AUTOMATED MEDICATION HANDLING SYSTEM

• US 20080272138A1
• Filed: 10/12/2007
• Published: 11/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Cardinal Health 303 Incorporated (Cardinal Health, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ross, Graham, Yturralde, Mark Corey
• Granted Patent: US 8,065,035 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/165 using xyz-picker or multi-dimensional article picking arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/1657 the picking arrangements using suction
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/58 the articles being supported on or by endless belts or like conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/60 the storage containers or supports being rectilinearly movable
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

Described herein are embodiments of systems and methods for providing an automated medication handling system that can, among other things, single-dose package medications, store and dispense medications in a pharmacy, transport medications to a nursing unit or other remote location, store them at that remote location, and load them into a portable unit carried by a nurse, who may dispense the medication at a bedside.

Claims

1. A system for managing medications in a care facility, comprising:

an identification device that identifies individual single-dose containers, each single-dose container containing a single dose of a medication; and

a processor configured to maintain information on the locations of the individual single-dose containers.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the single-dose containers comprise an identifier that provides information about the medication within the container.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a barcode, a radio-frequency identification tag, and a two-dimensional matrix.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the information about the medication comprises at least one of a medication name, a dosage, a manufacturer, a lot number, and an expiration date.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to maintain the information about the medication provided by the identifier.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the identification device is configured to obtain the information about the medication within the single-dose container and to communicate the information to the processor.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor positions the single-dose container within the system based upon the information about the medication obtained by the identifier.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the identification device comprises a camera that obtains an image of the identifier for processing by the processor.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a dispenser that receives the single-dose containers with medication corresponding to a patient'"'"'s prescriptions.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a dispenser that collects and dispenses single-dose containers that contain expired medications within the system.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transport robot that conveys the single-dose containers between a storage unit and a dispensing unit.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor determines which single-dose containers are to be conveyed by the transport robot based on information obtained from the identification device.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a medication picker system that locates a desired single-dose container at a first location and secures the single-dose container for transportation to a second location.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a tray that retains a plurality of single-dose containers, and the tray being conveyed between a storage unit and a dispensing unit by a transport robot.

15. A single-dose container for protecting and transferring medications therein by a machine, the container comprising:

first and second substantially rigid portions that are configured to couple together and form a machine-compatible container having a hollow enclosure that is sized to enclose a single dose of medication;

an identifier that is provided with at least one of the first and second substantially rigid portions that provides access to information relating to medication within the hollow enclosure; and

an indicator that provides information relating to decoupling of the first and second substantially rigid portions.

16. The container of claim 15, wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a barcode, a radio-frequency identification tag, and a two-dimensional matrix.

17. The container of claim 15, wherein at least one of the substantially rigid portions comprises a biodegradable material.

18. The container of claim 15, wherein the indicator prevents recoupling of the first and second substantially rigid portions following decoupling of the two portions.

19. The container of claim 15, wherein the first and second substantially rigid portions comprise colors that correspond to characteristics of the medication contained therein.

20. The container of claim 15, wherein the indicator identifies whether the first and second substantially rigid portions have been decoupled or tampered with since the coupling.

21. The container of claim 15, wherein the first and second substantially rigid portions, when coupled, form one of a sphere, cylinder, pyramid, square, and rectangular shape.

22. A method of managing medications in a care facility, comprising:

providing an identifier with a single-dose container that provides information relating to medication within the container;

transporting the single-dose container by machine to a storage facility; and

relocating the single-dose container by machine based on the information provided by the identifier.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising packaging medication into a single-dose container that is configured to be compatible with handling by a machine.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the information comprises at least one of a drug name, a dosage, a manufacturer, a lot number, and an expiration date.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein relocating the single-dose container is in response to a recall of the medication.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising relocating the single-dose container to a tray within the storage facility.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising transporting the tray based on the information relating to the medication.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein transporting the tray comprises transporting the tray with a transport robot.

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising relocating the single-dose container because the medication was not administered to a patient by a caregiver.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising dispensing the single-dose container for administration to a patient.

31. The method of claim 22, further comprising returning unused medications to the storage facility based on the expiration date.