SYSTEM USING NFC-ENABLED MEDICINE PACKAGING TO ESTABLISH A NO-LOGIN, AUTHENTICATED AND CONTEXTUALIZED TWO-WAYS DATA FLOW BETWEEN A PATIENT AND A PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURER

• US 20180121615A1
• Filed: 11/03/2016
• Published: 05/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Rozier, David, Guerin, Nicolas
• Granted Patent: US 11,342,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0492 by using a location-limited connection, e.g. near-field communication or limited proximity of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A system and method to establish a no-login authenticated and contextualized two-ways data flow between a medicine user and the pharmaceutical manufacturer. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, enabling short-range communication between two compatible devices is utilized via a writeable NFC tag carried by a medication package. The writeable NFC tag includes medication information, anti-counterfeiting information, as well as data about the patient and the prescription. The NFC tag may be read by a user device associated with the patient, enabling the user device to merge this data with the patient'"'"'s feedback, send this rich flow in a secure way to the manufacturer, who in turn is now able to provide rich contextual guidance to the patient.

Claims

1. A near-field communication (NFC)-enabled medication packaging system, comprising:

a server, comprising;

a processor in communication with memory;

a near-field communications transceiver in data communication with the processor and memory; and

a data storage in communication with the processor, the data storage storing a public key and a private key;

wherein the memory stores instructions which are executed by the processor to;

initialize a tag of a medicine package with medication data corresponding to a medication contained therein,

sign the tag using the private key to establish authentication of the medication contained in the medicine package,

receive encrypted data from a user device via a secure communications link over a computer network, the encrypted data including at least one of prescription data and patient data,

decrypt the received data to retrieve the at least one of the prescription data and the patient data,

generate personalized guidance specific to the patient in accordance with at least one of the prescription data and the patient data, and

communicate, via the secure communications link over the computer network, the personalized guidance specific to the patient to the user device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the tag of the medicine package further comprises an NFC-enabled, write-only tag affixed to the medicine package, the tag including a memory storing medicine data, the prescription data, and the patient data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the memory further stores instructions which are executed by the processor to:

receive, from the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network, feedback data representative of a use of the medication by the patient;

analyze the received feedback data;

generate the personalized guidance specific to the patient in accordance with the analyzed feedback data; and

communicate the personalized guidance specific to the patient to the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein initializing the tag further comprises writing at least one of a medication name, a medication packaging, a batch number, and an expiration date on the tag via the NFC communications link.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the memory further stores instructions executed by the processor to:

determine, in accordance with the medication data, that a medication alert exists;

generate a notification in accordance with the determined medication alert; and

communicate the generated alert notification to the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the memory further stores instructions executed by the processor to:

analyze feedback data received from a plurality of disparate user devices via the computer network;

determine at least one side effect identified from the analysis of feedback data;

generate a notification inclusive of the determined side effect; and

communicate the generated side effect notification to at least one of the plurality of disparate user devices via the secure communications link over the computer network, wherein the at least one of the plurality of disparate user devices is selected in accordance with corresponding patient data and prescription data associated with the selected user device.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the NFC tag comprises:

a transceiver;

memory storing medication data, encrypted prescription data, anti-counterfeit data, and encrypted patient data; and

a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the memory stores instructions executed by the processor to;

establish a near-field communication link (NFC) with a pharmacy computer,

communicate the stored medication data and anti-counterfeiting data to the pharmacy computer,

receive the encrypted prescription data and the encrypted patient data via the near-field communications link from the pharmacy computer into the memory,

establish an NFC communication link, via the transceiver, with the user device, and

communicate the stored medication data, prescription data, anti-counterfeit data, a secure URL, and patient data to the user device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the user device comprises:

a processor;

a display in communication with the processor;

an NFC transceiver in communication with the processor; and

memory in communication with the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions which are executed by the processor to;

establish the NFC communication link with the NFC tag via the NFC transceiver of the user device,

read, from the NFC tag via the NFC communication link, data from the tag, the data including the medication data, the secure URL, the encrypted patient data, and the encrypted prescription data,

establish a secure communication link with the server in accordance with the secure URL,

communicate the encrypted patient data and the encrypted prescription data to the server via the secure communication link,

receive, from the server via the secure communication link, personalized guidance and engagement data corresponding to the patient data and the prescription data, and

display the personalized guidance and engagement data via a graphical user interface of the display.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the memory of the user device further stores instructions which are executed by the processor to receive, from the server, a medication alert;

responsive to the medication alert, generate a notification via the display corresponding to the medication alert.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the memory of the user device further stores instructions which are executed by the processor to receive, via a graphical user interface displayed on the display of the user device, user feedback;

and communicate the received user feedback to the server via the secure communication link.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the secure URL corresponds to a secure HTTPS website hosted by the server.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising a pharmacy computer, the pharmacy computer comprising:

memory storing an encryption/decryption module and the public key;

a processor in communication with memory;

a near-field communications (NFC) transceiver in data communication with the processor and memory; and

wherein the memory stores instructions which are executed by the processor to;

establish an NFC communication link with the NFC tag via the NFC transceiver of the pharmacy computer,

authenticate the medication package in accordance with the anti-counterfeiting data,

encrypt, via the encryption/decryption module using the public key, the prescription data and the patient data, and

write the encrypted prescription data and the encrypted patient data to the NFC tag via the NFC transceiver.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the memory of the pharmacy computer further stores instructions which are executed by the processor to:

determine that the medication package is counterfeit in accordance with the anti-counterfeiting data; and

generate an alert on a display of the pharmacy computer indicating a presence of the counterfeit medication package.

14. A near-field communication (NFC)-enabled medication packaging method, comprising:

initializing, with a processor of a server, a tag of a medicine package with medication data corresponding to a medication contained therein;

signing the tag, by the server, using a private key to establish authentication of the medication contained in the medicine package;

receiving data encrypted with a public key associated with the private key from a user device via a secure communications link over a computer network, the encrypted data including at least one of prescription data and patient data;

decrypting the received data via the private key to retrieve the at least one of the prescription data and the patient data;

generating personalized guidance specific to the patient in accordance with at least one of the prescription data and the patient data; and

communicating, via the secure communications link over the computer network, the personalized guidance specific to the patient to the user device,

wherein at least one of the initializing, signing, decrypting, generating, and communicating is performed by the processor of the server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, from the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network, user feedback data representative of a use of the medication by the patient;

analyzing the received feedback data; and

generating the personalized guidance specific to the patient in accordance with the analyzed feedback data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein initializing the tag further comprises writing at least one of a medication name, a medication packaging, a batch number, and an expiration date on the tag via the NFC communications link.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining, in accordance with the medication data, that a medication alert exists;

generating a notification in accordance with the determined medication alert; and

communicating the generated alert notification to the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

analyzing feedback data received from a plurality of disparate user devices via the computer network;

determining at least one side effect identified from the analysis of feedback data;

generating a notification inclusive of the determined side effect; and

communicating the generated side effect notification to at least one of the plurality of disparate user devices via the secure communications link over the computer network, wherein the at least one of the plurality of disparate user devices is selected in accordance with corresponding patient data and prescription data associated with the selected user device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

establishing a near-field communication link (NFC) between the tag and a pharmacy computer;

communicating the stored medication data and anti-counterfeiting data from the tag to the pharmacy computer;

receiving the encrypted prescription data and the encrypted patient data via the near-field communications link from the pharmacy computer into memory of the tag;

establishing an NFC communication link between the tag and the user device via a transceiver of the NFC tag and a transceiver of the user device; and

communicating the stored medication data, prescription data, anti-counterfeit data, a secure URL, and patient data to the user device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein communicating the stored medication data, prescription data, anti-counterfeit data, secure URL, and patient data to the user device further comprises:

reading, by the user device from the NFC tag via the NFC communication link, data from the tag, the data including the medication data, the secure URL, the encrypted patient data, and the encrypted prescription data;

establishing a secure communication link between the user device and the server in accordance with the secure URL;

communicating the encrypted patient data and the encrypted prescription data to the server from the user device via the secure communication link;

receiving, at the user device from the server via the secure communication link, personalized guidance and engagement data corresponding to the patient data and the prescription data; and

displaying the personalized guidance and engagement data via a graphical user interface of a display of the user device.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, from the server at the user device, a medication alert; and

responsive to the medication alert, generating a notification via the display of the user device corresponding to the medication alert.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving, via a graphical user interface displayed on the display of the user device, user feedback; and

communicating the received user feedback to the server via the secure communication link.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

establishing, an NFC communication link between the NFC tag and the pharmacy computer;

authenticating, by the pharmacy computer, the medication package in accordance with the anti-counterfeiting data;

encrypting, by the pharmacy computer using the public key, the prescription data and the patient data; and

writing the encrypted prescription data and the encrypted patient data by the pharmacy computer to the NFC tag.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

determining, by the pharmacy computer, that the medication package is counterfeit in accordance with the anti-counterfeiting data; and

generating an alert on a display of the pharmacy computer indicating a presence of the counterfeit medication package.

25. A computer-implemented method for near-field communication (NFC)-enabled medication packaging, comprising:

writing at least one of a medication name, a medication packaging, a batch number, and an expiration date on a tag of a medicine package with medication data corresponding to a medication contained therein;

signing the tag using a private key to establish authentication of the medication contained in the medicine package;

receiving data encrypted with a public key associated with the private key from a user device via a secure communications link over a computer network, the encrypted data including at least one of prescription data and patient data;

decrypting the received data via the private key to retrieve the at least one of the prescription data and the patient data;

receiving, from the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network, user feedback data representative of a use of the medication by the patient;

analyzing the received feedback data;

generating personalized guidance specific to the patient in accordance with the analyzed user feedback data and at least one of the prescription data and the patient data; and

communicating, via the secure communications link over the computer network, the personalized guidance specific to the patient to the user device.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, further comprising:

determining, in accordance with the medication data, that a medication alert exists;

generating a notification in accordance with the determined medication alert; and

communicating the generated alert notification to the user device via the secure communications link over the computer network.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 26, further comprising:

analyzing feedback data received from a plurality of disparate user devices via the computer network;

determining at least one side effect identified from the analysis of feedback data;

generating a notification inclusive of the determined side effect; and

communicating the generated side effect notification to at least one of the plurality of disparate user devices via the secure communications link over the computer network, wherein the at least one of the plurality of disparate user devices is selected in accordance with corresponding patient data and prescription data associated with the selected user device.