Medication dispensing cart

• US 9,587,878 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2011
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnicell Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Omnicell Incorporated
• Inventors: Paydar, Akbar, Kim, Stanley, Richardson, Chris, Moreno, Gerardo, Santini, Victor, Moody, Nathaniel, Virag, Laszlo, Hom, Len
• Primary Examiner(s): COLLINS, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US13/312,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20120203377A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,918 Days
• Field of Search: 700/242, 700/243, 700/232
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2050/0014 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/10 Furniture specially adapted for surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/30 Containers specially adapted for packaging, protecting, dispensing, collecting or disposing of surgical or diagnostic appliances or instruments for wound clamps A61B17/10; for ligaturing clips A61B17/122; packages or dispensers for surgical gloves or finger-stalls A61B42/40
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 29/00 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 29/008 Alarm devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 3/005 Circuits arrangements for indicating a predetermined temperature fire detection G08B17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 3/04 in respect of time
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/105 Heating or cooling means, for temperature and humidity control, for the conditioning of articles and their storage dispensers for food articles requiring a processing by temperature treatment or conditioning before they are ready for dispensing G07F17/0064
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide medication dispensing carts and methods. The medication dispensing carts may include a base having wheels that allow the carts to be transported within a facility, a computing device configured to receive input from a user, a display device communicatively coupled with the computing device for displaying information to the user, a post that couples the display device with the base, and a plurality of cassettes that have one or more bins within which medical supplies are stored. The plurality of cassettes may be coupled with the post and the post may include a plurality of communication ports that communicatively couple one or more of the cassettes with the computing device to perform or provide various functions.

Claims

1. A medication dispensing cart comprising:

a base having wheels that allow the medication dispensing cart to be moved within a facility;

a computing device configured to receive input from a user;

a display device communicatively coupled with the computing device for displaying information to the user;

a post that attaches the display device with the base so that the post, display device, and base are moveable within the facility as a single/stand-alone unit, the post comprising an outer post member that slidingly receives an inner post member in a manner that enables vertical adjustment of the post, the outer post member including an electrical backplane having a plurality of communication ports positioned along a longitudinal length thereof, wherein each communication port is communicatively coupled with the computing device; and

a plurality of cassettes or drawers that each have at least one bin within which medical supplies are stored, wherein each cassette or drawer is removably coupled with the outer post member, and wherein each cassette or drawer includes a connector that is insertable within a respective communication port of the outer post member to communicatively couple the respective cassette or drawer with the computing device so that electrical signals may be transmitted between the cassette and the computing device.

2. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of cassettes comprise a guide light configured to illuminate to display a location of a bin of the cassette.

3. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, further comprising a stand-by button that sets the display device in a stand-by mode when activated, wherein information is not displayed on the display device in the stand-by-mode.

4. The medication dispensing cart of claim 3, further comprising a stand-by indicator configured to display a first display when the display device is in the stand-by mode and a second display when the display device is not in the stand-by mode.

5. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, further comprising a power system controller and at least one battery, wherein the power system controller is configured to adjust the power usage of the medication dispensing cart or adjust a power discharge setting of the battery based on an operational need of the medication dispensing cart or a condition of the battery.

6. The medication dispensing cart of claim 5, further comprising two batteries that provide power to the medication dispensing cart, wherein one of the batteries is removable from the medication dispensing cart without adversely affecting the power provided to the medication dispensing cart.

7. The medication dispensing cart of claim 5, further comprising a housing within which the battery is inserted, wherein the housing comprises a latch mechanism to lock the battery within the housing.

8. The medication dispensing cart of claim 5, wherein the at least one battery comprises a hot swappable smart battery, and wherein the power system controller comprises an interface port that communicatively couples the power system controller with the smart battery.

9. The medication dispensing cart of claim 8, wherein the smart battery comprises a gauge to generate readings of the battery'"'"'s remaining capacity.

10. The medication dispensing cart of claim 5, further comprising a backup battery configured to allow access to one or more bins during a power failure of the medication dispensing cart or to determine when unauthorized access to one or more bins occurs after a power failure of the medication dispensing cart.

11. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, wherein the cassettes are coupled with the outer post member to form a cassette stack, and wherein the cassette stack comprises a combination of large cassettes and small cassettes.

12. The medication dispensing cart of claim 11, wherein the large cassettes comprise bins ranging in height between about 4 inches and about 8 inches, and wherein the small cassettes comprise bins ranging in height between about 2 inches and about 4 inches.

13. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, wherein the computing device is configured to determine a cassette configuration of the plurality of cassettes via coupling of the respective connectors with the respective communication ports of the outer post member.

14. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, wherein the display device comprises a discharge element coupled to a touch screen, the discharge element being configured to dissipate a static charge generated by a user of the medication dispensing cart or the touch screen.

15. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, wherein the medication dispensing cart is one of a plurality of medication dispensing carts wirelessly networked with a central administrator system.

16. The medication dispensing cart of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of cassettes is non-removably coupled with the medication dispensing cart.

17. A method of providing a medication dispensing cart comprising:

providing a medication dispensing cart comprising;

a cassette system controller;

a base having wheels that allow the medication dispensing cart to be moved within a facility;

a display device that displays information to a user; and

a post that attaches the display device with the base so that the post, display device, and base are moveable within the facility as a single unit, the post including an electrical backplane having a plurality of communication ports positioned along a longitudinal length thereof, wherein each communication port is communicatively coupled with the cassette system controller;

providing a plurality of cassettes that each include a top surface, a bottom surface, two sides extending between the top and bottom surfaces, and a back that includes a recess defining a vertical channel that extends through at least a portion of the top and bottom surfaces, wherein each cassette further includes at least one bin configured to store medical supplies and a plug or connector;

coupling each cassette with the post by positioning the post within the recess of the respective cassette so that the post extends vertically through the vertical channel and so that at least a portion of the post is recessed relative to the back of the respective cassette; and

communicatively coupling each cassette with the cassette system controller by inserting the plug or connector of the cassette into a respective communication port of the backplane so that electrical signals may be transmitted between the cassette and the cassette system controller,

wherein the post, display device, and base are moveable within the facility as the single unit while the plug or connector of each cassette or drawer is inserted within the respective communication port of the backplane.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of cassettes are coupled with the post so that the plurality of cassettes form a cassette stack.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising identifying with the cassette system controller a type of the at least one cassette communicatively coupled with the cassette system controller.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising identifying with the cassette system controller a configuration of a cassette stack upon coupling of the respective connectors with the respective communication ports.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising configuring the cassette system controller to operate with the at least one cassette based off the identification of the type of the at least one cassette.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying the type of the at least one cassette comprises identifying one or more of the following selected from the group consisting of:

determining a size of the cassette from among a plurality of different sized cassettes;

determining that the cassette comprises a patient-specific bin; and

determining that the cassette comprises a utility specific bin.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein identifying a configuration of the cassette stack comprises determining an arrangement of different sized cassettes in the cassette stack or comprises determining an association between a patient and a cassette designated to store medical supplies specifically for the patient.

24. A medication dispensing cart comprising:

a base having wheels that allow the medication dispensing cart to be moved within a facility;

a computing device configured to receive input from a user;

a display device communicatively coupled with the computing device for displaying information to the user;

a plurality of cassettes or drawers that each have at least one bin within which medical supplies are stored, wherein at least one of the plurality of cassettes or drawers is communicatively coupled with the computing device via a communication port; and

a battery housing coupled with the base, the battery housing including a pair of slots within which a battery is inserted, wherein each slot faces upward from the base to allow a respective battery to be inserted within a respective slot from above the base.

25. The medication dispensing cart of claim 24, wherein each slot of the battery housing further comprises a latch mechanism to lock the respective battery within the respective slot.

26. The medication dispensing cart of claim 24, wherein the battery housing is coupled with a rear surface of the base.

27. The medication dispensing cart of claim 24, wherein each battery inserted within the pair of slots is capable of powering the medication dispensing cart such that one of the batteries is removable from the battery housing without adversely affecting the power provided to the medication dispensing cart.

28. The medication dispensing cart of claim 24, further comprising a post that attaches the display device with the base, the post comprising a plurality of communication ports that are positioned along a longitudinal length of the post, wherein each communication port is communicatively coupled with the computing device, and wherein each cassette or drawer includes a plug or connector that is inserted within a respective communication port of the post to communicatively couple the respective cassette or drawer with the computing device.

29. The medication dispensing cart of claim 28, wherein the plurality of communication ports are coupled with a backplane of the post.

30. The medication dispensing cart of claim 24, wherein the cassettes are coupled with the post to form a cassette stack, and wherein the cassette stack comprises a combination of large cassettes and small cassettes.