Product inventory information sharing system and method

• US 9,767,429 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2012
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group LLC (Cencora, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ASD Specialty Healthcare LLC (Cencora, Inc.)
• Inventors: Flori, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Champagne, Luna
• Application Number:
  US13/720,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20140172651A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,735 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A product inventory sharing system includes a product management device in communication with a server. The product management device is configured to store one or more product units each configured with a corresponding one or more RFID tags, and monitor an inventory of the product units by wirelessly detecting the RFID tags. The server is configured to periodically receive product information from the product management device, the product information comprising inventory data, store the product information, and transmit the product information to a network node associated with at least one vested entity associated with the product units.

Claims

1. A product inventory sharing system comprising:

a product management device comprising;

a cabinet configured to store one or more product units, each product unit configured with a corresponding one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, each product unit comprising one or more pharmaceutical units configured to treat at least one ailment of at least one patient;

a user input device on an outer surface of the cabinet and configured to display one or more user input fields associated with the one or more product units stored in the cabinet and receive current patient symptom data associated with the at least one ailment of the at least one patient via the one or more user input fields, wherein the one or more user input fields are selected based on one or more types of the one or more product units stored in the cabinet, wherein different user input fields are associated with different types of product units; and

an RFID reader configured to monitor an inventory of the one or more product units by wirelessly detecting the one or more corresponding RFID tags; and

a server configured to;

periodically receive product information and the current patient symptom data from the product management device and receive additional current patient symptom data from a portable wireless device, the additional current patient symptom data received from the portable wireless device when the product management device is inaccessible to the at least one patient, the portable wireless device having a user input screen configured to (i) display one or more second user input fields that are the same as the one or more user input fields of the user input device of the product management device and (ii) receive the additional current patient symptom data, the product information comprising inventory data associated with the inventory of the one or more product units;

store the product information;

determine whether a pattern exists of increased or decreased usage of product units during certain time periods by correlating the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data with the inventory data over multiple periods of time; and

transmit a portion of the product information to at least one network node associated with at least one vested entity that is associated with the one or more product units, wherein the portion of the product information is limited to at least one type of product information associated with an account type of the at least one vested entity.

2. The product inventory sharing system of claim 1, further comprising a data processing system disposed in the cabinet,

wherein the data processing system is configured to maintain a door of the cabinet in a locked condition until the one or more user input fields have been entered by a user.

3. The product inventory sharing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one vested entity comprises one or more of:

a payer of at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a manufacturer of at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a caregiver who administers at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a pharmacy that provides at least one pharmaceutical unit; and

a user of at least one pharmaceutical unit.

4. The product inventory sharing system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one ailment of the at least one patient is related to hemophilia; and

the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data comprise bleed location information.

5. The product inventory sharing system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to transmit the portion of the product information in response to a request from the at least one network node of the at least one vested entity.

6. The product inventory sharing system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to periodically transmit the portion of the product info′

illation to the at least one network node of the at least one vested entity.

7. The product inventory sharing system of claim 1, wherein the server is configured to correlate the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data with the inventory data to generate additional information about a health of the at least one patient.

8. A product inventory sharing method comprising:

storing, in a cabinet, one or more product units, each product unit configured with a corresponding one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, each product unit comprising one or more pharmaceutical units configured to treat at least one ailment of at least one patient;

displaying, at a user input device on an outer surface of the cabinet, one or more user input fields associated with the one or more product units stored in the cabinet, wherein the one or more user input fields are selected based on one or more types of the one or more product units stored in the cabinet, wherein different user input fields are associated with different types of product units;

receiving, at the user input device, current patient symptom data associated with the at least one ailment of the at least one patient via the one or more user input fields;

monitoring an inventory of the one or more product units by wirelessly detecting the one or more corresponding RFID tags;

periodically receiving product information and the current patient symptom data from the cabinet, the product information comprising inventory data associated with the inventory of the one or more product units;

