RFID medical supplies consumption monitoring system and method
First Claim
1. A medical item tracking system for medical items at a medical facility having associated radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the system comprising:
- a medical supply cabinet having a supply cabinet reader for reading RFID tags of the medical items stored in the supply cabinet, wherein the supply cabinet periodically and automatically scans to read the RFID tags;
a procedure room RFID reader in or near a procedure room in which the medical items are used on patients of the medical facility, the room RFID reader reading the RFID tags of medical items removed from the medical supply cabinet for use in the procedure room; and
a management system for receiving RFID tag information from the supply cabinet reader and the procedure room RFID reader and for tracking movement of medical items between the medical supply cabinet and the procedure room by classifying medical items as gone from the supply cabinet when the periodic scans for the RFID tags of the supply cabinet indicate that the RFID tags of the medical items are no longer in the supply cabinet and as used at the medical facility if the RFID tags of the medical items are read by the procedure room RFID reader.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for tracking supplies, particularly medical supplies, and specifically individual medical items, to the end of the product lifecycle to the point of utilizes. RFID tag technology is utilized. This has the advantage of enabling a system that requires less or no active intervention by the medical services delivery staff, such as nurses and doctors. Nonetheless, the system is applicable to other stand-off identification systems including taggant-based systems. The system provides for the monitoring of items, such as medical items, between the distribution center, facility stock rooms and inventory cabinets, and the procedure rooms in which the items are put into use. In one example, system and method associate stand-off, such as RFID, readers with waste-disposal or refuse containers and/or readers located near the point of usage, such as in or associated with the procedure rooms in order to monitor the endpoint of the product lifecycle. Thus, the knowledge of medical item disposal or disposal of the medical item'"'"'s packaging is combined with one or more prior detections of the medical item, e.g., at acquisition and when moved to a different location such as storage, to generate a usage history for the item. In all or more cases, this knowledge is acquired with out human intervention by judicious location of readers at the distribution center and/or medical facility.
120 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A medical item tracking system for medical items at a medical facility having associated radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the system comprising:
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a medical supply cabinet having a supply cabinet reader for reading RFID tags of the medical items stored in the supply cabinet, wherein the supply cabinet periodically and automatically scans to read the RFID tags; a procedure room RFID reader in or near a procedure room in which the medical items are used on patients of the medical facility, the room RFID reader reading the RFID tags of medical items removed from the medical supply cabinet for use in the procedure room; and a management system for receiving RFID tag information from the supply cabinet reader and the procedure room RFID reader and for tracking movement of medical items between the medical supply cabinet and the procedure room by classifying medical items as gone from the supply cabinet when the periodic scans for the RFID tags of the supply cabinet indicate that the RFID tags of the medical items are no longer in the supply cabinet and as used at the medical facility if the RFID tags of the medical items are read by the procedure room RFID reader. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A medical item tracking system for a distribution center in which medical items have associated radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the system comprising:
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supply location having a RFID supply location reader for reading RFID tags of the medical items stored in the supply location at the distribution center; a refuse reader in the distribution center for reading the RFID tags of medical items placed in a refuse container; and a management system for receiving RFID tag information from the supply location reader and the refuse reader and for tracking movement of medical items between the medical supply location and the refuse container and between the distribution center and hospitals where the medical items are used. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A medical item tracking method for medical items at a medical facility having associated radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the method comprising:
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automatically and periodically reading RFID tags of medical items stored in a supply cabinet; indicating medical items as being in an inventory when the RFID tags of the medical items are read at the supply cabinet; reading RFID tags in or near a procedure room; and indicating medical items as being used when the RFID tags of the medical items are read in or near the procedure room. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A refuse container system having a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag detection capability, the container system comprising:
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a container for holding refuse at a hospital or distribution center, the container have an opening through which the refuse enters the container; a RFID antenna adjacent the opening for reading RFID tags entering the container; a network interface for transmitting RFID tag information from the antenna onto a communications network; and an inventory management system that receives and records RFID tag information detected by the RFID antenna and updates an inventory of the medical items at the hospital or distribution center in response to detection of the RFID tags of the medical items. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A method for tracking medical items in a supply chain including a distribution center and medical facilities, the method comprising:
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detecting the medical items in storage locations at the distribution center; detecting the medical items in storage locations at the medical facilities; reporting removal of the medical items from the storage locations at the distribution center when the medical items are no longer detected in the storage locations at the distribution center; reporting removal of the medical items from the storage locations at the medical facilities when the medical items are no longer detected in the storage locations at the medical facilities; reporting presence of the medical items in the storage locations at the distribution center when the medical items are detected in the storage locations at the distribution center; reporting presence of the medical items in the storage locations at the medical facilities when the medical items are detected in the storage locations at the medical facilities; and an inventory database system changing a status of the medical items to removed from the storage locations in response to receiving a removal report and changing a status of the medical items to indicate presence in the storage locations in response to a detection and updating a inventory of the distribution center and the medical facilities in response to detected locations of the medical items. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A system for tracking medical items in a supply chain including a distribution center and medical facilities, the system comprising:
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distribution center RFID cabinets for detecting medical items in storage at the distribution center and reporting removal of the medical items from the distribution center RFID cabinets when the medical items are no longer detected in the distribution center RFID cabinets and reporting presence of the medical items in the distribution center RFID cabinets at the distribution center when the medical items are detected in the distribution center RFID cabinets at the distribution center; medical facilities RFID cabinets for detecting medical items in storage at the medical facilities and reporting removal of the medical items from the medical facilities RFID cabinets when the medical items are no longer detected in the medical facilities RFID cabinets and reporting presence of the medical items in the medical facilities RFID cabinets at the medical facilities when the medical items are detected in the medical facilities RFID cabinets at the medical facilities; and an inventory database system for changing a status of the medical items to removed from the RFID cabinets in response to receiving a removal report and changing a status of the medical items to indicate presence in the RFID cabinets in response to a detection and updating a inventory of the distribution center and the medical facilities in response to detected locations of the medical items between the distribution center RFID cabinets and the medical facilities RFID cabinets. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification