Intelligent routing of radio-frequency identification data

• US 10,579,959 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2014
• Issued: 03/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cerner Innovation, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cerner Innovation, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Bhatia, Sameer, Whited, Robert E., Holland, Zeke W., Easler, John W., Nolen, John David L., Emerson, Kevin J., Cross, Lori N., Lucas, Brian L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Habib, Asifa
• Application Number:
  US14/482,097
• Publication Number:
  US 20160071053A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,001 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/40 for data related to laboratory analysis, e.g. patient specimen analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for routing radio-frequency identification (RFID) location data from an RFID tag reader to a record-keeping unit. A first tagging entry is received from a first record-keeping unit. The information associated with the first tagging entry is stored in a data store. A first set of location data is received, indicating that the RFID tag of the first item has been read by an RFID tag reader. It is algorithmically determined that the received location data corresponds to the first tagging entry received from the first record-keeping unit. The first set of location data is communicated to the first record-keeping unit.

Claims

1. A computerized method, carried out by at least one server having one or more processors, of routing radio-frequency identification (RFID) location data for an item tagged with a RFID tag from one of a plurality of RFID tag readers to at least one of a plurality of record-keeping units, the method comprising:

receiving an indication from a first record-keeping unit that a first item has been tagged with an RFID tag;

in response to receiving the indication from the first record-keeping unit, generating a first tagging entry comprising an identifier associated with the first item, the first tagging entry being stored in a database associated with a central server;

receiving one or more location data subscription requests corresponding to the first item from a set of record-keeping units of a plurality of record-keeping units;

in response to receiving one or more location data subscription requests, subscribing the set of record-keeping units to receive location data for the first item, wherein the one or more location data subscription requests corresponding to the first item indicates to the central server that location data received that corresponds to the identifier associated with the first item is to be communicated to the set of record-keeping units, and wherein each record-keeping unit maintains a record of subscribed item locations in a local database;

receiving, by the central server, a first set of location data indicating that the RFID tag of the first item has been read by an RFID tag reader;

determining, by the central server, that the first set of location data corresponds to the first tagging entry received from the first record-keeping unit;

based upon determining that the first set of location data corresponds to the first item, communicating, by the central server and only to the set of record-keeping units, the first set of location data;

updating the record associated with the first item in the local database of each record-keeping unit of the set of record-keeping units; and

when the RFID tag of the first item does not match any of the tagging entries in the database, querying by the central server each of the set of record-keeping units to determine which of the plurality of record-keeping units is associated with the RFID tag of the first item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of location data comprises:

(1) a location of the RFID tag reader that read the RFID tag of the first item, and

(2) the identifier associated with the first item.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining comprises:

accessing a look-up table in the database; and

from the database, identifying the first tagging entry that comprises the identifier associated with the first item, the identifier associated with the first item matching with the identifier of the received first set of location data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first record-keeping unit is a laboratory system that stores health data for a plurality of patients.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first record-keeping unit stores electronic medical records for a plurality of patients.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a second record-keeping unit, a second tagging entry indicating that a second item has been tagged with an RFID tag, the second tagging entry comprising at least an identifier associated with the second item;

storing the second tagging entry in the database;

receiving a second set of location data indicating that the RFID tag of the item has been read by an RFID tag reader, the second set of location data comprising the identifier associated with the second item; and

determining, by way of accessing the database, whether the second set of location data corresponds to the first tagging entry or the second tagging entry.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining whether the second set of location data corresponds to the first tagging entry or the second tagging entry further comprises:

accessing a look-up table in the database, the look-up table comprising a plurality of tagging entries associated with identifiers of items that are to be tracked by way of a plurality of RFID tag readers, the plurality of tagging entries having been sent by the plurality of record-keeping units; and

determining that a match exists between the identifier of the second set of location data and the identifier of one of the first tagging entry or the second tagging entry.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

algorithmically determining that the received location data also corresponds to a second tagging entry received from a second record-keeping unit; and

communicating the location data to the first record-keeping unit and the second record-keeping unit.

