Blood and medical specimen collection
First Claim
1. A method of tracking a specimen acquired from a patient, the method comprising:
- (a) storing in a computer storage accessible by a standalone or networked computer a first machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a patient;
(b) storing in the computer storage a second machine-readable code associated with an order to obtain a specimen from the patient;
(c) storing in the computer storage a third machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a specimen-taker;
(d) selecting from a plurality of specimen containers having machine-readable codes that are unique to each other preapplied thereto one specimen container including a fourth machine-readable code preapplied thereto;
(e) in response to an electronic reading means reading and dispatching to a processor of the computer the first—
fourth machine-readable codes present on the ID means worn by the patient, present on the order, present on the ID means worn by the specimen-taker, and present on the specimen container, respectively, and in response to the processor determining that the first machine-readable code and the second machine-readable code are related to the same patient, the processor causing said first—
fourth machine-readable codes to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner and the processor of the computer causing a signal to be generated to acquire a specimen from the patient and to place the acquired specimen in the container; and
(f) responsive to the processor receiving a signal that the specimen has been placed in the container following step (e), the processor causing an indication thereof to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—
fourth machine-readable codes, wherein step (f) includes the processor determining whether the signal of step (f) is received within a predetermined time interval of the processor generating the signal of step (e) and storing an indication thereof in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—
fourth machine-readable codes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a method of tracking a specimen acquired from a patient, machine-readable codes present on a patient identification (ID), an order to obtain a specimen from the patient, and on a specimen-taker ID means, respectively, are stored in a computer storage. A specimen container having a fourth machine-readable code preapplied thereto is selected from a plurality of specimen containers having unique machine-readable codes preapplied thereto. In response to a processor determining that the first and second machine-readable codes are related to the same patient, the processor causes the first—fourth machine-readable codes to be relationally stored in the computer storage. Responsive to the processor receiving a signal that a specimen has been placed in the selected specimen container, the processor causes an indication thereof to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner with the first—fourth machine-readable codes.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of tracking a specimen acquired from a patient, the method comprising:
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(a) storing in a computer storage accessible by a standalone or networked computer a first machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a patient; (b) storing in the computer storage a second machine-readable code associated with an order to obtain a specimen from the patient; (c) storing in the computer storage a third machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a specimen-taker; (d) selecting from a plurality of specimen containers having machine-readable codes that are unique to each other preapplied thereto one specimen container including a fourth machine-readable code preapplied thereto; (e) in response to an electronic reading means reading and dispatching to a processor of the computer the first—
fourth machine-readable codes present on the ID means worn by the patient, present on the order, present on the ID means worn by the specimen-taker, and present on the specimen container, respectively, and in response to the processor determining that the first machine-readable code and the second machine-readable code are related to the same patient, the processor causing said first—
fourth machine-readable codes to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner and the processor of the computer causing a signal to be generated to acquire a specimen from the patient and to place the acquired specimen in the container; and(f) responsive to the processor receiving a signal that the specimen has been placed in the container following step (e), the processor causing an indication thereof to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—
fourth machine-readable codes, wherein step (f) includes the processor determining whether the signal of step (f) is received within a predetermined time interval of the processor generating the signal of step (e) and storing an indication thereof in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—
fourth machine-readable codes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of tracking a specimen acquired from a patient, the method comprising:
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(a) storing in a computer storage of a computer a first machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a patient; (b) storing in the computer storage of the computer a second machine-readable code associated with an order to obtain a specimen from the patient; (c) storing in the computer storage of the computer a third machine-readable code present on an identification (ID) means worn by a specimen-taker; (d) selecting from a plurality of specimen containers having machine-readable codes that are unique to each other preapplied thereto one specimen container including a fourth machine-readable code preapplied thereto, wherein the fourth machine-readable code comprises a barcode that encodes a unique serial number and an expiration date of the container; (e) in response to receiving the fourth machine-readable code from an electronic reading means, a processor of the computer determining from the expiration date encoded in the fourth machine-readable code if the specimen container is out-of-date and, if so, causing an alert signal indicative of said out-of-date condition to be generated by or near the electronic reading means, otherwise, if the specimen container is not out-of-date, and in response to the processor determining that the first machine-readable code and the second machine-readable code are related to the same patient, the processor causing the first—
fourth machine-readable codes to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner and the processor causing a signal to be generated to acquire a specimen from the patient and to place the acquired specimen in the container; and(f) responsive to the processor receiving a signal that the specimen has been placed in the container following step (e), the processor causing an indication thereof to be stored in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—
fourth machine-readable codes, wherein step (f) includes the processor determining whether the signal of step (f) is received within a predetermined time interval of the processor generating the signal of step (e) and storing an indication thereof in the computer storage in a relational manner with said first—
fourth machine-readable codes. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for tracking one or more specimens acquired from a patient, wherein comprising:
- a processor of a standalone or networked computer is in operative communication with a computer storage and an electronic reading means that is operative for reading unique machine-readable codes disposed on the following;
an identification (ID) means worn by a patient, an order to obtain the one or more specimens from the patient, an identification (ID) means worn by a specimen-taker, and a plurality of specimen containers each for receiving one specimen from the patient, wherein the electronic reading means is also operative for dispatching said machine-readable codes to the processor which, in response to the machine-readable codes for the patient ID means and the order being related to the same patient, stores the machine-readable code for each specimen container to receive a specimen in the computer storage in a relational manner with the machine-readable codes for the patient ID means, the order, and the specimen-taker ID means, and generates a first signal to acquire a specimen from the patient and to place the acquired specimen in the specimen container, wherein the processor is responsive to a second signal that the specimen has been placed in the specimen container within a predetermined time interval of the processor generating the first signal for storing an indication thereof in the computer storage in a relational manner with the machine-readable code for the specimen container that received the specimen stored in the computer storage, wherein each specimen container of the plurality of specimen containers includes a machine-readable code preapplied thereon that is unique from the machine-readable code preapplied to any other of the specimen containers and the machine-readable codes disposed on the patient ID means, the order, and the specimen-taker ID means.
- a processor of a standalone or networked computer is in operative communication with a computer storage and an electronic reading means that is operative for reading unique machine-readable codes disposed on the following;
Specification