Method and system for aligning prescriptions to a user-selected date

• US 8,050,942 B1
• Filed: 11/21/2008
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walgreen Co. (Walgreens Boots Alliance Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Walgreen Co. (Walgreens Boots Alliance Incorporated)
• Inventors: Pankow, Greg, Biesenthal, Amy C., McGonagle, Sean, Marotta, Christina P., Khullar, Rishi, Lee, Victor, Ali, Syed Y., Gounder, Deivasigamani Karichianna
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor; Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holcomb; Mark
• Application Number:
  US12/276,073
• Time in Patent Office: 1,075 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients

Abstract

A system and method facilitate alignment of refill dates associated with a plurality of prescriptions, such that each of the plurality of prescriptions requires a refill on the same date, thus limiting the number of occasions on which a customer must visit the pharmacy to retrieve refills of the aligned prescriptions, and increasing the likelihood that the customer will comply with the medication regimen. The system and method facilitate the alignment of the refill dates to an arbitrary user-selected date, while maintaining compliance with one or more rules governing the adjudication of the prescriptions.

Claims

1. A method for aligning refill dates associated with a plurality of prescriptions for a customer to a single alignment date, each prescription for a medication, at least a portion of the method embodied in a set of machine-readable instructions executed on a computer processor and stored on a tangible medium, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a plurality of prescriptions to align;

determining, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, a remaining day supply, the remaining day supply indicative of a number of days of the medication the customer has remaining;

calculating a next adjudication date for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions;

selecting as a latest adjudication date, from the plurality of calculated next adjudication dates, the next adjudication date occurring on the latest date;

calculating an earliest final alignment date;

receiving a selection of a final alignment date occurring on or after the earliest final alignment date;

calculating an alignment adjudication date;

determining, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, whether a short fill is required so that the customer does not exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the final alignment date;

calculating via the computer processor a short-fill day supply for any prescription requiring a short fill;

determining via the computer processor a date by which the customer will receive the short fill for any prescription requiring a short-fill;

determining via the computer processor, for any prescription requiring a short fill, whether the customer will receive the short fill for the prescription before the date by which the customer will exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication;

calculating via the computer processor a short-fill quantity for any prescription for which the customer will receive the required short fill for the prescription prior to exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication;

marking any prescription for which a short fill is required, but for which the customer cannot receive the required short fill for the prescription before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication corresponding to the prescription;

performing the following if one or more prescriptions are marked;

(i) recalculating via the computer processor the next adjudication date for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions;

(ii) selecting via the computer processor as the latest adjudication date, from the plurality of recalculated next adjudication dates, the next adjudication date occurring on the latest date;

(iii) recalculating via the computer processor the earliest final alignment date;

(iv) receiving via the computer processor a selection of a second final alignment date occurring on or after the recalculated earliest final alignment date;

(v) recalculating via the computer processor the alignment adjudication date;

(vi) determining via the computer processor, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, using the recalculated dates, whether a short fill is required so that the customer does not exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the second final alignment date;

recalculating via the computer processor the short-fill day supply for any prescription requiring a short fill;

adjudicating via the computer processor each of the selected prescriptions on or after the recalculated alignment adjudication date;

filling each of the selected prescriptions; and

providing to the customer by the second final alignment date each of the medications corresponding to the selected prescriptions; and

performing, for each of the selected prescriptions, the following if none of the prescriptions are marked;

(a) filling and providing to the customer the short-fill quantity for any prescription requiring a short fill;

(b) adjudicating via the computer processor each of the selected prescriptions on or after the alignment adjudication date;

(c) filling each of the selected prescriptions; and

(d) providing to the customer by the final alignment date each of the medications corresponding to the selected prescriptions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating an earliest final alignment date further comprises adding to the latest adjudication date one or more days for processing the prescriptions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating a next adjudication date further comprises determining via the computer processor a number of days corresponding to a percentage of a prescribed day supply for the medication.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a date by which the customer will receive the short fill for any prescription requiring a short fill further comprises adding one or more days to the next adjudication date for the prescription for processing the prescription and providing the medication to the customer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the prescription is provided to the customer by a shipping service or a postal service and further comprising:

performing the following for any prescription for which the customer will not receive the short fill for the prescription prior to exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication;

(a) requesting the customer to pick up the short fill of the prescription from a retail location;

(b) indicating retail pickup of the short fill of the prescription if the customer agrees to retail pickup; and

(c) recalculating the short-fill day supply if the customer does not agree to retail pickup.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing each of the medications to the customer comprises providing the medications to the customer by a shipping service or a postal service.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein providing to the customer the short-fill quantity for any prescription requiring a short fill further comprises:

providing the short fill to the customer by a preferred delivery method when, using the preferred delivery method, the customer will receive the short fill before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication; and

evaluating an alternative delivery method where using the preferred delivery method would result in the customer exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication before receiving the short fill.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating an alignment adjudication date further comprises subtracting one or more days from the selected alignment date to account for processing the prescriptions and providing the medications to the customer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein short fills are not adjudicated.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer comprises two or more people.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the two or more people comprising the customer are members of the same family or are members of the same household.