receiving, when the cabinet is inaccessible to the at least one patient, additional current patient symptom data from a portable wireless device, the portable wireless device having a user input screen configured to (i) display one or more second user input fields that are the same as the one or more user input fields of the user input device of the cabinet and (ii) receive the additional current patient symptom data;

storing the product information;

determining whether a pattern exists of increased or decreased usage of product units during certain time periods by correlating the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data with the inventory data over multiple periods of time; and

transmitting a portion of the product information to at least one network node associated with at least one vested entity that is associated with the one or more product units, wherein the portion of the product information is limited to at least one type of product information associated with an account type of the at least one vested entity.

9. The product inventory sharing method of claim 8, further comprising:

maintaining a door of the cabinet in a locked condition until the one or more user input fields have been entered by a user.

10. The product inventory sharing method of claim 8, wherein the at least one vested entity comprises one or more of:

a payer of at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a manufacturer of at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a caregiver who administers at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a pharmacy that provided at least one pharmaceutical unit; and

a user of at least one pharmaceutical unit.

11. The product inventory sharing method of claim 10, further comprising receiving clinical data.

12. The product inventory sharing method of claim 8, wherein the portion of the product information is transmitted in response to a request from the at least one network node of the at least one vested entity.

13. The product inventory sharing method of claim 8, wherein the portion of the product information is transmitted periodically to the at least one network node of the at least one vested entity.

14. The product inventory sharing method of claim 8, further comprising:

correlating the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data with the inventory data to generate additional information about a health of the at least one patient.

15. A product inventory sharing system comprising:

a server configured to;

periodically receive product information and current patient symptom data associated with at least one ailment of at least one patient from a cabinet, the cabinet configured to store one or more product units, each product unit configured with a corresponding one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, each product unit comprising one or more pharmaceutical units configured to treat the at least one ailment of the at least one patient, the product information comprising inventory data associated with an inventory of the one or more product units in the cabinet, the current patient symptom data received at a user input device on an outer surface of the cabinet;

select one or more user input fields based on one or more types of the one or more product units in the cabinet and transmit the one or more user input fields to the user input device for display by the user input device, the current patient symptom data received in response to input by a user in the one or more user input fields, wherein different user input fields are associated with different types of product units;

receive, when the cabinet is inaccessible to the at least one patient, additional current patient symptom data from a portable wireless device, the portable wireless device having a user input screen configured to (i) display one or more second user input fields that are the same as the one or more user input fields of the user input device of the cabinet and (ii) receive the additional current patient symptom data;

store the product information;

determine whether a pattern exists of increased or decreased usage of product units during certain time periods by correlating the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data with the inventory data over multiple periods of time; and

transmit a portion of the product information to at least one network node associated with at least one vested entity that is associated with the one or more product units, wherein the portion of the product information is limited to at least one type of product information associated with an account type of the at least one vested entity.

16. The product inventory sharing system of claim 15, wherein the at least one vested entity comprises one or more of:

a payer of at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a manufacturer of at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a caregiver who administers at least one pharmaceutical unit;

a pharmacy that provides at least one pharmaceutical unit; and

a user of at least one pharmaceutical unit.

17. The product inventory sharing system of claim 15, wherein the server is further configured to receive clinical data.

18. The product inventory sharing system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to transmit the portion of the product information in response to a request for the product information from the at least one network node of the at least one vested entity.

19. The product inventory sharing system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to periodically transmit the portion of the product information to the at least one network node of the at least one vested entity.

20. The product inventory sharing system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to correlate the current patient symptom data and the additional current patient symptom data with the inventory data to generate additional information about a health of the at least one patient.

21. The product inventory sharing system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to:

use the received product information to correlate an amount of the one or more product units used by a specified patient of the at least one patient with insurance information of the specified patient; and

send a message to an entity associated with the insurance information when the amount of the one or more product units used by the specified patient exceeds a threshold.