prescription information and generate a search on a third party server, and

receive search results associated with the prescription information from the third party server, and

send the search results to the pharmacy account module, the pharmacy account module further configured to;

receive the search results from the search engine module,

evaluate the search results to retrieve updated information associated with the at least one medication,

update the at least one medication in the virtual pill case with the updated information,

determine that a triggering event has occurred, wherein the triggering event is associated with the at least one medication, and

generate a notification regarding the triggering event, and a communications module configured to transmit the notification to the user.

16. The non-transitory information recording medium of claim 15, wherein the notification operation request includes one or more user preferences.

17. The non-transitory information recording medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred notification frequency.

18. The non-transitory information recording medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred method of notification transmission.

19. The non-transitory information recording medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more user preferences includes a preferred time of day.

20. The non-transitory information recording medium of claim 15, wherein the communications module is further configured to prompt the user to access the virtual pill case.

21. The non-transitory information recording medium of claim 20, wherein the communications module is further configured to prompt the user to view dosage instructions associated with the one or more medications.