12. A method for aligning refill dates associated with a plurality of prescriptions for a customer to a single alignment date, each prescription for a medication, at least a portion of the method embodied in a set of machine-readable instructions executed on a processor and stored on a tangible medium, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a plurality of prescriptions to align;

determining, via a computer processor, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, a remaining day supply, the remaining day supply indicative of how many days of medication the customer has remaining;

receiving a selection of a final alignment date, wherein the final alignment date is different from at least one of the refill dates associated with one of the plurality of prescriptions for the customer;

determining, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, whether a short fill is required so that the customer does not exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the final alignment date;

calculating via the computer processor, one or both of a short-fill day supply and a short-fill quantity for any prescription requiring a short fill;

filling and providing to the customer any required short fill, based on either the short-fill quantity or the short-fill day supply for any prescription; and

filling each of the selected prescriptions.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing to the customer by the final alignment date each of the medications corresponding to the selected prescriptions.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving a selection of a final alignment date further comprises limiting the selection to dates on or after an earliest final alignment date.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the earliest final alignment date complies with at least one adjudication rule set by a third-party payor.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein complying with at least one rule set by the third-party payor further comprises:

calculating via the computer processor, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, a next adjudication date;

selecting via the computer processor as a latest adjudication date, from the plurality of next adjudication dates, the next adjudication date occurring on the latest date; and

calculating the earliest final alignment date using the latest adjudication date.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein calculating the earliest final alignment date using the latest adjudication date further comprises adding via the computer processor one or more days to the latest adjudication date for processing the prescriptions and providing the medications to the customer.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein calculating, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, a next adjudication date, further comprises determining via the computer processor a number of days corresponding to a percentage of a prescribed day supply for the medication.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein calculating an earliest final alignment date further comprises adding via the computer processor one or more days to the latest adjudication date as a patient start buffer.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, for any prescription requiring a short fill, a date by which the customer will receive the short fill; and

wherein the date by which the customer will receive a short fill for a particular prescription is used to calculate the short-fill quantity of medication corresponding to the particular prescription if the customer will receive the short fill for the particular prescription before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein medications are provided to the customer by a method involving lead time, and further wherein filling and providing to the customer any prescription requiring a short fill, based on either the short-fill quantity or the short-fill day supply for the prescription, further comprises:

determining, for any prescription requiring a short fill, whether the customer will receive the short fill for the prescription before the customer exhausts the remaining day supply of the medication corresponding to the prescription;

performing the following for any prescription for which the customer will receive the short fill for the prescription before the customer exhausts the remaining day supply of the medication corresponding to the prescription;

(a) requesting the customer to pick up the short fill of the prescription from a retail location;

(b) marking the short fill of the prescription for retail pickup if the customer agrees to retail pickup; and

(c) recalculating either or both of the short-fill quantity and the short-fill day supply if the customer does not agree to retail pickup;

determining whether any prescriptions are marked; and

performing the following if one or more prescriptions are marked and the retail location cannot provide a short fill for each of the one or more marked prescriptions;

(i) recalculating the next adjudication date for each of the selected prescriptions;

(ii) receiving a selection of a second final alignment date;

(iii) determining for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, using the recalculated next adjudication dates, whether a short fill is required so that the customer does not exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the second final alignment date; and

(iv) recalculating either or both of the short-fill day supply and the short-fill quantity for any prescription requiring a short fill.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein medications are provided to the customer by a first method involving lead time, and further wherein filling and providing to the customer any prescription requiring a short fill, based on either the short-fill quantity or the short-fill day supply for the prescription, further comprises:

determining, for any prescription requiring a short fill, whether the customer will receive the short fill for the prescription before the customer exhausts the remaining day supply of the medication corresponding to the prescription; and

evaluating an alternate method for providing the medications to the customer if using the first method involving lead time will result in the customer exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication corresponding to the prescription before receiving the short fill for the prescription.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

marking any prescription for which a short fill is required, but for which it is not possible for the customer to receive the required short fill before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication; and

performing the following if one or more prescriptions are marked;

(i) updating the next adjudication date for each of the selected prescriptions;

(ii) receiving a selection of a second final alignment date;

(iii) determining for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, using the recalculated adjudication dates, whether a short fill is required so that the customer does not exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the second final alignment date; and