9. A system for routing radio-frequency identification (RFID) location data from one of a plurality of RFID tag readers to at least one record-keeping unit, the system comprising:

a plurality of record-keeping units, wherein each record-keeping unit of the plurality of record-keeping units maintains a record of subscribed item locations in a local database, wherein the local database is updated in response to receiving location data communicated by a central server;

a plurality of RFID tag readers;

the central server having a communications component, one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media; and

a data store coupled to the central server,

wherein the central server;

receives, from an RFID tag reader, data associated with an item that has been tagged with an RFID tag, the data comprising location data of the item;

identifies a set of record-keeping units the received data is to be communicated to by accessing the data store comprising tagging entries that correspond to items that have been tagged with an RFID tag, the tagging entries each comprising at least an identifier associated with a corresponding item, and that stores subscriptions received from the set of record-keeping units subscribing to received data corresponding to the identifier, wherein a subscription indicates that location data received and corresponding to the subscribed item is to be communicated to the subscribing record-keeping units, and wherein the set of record-keeping units comprises at least one of the plurality of record-keeping units;

communicates the data to the set of record-keeping units subscribed to an item; and

when the data does not match any of the data in the data store, queries each of the set of record-keeping units to determine which of the plurality of record-keeping units is associated with the data.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a processing unit that receives data from the plurality of RFID tag readers and communicates the data to the communications component.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the communications component is a bus.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the communications component discards a portion of the data received from the plurality of RFID tag readers when none of the plurality of record-keeping units are subscribed to receive the portion of the data.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the item is a laboratory specimen that is to be sent to a pathology laboratory for testing and processing.

14. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, facilitate a method of routing radio-frequency identification (RFID) location data of a RFID tagged lab specimen from one of a plurality of RFID tag reader positioned at various locations to at least one of a plurality of record-keeping units positioned at different locations, the method comprising:

adding a tagging entry to a look-up table having a plurality of tagging entries, wherein the tagging entry is received by a central server maintaining the look-up table and from a record-keeping unit of a set of record-keeping units, wherein each tagging entry of the plurality of tagging entries includes an identifier corresponding to an RFID tagged lab specimen;

adding a plurality of subscriptions to the look-up table, wherein each subscription is received by the central server from one of the set of record-keeping units, wherein each subscription of the plurality of subscriptions identifies a particular RFID tagged lab specimen for which location data received by the central server is to be communicated by the central server to the record-keeping unit sending the subscription, and wherein each record-keeping unit of the plurality of record-keeping units maintains a locally stored record of the location of one or more subscribed RFID tagged lab specimens;

based upon scanning a first RFID tagged lab specimen with a first RFID tag reader at a first location, communicating location data for the first RFID tagged lab specimen from the first RFID tag reader to the central server, the communicated location data comprising a first identifier associated with the first RFID tagged lab specimen;

based at least on accessing the look-up table, determining whether the first identifier matches any of the identifiers of the plurality of tagging entries in the look-up table;

responsive to determining the first identifier matches any of the identifiers in the look-up table, communicating the location data to any record-keeping units subscribing to the first identifier;

updating the locally stored record of each of the set of record keeping units associated with the first item; and

when the first identifier does not match any of the identifiers in the look-up table, querying by the central server each of the set of record-keeping units to determine which of the plurality of record-keeping units is associated with the first identifier.

15. The media of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, from a first record-keeping unit, a tagging entry indicating that a lab specimen has been associated with an RFID tag, the tagging entry comprising at least the first identifier associated with the lab specimen; and

storing the tagging entry in the look-up table.

16. The media of claim 14, wherein the location data comprises:

(1) a location associated with the RFID tag reader that read the RFID tag of the first RFID tagged lab specimen, and

(2) the first identifier associated with the first RFID tagged lab specimen.

17. The media of claim 14, wherein each of the one or more record-keeping units is a laboratory system that stores health data for a plurality of patients.

18. The media of claim 14, wherein the one or more record-keeping units store electronic medical records associated with a plurality of patients.

19. The media of claim 14, wherein if the querying of the one or more record-keeping units does not result in an identification of the record-keeping unit that sent the tagging entry associated with the matching identifier, discarding the location data received from the first RFID tag reader.

20. The media of claim 14, wherein the first RFID tagged lab specimen is one of a blood sample, a biopsy, a surgical specimen, or another anatomical specimen.