Method and system for tracking and verifying medication

• US 7,810,726 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2007
• Issued: 10/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Carlos De La Huerga
• Original Assignee: Carlos De La Huerga
• Inventors: de la Huerga, Carlos
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TAYLOR, APRIL ALICIA
• Application Number:
  US11/961,441
• Publication Number:
  US 20080093448A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,027 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/380, 235/385, 235/462.01
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of attaching a unique product code to a product prior to delivery to a retailer, storing the product code with product information in a first database linked to a verification system associated with the manufacturer, distributing the product to the retailer and selling the product from the retailer to a customer, the step of selling including the steps of using a first computer to obtain the unique product code from the product, providing the obtained product code to the verification system, comparing the obtained product code with the stored product code and when the obtained product code and the stored product code match, preparing a receipt including a verification code and providing the receipt to the customer.

Claims

1. A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) attaching a unique product code to a product prior to delivery to a retailer;

b) storing the product code with product information in a first database linked to a verification system associated with the manufacturer;

c) distributing the product to the retailer; and

d) selling the product from the retailer to a customer, the step of selling including the steps of;

i. using a first computer to obtain the unique product code from the product;

ii. providing the obtained product code to the verification system;

iii. comparing the obtained product code with the stored product code; and

iv. when the obtained product code and the stored product code match, preparing a receipt including a verification code and providing the receipt to the customer wherein the verification code is different than the obtained product code and wherein the verification code is used subsequently to identify at least one of the product code, product information, product status and product dispensing information.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of obtaining customer information and storing at least one of customer information and the verification code in a second database linked to the verification system so that at least one of the customer information and the verification code is used to obtain the stored product code.

3. The method of claim 2 further including the steps of the customer using a second computer to submit the product code and at least one of customer information and the verification code to the verification system, determining by the verification system that the product code is associated with the submitted at least one of the customer information and the verification code and providing at least a subset of the stored product information via the second computer.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the first and second database are a single database.

5. The method of claim 3 further including the steps of determining that the product code is not associated with the submitted at least one of the customer information and the verification code and providing an alert.

6. The method of claim 3 where the step of preparing a receipt includes the step of providing a portion of customer information on the receipt where the remainder of the information is known by the customer and the step of using a second computer to submit the product code and at least one of the customer information and the verification code to the verification system consists of providing at least the verification code and the remainder of the information known to the costumer and the verification system using the remainder of the information to determine that the customer is registered.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of obtaining and storing customer information, determining the obtained product code corresponds to an invalid product where an invalid product is at least one of a recalled product, a counterfeit product, a product with a possibly duplicated product code and an expired product and, when the product is an invalid product, using the stored customer information to provide an alert to the customer.

8. The method of claim 7 further including the step of using the obtained product code to determine that the product is counterfeit and when the product is a counterfeit product, repaying the customer for the paid selling price.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the receipt consists of printing the receipt information on a label and attaching the label to the product.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching the product code to a product comprises attaching the product code to a container of medication.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching a unique product code to a product further includes the step of using an electronic memory to store the product code and attaching the electronic memory to the product.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching the unique product code to the product further includes at least one of writing the unique product code on a label and attaching the label to the product and transmitting the unique product code to a device that is physically associated with the product and storing the unique product code in the device.

13. The method of claim 1 further including the step of storing a list of authorized retailers in the database, the step of selling further including using the first computer to identify the retailer that is selling the product to the customer, indicating the identified retailer to the verification system, comparing the identified retailer to the authorized retailer list and performing a function as a result of the comparison of the identified retailer and the retailer list.

14. The method of claim 13 further including the step of storing a list of authorized products for at least one of the list authorized retailers in the database, the step of selling further including comparing the product code with the list of authorized products, and performing a second function as a result of the comparison of the product code and the list of authorized products.

15. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of the customer using a second computer to submit the verification code to the verification system, and the verification system using the verification code to identify at least one of the product code, product information, product status and product dispensing information.

16. A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) attaching a unique product code to a product prior to delivery to a retailer;

b) storing the unique product code with product information in a first database linked to a verification system associated with the manufacturer;

c) distributing the product to a retailer; and

d) selling a portion of the product from the retailer to a customer wherein the portion is less than the entire product, the step of selling including the steps of;

i. using a first computer to obtain the unique product code from the product;

ii. providing the obtained product code to the verification system;

iii. comparing the obtained product code with the stored product code; and

iv. when the obtained product code and the stored product code match, preparing a receipt including a verification code and providing the receipt to the customer wherein the verification code is different than the obtained product code and wherein the verification code is used subsequently to identify at least one of the product code, product information, product status and product dispensing information.

17. The method of claim 16 further including the steps of obtaining customer information and storing at least one of customer information and the verification code in a second database linked to the verification system so that at least one of the customer information and the verification code is used to obtain the stored product code.

18. The method of claim 17 further includes the steps of the customer using a second computer to submit the product code and at least one of customer information and the verification code to the verification system, determining by the verification system that the product code is associated with the submitted at least one of the customer information and the verification code and providing at least a subset of the stored product information via the second computer.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the first and second database are a single database.

20. The method of claim 18 further including the steps of determining that the product code is not associated with the submitted at least one of the customer information and the verification code and providing an alert.