(iv) recalculating either or both of the short-fill day supply and the short-fill quantity for any prescription requiring a short fill.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein determining, for any prescription requiring a short fill, a date by which the customer will receive the short fill, further comprises adding one or more days to the next adjudication date for the prescription for processing the prescription and providing the medication to the customer.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein prescriptions are provided to the customer by a method involving lead time, and further wherein filling and providing to the customer any required short fill, based on either the short-fill quantity or the short-fill day supply for the prescription, requiring a short fill further comprises:

determining, for any prescription requiring a short fill, whether the customer will receive the short fill for the prescription before the customer exhausts the remaining day supply of the medication;

performing the following for any prescription for which the customer will not receive the short fill for the prescription before the customer exhausts the remaining day supply of the medication;

(a) requesting the customer to pick up the short fill of the prescription from a retail location;

(b) marking the short fill of the prescription for retail pickup if the customer agrees to retail pickup; and

(c) recalculating the short-fill day supply or the short-fill quantity if the customer does not agree to retail pickup; and

determining whether any prescriptions are marked; and

wherein filling and providing to the customer any required short fill, based on either the short-fill quantity or the short-fill day supply for the prescription, comprises delivering to the customer at a retail location the medications corresponding to any prescriptions marked for retail pickup.

26. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

determining, for each required short fill, whether the short fill is possible using a preferred delivery method;

determining, for each required short fill that is possible by the preferred delivery method, whether the customer will receive the short fill before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication;

determining, for each required short fill that is not possible using the preferred delivery method and for each required short fill that is possible using the preferred delivery method but for which the customer will not receive the short fill before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication, whether the short fill is possible using an alternate delivery method;

marking the short fill as not possible if the short fill is not possible using the alternate delivery method or if the customer does not want to use the alternate delivery method; and

determining, for each required short fill that is possible by the alternate delivery method and for which the customer wants to use the alternate delivery method, whether the customer will receive the short fill before exhausting the remaining day supply of the medication.

27. The method of claim 12, wherein filling and providing to the customer any required short fill comprises selecting one or more of the required short fills and providing the selected one or more short fills to the customer without adjudicating the selected short fills.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the one or more selected short fills are selected because adjudicating the one or more selected short fills would delay the final alignment date.

29. The method of claim 12, wherein short fills are not adjudicated.

30. The method of claim 12, wherein the customer comprises two or more people.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the two or more people comprising the customer are members of the same family or members of the same household.

32. A system for aligning refill dates associated with a plurality of prescriptions for a customer to a single alignment date, each prescription for a medication, the system comprising:

a network;

a computer coupled to the network;

a database coupled to the computer; and

an alignment engine configured to run on the computer to determine parameters associated with the alignment of the plurality of prescriptions, the alignment engine configured to;

receive a selection of a plurality of prescriptions to align;

receive a selection of a final alignment date, wherein the final alignment date is different from at least one of the refill dates associated with one of the plurality of prescriptions for the customer; and

calculate a short-fill parameter.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the alignment engine is further configured to calculate an earliest final alignment date and further wherein the selected final alignment date must be on or after the earliest final alignment date.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the alignment engine is further configured to:

determine a latest adjudication date from a plurality of calculated adjudication dates, in compliance with a rule determined by a third-party payor or a regulatory agency; and

calculate the earliest final alignment date using the latest adjudication date.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the alignment engine is further configured to:

retrieve information from the database;

calculate a parameter required to determine compliance with a rule determined by a third-party payor or a regulatory agency; and

calculate an adjudication date for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the rule comprises an adjudication rule and wherein calculating a parameter required to determine compliance with the rule comprises calculating a percent-consumption period.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein calculating a short-fill parameter comprises one of the group consisting of:

calculating a short-fill day supply;

calculating a short-fill quantity; and

calculating a short-fill delivery date.

38. A method for aligning refill dates associated with a plurality of prescriptions for a customer to a single alignment date, each prescription for a medication, a portion of the method embodied in a set of machine-readable instructions executed on a processor and stored on a tangible medium, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a plurality of prescriptions to align;

determining via the computer processor, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, a remaining day supply, the remaining day supply indicative of how many days of medication the customer has remaining;

receiving a selection of a final alignment date, wherein the final alignment date is different from at least one of the refill dates associated with one of the plurality of prescriptions for the customer;

determining via the computer processor, for each of the plurality of selected prescriptions, whether the customer will exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the selected final alignment date;

filling and providing one intermediate fill of the medication for each of the selected prescriptions for which the customer will exhaust the remaining day supply of the medication before the selected alignment date; and

filling each of the selected prescriptions.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein, for each medication for which one intermediate fill is provided, the one intermediate fill may be a short fill, a full fill, or an overfill.