Lot tracking system for pharmaceuticals

• US 6,611,806 B1
• Filed: 04/13/1999
• Issued: 08/26/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FFF Enterprises Incorporated
• Original Assignee: FFF Enterprises Incorporated
• Inventors: Harvey, Joseph William
• Primary Examiner(s): Chilcot, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARLE, JENNIFER I
• Application Number:
  US09/291,421
• Time in Patent Office: 1,596 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3, 705/7
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A computer system for tracking the lot numbers of pharmaceuticals that are administered to patients. The system includes a plurality of remote systems, each typically at a different hospital. Each remote system associates the lot numbers of pharmaceuticals that are administered to patients with information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals, and includes a remote communication system for sending the associations to a host system. The host system receives the associations from the remote systems, stores them, and consults the associations to identify recipients that need to be notified in connection with a lot number that needs to be tracked. The host system also includes a notification system for automatically issuing recall notices.

Claims

1. A computer system for tracking the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals that are administered to patients comprising:

(a) A plurality of remote systems, each comprising

(1) one or more remote stations, each for associating the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals administered to patients with information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals;

(2) a remote communication system for sending the associations to a host system;

(b) a host system comprising;

(1) a host communication system for receiving the associations from each of said remote systems;

(2) a host storage area for storing the associations received by said host communication system;

(3) a host station for receiving the lot numbers of pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked back to the patient-related information;

(4) a host look-up system for looking up the associations related to the lot numbers that need to be tracked back to the patient-related information stored in said host storage area; and

(5) a host notification system for issuing and delivering notice related to the lot numbers of the pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked to patients based on the associations looked-up by said host look-up system; and

(c) a network communication system connected to each of said remote communication systems and to said host communication system for communicating the associations from each of said remote communication systems to said host communications system.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the pharmaceuticals include blood derivatives.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said network communication system includes the Internet.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said network communication system includes a private dial-up network.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the patient-related information is encrypted.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one remote communication system initiates communication with said host communication system.

7. The system of claim 6 further including a remote storage area in said at least one remote communication system for storing the associations made by said remote station and wherein the communication is initiated periodically.

8. The system of claim 1 further including a remote storage area in at least one remote communication system for storing the associations made by said remote station and wherein said host communication system polls said at least one of said remote communication systems.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the polling is done periodically.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the notice is delivered to one of said remote systems over said network communication system.

11. A remote system and a host system that forms a part of a computer system for tracking the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals that are administered to patients, said systems comprising:

(a) one or more remote stations, each for associating the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals administered to patients with information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals;

(b) a remote communication system for sending and delivering the associations related to the lot numbers to a host system; and

(c) a host look-up system for looking up the associations related to the lot numbers that need to be tracked back to the information relating to the patients.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein said remote system is a hospital.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein at least portions of the patient-related information are derived from one or more databases.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the patient related information that is derived from the databases is stored in said remote storage area in one or more system fields and is contained in the databases in one or more database fields, and wherein the system further includes a map that maps each system field to its corresponding database field.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein some of the administered pharmaceuticals are marked for tracking and some are not marked for tracking and wherein at least one of said remote stations includes a data-entry software application into which information relating to the pharmaceuticals is entered and a data-monitoring software application that monitors the entry of at least portions of the information into said data-entry software application and tracks the entry of a pharmaceutical that has been marked to be tracked and does not track the entry of a pharmaceutical that has not been marked to be tracked.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein portions of the patient-related information is extracted from other databases after detection by said data-monitoring program of a pharmaceutical that is to be tracked.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein at least one of said remote systems include a first and second remote station and wherein the first remote station is positioned for use by a pharmacist and configured to allow the pharmacist to approve a requested prescription and deliver that approval to the second remote station, and wherein the second remote station is positioned for use by a technician and is configured to allow the technician to enter the lot number of the pharmaceutical that is administered to a patient pursuant to the received prescription.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein certain administered lot numbers are tracked and certain administered lot numbers are not tracked further including a printer for printing a label for the delivered prescriptions and for printing a notice only when the lot number of the pharmaceutical that is prescribed must be entered into the second remote station.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the notice is printed on the label.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the notice is not printed on the label.