21. The method of claim 16 further including the steps of obtaining and storing customer information, determining the obtained product code corresponds to the invalid product where an invalid product is at least one of a recalled product, a counterfeit product, a product with a possibly duplicated product code and an expired product and, when the product is the invalid product, using the stored customer information to provide an alert to the customer.

22. The method of claim 21 further including the step of using the obtained product code to determine that the product is counterfeit and when the product is a counterfeit product, repaying the customer for the paid selling price.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of providing the receipt consists of printing the receipt information on a label and attaching the label to the product.

24. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of attaching the unique product code to the product comprises attaching the unique product code to a container of medication.

25. The method of claim 24 further including the step of determining that the quantity of all portions of the medication sold exceeds the total quantity of medication provided by the manufacturer as stored in the product information and providing an alert that the total quantity has already been sold.

26. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of attaching the unique product code to the product further includes the step of using an electronic memory to store the product code and attaching the electronic memory to the product.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of attaching the unique product code to the product further includes at least one of writing the unique product code on a label and attaching the label to the product and transmitting the unique product code to a device that is physically associated with the product and storing the unique product code in the device.

28. The method of claim 16 further including the step of storing a list of authorized retailers in the first database, the step of selling further including using the first computer to identify the retailer that is selling the product to the customer, indicating the identified retailer to the verification system, comparing the identified retailer to the authorized retailer list and performing a function as a result of the comparison of the identified retailer and the retailer list.

29. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of selling a portion includes selling at least two portions and wherein the step of selling further includes, for each portion sold, performing steps (i) through (iv) where a different verification code is assigned to each portion sold.

30. The method of claim 16 further including the steps of the customer using a second computer to submit the verification code to the verification system, and the verification system using the verification code to identify at least one of the product code, product information, product status and product dispensing information.

31. A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) attaching a unique product code to a product prior to delivery to a retailer;

b) storing the product code with product information in a first database linked to a verification system associated with the manufacturer;

c) distributing the product to the retailer; and

d) selling the product from the retailer to a customer, the step of selling including the steps of;

i. using a first computer to obtain the unique product code from the product;

ii. providing the obtained product code to the verification system;

iii. comparing the obtained product code with the stored product code;

v. when the obtained product code and the stored product code match, preparing a receipt including a verification code and providing the receipt to the customer wherein the verification code is different than the obtained product code; and

storing a list of authorized retailers in the database, the step of selling further including using the first computer to identify the retailer that is selling the product to the customer, indicating the identified retailer to the verification system, comparing the identified retailer to the authorized retailer list and performing a function as a result of the comparison of the identified retailer and the retailer list.

32. A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) attaching the unique product code to a container of medication prior to delivery to a retailer;

b) storing the unique product code with product information in a first database linked to a verification system associated with the manufacturer;

c) distributing the product to a retailer; and

d) selling a portion of the product from the retailer to a customer wherein the portion is less than the entire product, the step of selling including the steps of;

i. using a first computer to obtain the unique product code from the product;

ii. providing the obtained product code to the verification system;

iii. comparing the obtained product code with the stored product code;

iv. when the obtained product code and the stored product code match, preparing a receipt including a verification code and providing the receipt to the customer; and

determining that the quantity of all portions of the medication sold exceeds the total quantity of medication provided by the manufacturer as stored in the product information and providing an alert that the total quantity has already been sold.

33. A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) attaching a unique product code to a product prior to delivery to a retailer;

b) storing the unique product code with product information in a first database linked to a verification system associated with the manufacturer;

c) distributing the product to a retailer; and

d) selling a portion of the product from the retailer to a customer wherein the portion is less than the entire product, the step of selling including the steps of;

i. using a first computer to obtain the unique product code from the product;

ii. providing the obtained product code to the verification system;

iii. comparing the obtained product code with the stored product code;

iv. when the obtained product code and the stored product code match, preparing a receipt including a verification code and providing the receipt to the customer; and

storing a list of authorized retailers in the first database, the step of selling further including using the first computer to identify the retailer that is selling the product to the customer, indicating the identified retailer to the verification system, comparing the identified retailer to the authorized retailer list and performing a function as a result of the comparison of the identified retailer and the retailer list.

34. A method to verify a product produced by a manufacturer, the method comprising the steps of:

a) associating a unique product code to a first product prior to delivery to a retailer;

b) associating a second unique product code to a second product prior to delivery to the retailer;

c) storing the first and second unique product codes with first and second product information, respectively, in a first database linked to a verification system;

c) distributing the first and second products to the retailer; and

d) selling portions of the first and second products from the retailer to a customer, the step of selling including the steps of;

i. using a first computer to obtain the first and second unique product codes;

ii. providing the obtained product codes to the verification system;

iii. comparing the obtained product codes with the stored product codes; and

iv. when the obtained first product code and the stored first product code match and the obtained second product code and the stored second product code match, preparing a receipt including a single verification code and providing the receipt to the customer.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the first product code is a first container code and the first product is a first medication in a first container and the second product code is a second container code and the second product is a second medication stored in a second container and wherein the verification code is a medication code.

36. The method of claim 35 further including the step of correlating and storing the medication code in a database with the first and second container codes.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the step of selling further includes the step of placing portions of the first and second medications in a third container and presenting the third container to the customer.

38. The method of claim 36 further including the steps of, via a second computer, obtaining the medication code from the receipt, providing the medication code to the verification system, at the verification system and comparing the obtained medication code to the stored medication code.