Remote prescription refill system

• US 6,744,862 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2002
• Issued: 06/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Digital Pharmacist, Inc.
• Original Assignee: TeleManager Technologies, Inc. (Digital Pharmacist, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kobylevsky, Paul, Gurovich, Valery
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoosain, Allan
• Application Number:
  US10/261,858
• Publication Number:
  US 20030035517A1
• Time in Patent Office: 609 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/70, 379/88.12, 379/88.13, 379/88.16, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/88.19, 379/88.25, 424/401, 424/402, 424/404, 206/570, 206/572, 340/311.1, 340/286.01, 340/825.44, 340/825.47
• US Class Current: 379/88.16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A central station is provided to which the pharmacy can forward calls at the convenience of the pharmacy. A caller will call in to the pharmacy to request a refill and the call will be automatically routed to the central facility unbeknownst to the caller. The central station will obtain the refill information required, preferably by means of an automated computer system as is known in the art. This information can then be transferred to the pharmacist in a number of ways, such as by periodically faxing the information to the pharmacy. Voice messages could be flagged and the pharmacist would have to call into the central facility to obtain the voice mail message. Alternatively, a PC could be installed in the pharmacy having a reduced version of a complete, stand-alone program. The refill information can then be sent to the pharmacy by modem and the pharmacist could see a computer display of the refill orders and could hear voice messages. Alternatively, the information could be e-mailed to the pharmacy. Finally, a pager system may be utilized to alert the pharmacist to retrieve orders by telephone with a password. It should also be noted that orders could be taken by the central station over the Internet rather than merely through customer calls.

Claims

1. A system for automatically receiving customer prescription refill orders comprising:

a central station remote from a pharmacy for receiving telephone calls relating to prescription refills;

means at said central station for prompting a caller to provide prescription refill information; and

means at said central station for automatically transferring said prescription refill information to said pharmacy for refilling.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said transferring means includes means for periodically faxing said prescription refill information to said pharmacy.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising means for indicating to said pharmacy whether the caller left a voice message for said pharmacy.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising computer means at said pharmacy for displaying said prescription refill information and for playing voice messages.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the transferring means comprises modem means for linking the central station to a pharmacy computer.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said transferring means includes means for transmitting said prescription refill information to said pharmacy via a pager.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of allowing a user to communicate with the central station comprises providing the user with a telephone number that is directed to the pharmacy but can be forwarded to the central station.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the telephone number is forwarded from the pharmacy to the central station when the pharmacy is closed.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the telephone number is forwarded from the pharmacy to the central station when the pharmacy is busy.

6. The system of 5, wherein said transferring means further includes means for transmitting said prescription refill information to said pharmacy via e-mail.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said central station includes means for receiving said prescription refill information via the Internet.

12. A method for re-filling prescriptions comprising:

providing a central station remote from a pharmacy;

allowing a user to communicate with the central station;

gathering refill information from the user at the central station;

automatically transmitting the refill information from the central station to the pharmacy; and

re-filling the prescription at the pharmacy.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of transmitting the refill information from the central station to the pharmacy comprises a facsimile transmission.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of transmitting the refill information to the pharmacy comprises telephonically calling the central station and listening to the refill information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the pharmacy calls the central station to retrieve prescription information.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the central station calls the pharmacy to transmit prescription refill information.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of transmitting the refill information to the pharmacy comprises downloading the refill information from the central station to a computer system at the pharmacy.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising using the computer system to retrieve and listen to voice mail messages left by a user at the central station.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising allowing a user to leave a voice mail message at the central station and retrieving and listening to the voice mail message at the pharmacy.

20. The method of a claim 12, wherein the step of transmitting the refill information to the pharmacy comprises transmitting the refill information via a pager.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein a user communicates with the central station by calling a telephone number provided by the pharmacy that calls directly to the central station.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the central station serves a plurality of pharmacies.