21. The system of claim 11 wherein the patient information includes information about the diagnosis of the patient'"'"'s problem for which the pharmaceutical has been prescribed.

22. The system of claim 11 wherein the patient-related information includes information indicative of an outcome following the administration of the pharmaceuticals and wherein the system further includes a remote outcome station configured to allow the entry into the system of the outcome information.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the outcome information includes information about the effect of the administered pharmaceutical on the patient.

24. The system of claim 11 wherein the patient-related information is broken down into a plurality of categories.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the categories include a category containing demographic information about the patient, a category containing information about the doctor who is treating the patient, and a category containing information about the pharmaceutical.

26. The system of claim 11 further including a validation system that validates whether a lot number that is entered is a valid lot number by comparing the entered lot number against a database of valid lot numbers.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the lot number is not selected from a list of lot numbers.

28. The system of claim 11 further including a transaction tracking system for storing a historical record of operations of the system.

29. A host system that forms a part of a computer system for tracking the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals that are administered to patients, said host system comprising:

(a) a host communication system for receiving from a plurality of remote systems associations of lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals to information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals;

(b) a host storage area for storing the associations received by said host communication system;

(c) a host station for receiving the lot numbers of pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked back to the patient-related information;

(d) a host look-up system for looking up the associations related to the lot numbers that need to be tracked back to the patient-related information stored in said host storage area; and

(e) a host notification system for issuing and delivering notice of the pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked to patients based on the associations related to the lot numbers looked-up by said host look-up system.

30. The system of claim 29 containing a table listing each recipient to whom a notification should be sent and whether that notification has been successfully sent.

31. The system of claim 29 further including a warning system that issues a list of all recipients to whom a notice was not able to have been successfully sent.

32. The system of claim 29 wherein said host system further includes a validation system that validates the validity of at least portions of the patient-related information that is stored in said host storage area.

33. The system of claim 29 wherein said validation system checks with one or more other databases to obtain at least portions of the information needed to validate the validity of the patient-related information.

34. The system of claim 29 further including a validation system that validates whether a lot number that is entered is a valid lot number by comparing the entered lot number against a database of valid lot numbers.

35. The system of claim 29 further including a transaction tracking system for storing a historical record of operations of the system.

36. A method of tracking the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals that are administered to patients in a computer system containing a plurality of remote systems and a host system comprising:

(a) at each remote system;

(1) associating the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals administered to patients with information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals;

(2) sending the associations to the host system;

(b) at the host system;

(1) receiving the associations from the remote systems;

(2) storing the associations received from the remote systems;

(3) receiving the lot numbers of pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked back to the patient-related information;

(4) looking up the associations related to the lot numbers that need to be tracked back to the stored patient-related information; and

(5) issuing and delivering notice of the pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked to patients based on the associations related to the lot numbers looked-up by said host look-up system.

37. Computer-storage media containing one or more computer programs that contain instructions to cause the following to occur in a computer system containing a plurality of remote systems and a host system:

(a) at each remote system;

(1) associating the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals administered to patients with information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals;

(2) sending and delivering the associations related to the lot numbers to a host system; and

(b) at the host system;

(1) looking up the associations related to the lot numbers that need to be tracked back to the information relating to the patients.

38. Computer-storage media containing one or more computer programs that contain instructions to cause the following to occur in a computer system containing a plurality of remote systems and a host system:

(a) at each remote system;

(1) associating the lot numbers designating particular batches of pharmaceuticals administered to patients with information relating to the patients that receive the pharmaceuticals; and

(2) sending the associations to the host system

(b) at the host system;

(1) receiving the associations from the remote systems;

(2) storing the associations received from the remote systems;

(3) receiving the lot numbers of pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked back to the patient-related information;

(4) looking up the associations related to the lot numbers that need to be tracked back to the stored patient-related information; and

(5) issuing and delivering notice of the pharmaceuticals that need to be tracked to patients based on the associations related to the lot numbers looked-up by said host look-up system.