Medication dispensing system
First Claim
1. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
- a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule;
a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis;
a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including housing means for locked reception of said first and second canisters to prevent unauthorized removal of said canisters from said unit;
first accesss means for restricting access to the at least one scheduled medication within said first canister to authorized personnel and further to predetermined medication doses during time windows of selected duration at intervals in accordance with said prescribed time schedule;
second access means for restricting access to at least one unscheduled medication within said second canister to said authorized personnel on an as needed basis by the patient; and
means for detecting removal of medications from said first and second canisters and for creating a record thereof;
said first canister including a plurality of cassettes containing said at least one scheduled medication, said first access means restricting access to said cassettes for removal from said first canister one at a time by said authorized personnel, and said detecting means sensing such cassette removal.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved medication dispensing system is provided for controlled preprogrammed dispensing of medication to a patient and for creating a retrievable patient medication record. The system includes a dispensing unit located, for example, at patient bedside within a hospital room or the like and adapted to receive a pair of medication canisters having magazines with individual cassettes which have been preloaded in a preprogrammed manner in the hospital pharmacy or the like respectively to contain scheduled and unscheduled medications for administration to the patient. The dispensing unit is programmed according to individual patient needs to signal a nurse or other personnel at selected times when scheduled medication is prescribed, whereupon the scheduled medication can be accessed for dispensing only after entry of valid nurse or other personnel identification code into a dispensing unit memory. The unscheduled medications may be accessed by the nurse or other personnel in a similar manner but on an untimed basis as required by the patient. The dispensing unit further includes sensors for detecting removal of any medication cassette and for signalling the dispensing unit memory to create a corresponding patient medication record. A data transmission device is provided for selectively programming the dispensing unit memory and/or for reading the patient medication record from the memory.
630 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
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a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including housing means for locked reception of said first and second canisters to prevent unauthorized removal of said canisters from said unit; first accesss means for restricting access to the at least one scheduled medication within said first canister to authorized personnel and further to predetermined medication doses during time windows of selected duration at intervals in accordance with said prescribed time schedule; second access means for restricting access to at least one unscheduled medication within said second canister to said authorized personnel on an as needed basis by the patient; and means for detecting removal of medications from said first and second canisters and for creating a record thereof; said first canister including a plurality of cassettes containing said at least one scheduled medication, said first access means restricting access to said cassettes for removal from said first canister one at a time by said authorized personnel, and said detecting means sensing such cassette removal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
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a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including housing means for locked reception of said first and second canisters to prevent unauthorized removal of said canisters from said unit; first access means for restricting access to the at least one scheduled medication within said first canister to authorized personnel and further to predetermined medication doses during time windows of selected duration at intervals in accordance with said prescribed time schedule; second access means for restricting access to at least one unscheduled medication within said second canister to said authorized personnel on an as needed basis by the patient; and means for detecting removal of medications from said first and second canisters and for creating a record thereof; said second canister including a plurality of cassettes containing said at least one unscheduled medication, said second access means restricting access to said cassettes for removal from said second canisters one at a time by said authorized personnel, and said detecting means sensing such cassette removal.
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7. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
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a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including housing means for locked reception of said first and second canisters to prevent unauthorized removal of said canisters from said unit; first access means for restricting access to the at least one scheduled medication within said first canister to authorized personnel and further to prescribed medication doses during time windows of selected duration at intervals in accordance with said prescribed time schedule; second access means for restricting acess to at least one unscheduled medication within said second canister to said authorized personnel on an as needed basis by the patient; and means for detecting removal of medications from said first and second canisters and for creating a record thereof; said first canister comprising a generally circular carousel including a general annular tray, a generally annular magazine defining a plurality of medication-receiving cassettes for seated reception upon said tray, a canister cover for releasable locked engagement with said carousel in overlying relation with said magazine and having an access opening formed therein for exposing one of said cassettes, and handle means at the upper side of said cover and coupled to said carousel for manual rotation of said carousel upon manual rotation of said handle means. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
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a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including housing means for locked reception of said first and second canisters to prevent unauthorized removal of said canisters from said unit; first access means for restricting access to the at least one scheduled medication within said first canister to authorized personnel and further to predetermined medication doses during time windows of selected duration at intervals in accordance with said prescribed time schedule; second access means for restricting access to at least one unscheduled medication within said second canister to said authorized personnel on an as needed basis by the patient; and means for detecting removal of medications from said first and second canisters and for creating a record thereof; said second canister comprising a generally circular carousel including a general annular tray, a generally annular magazine defining a plurality of medication-receiving cassettes for seated reception upon said tray, a canister cover for releasable locked engagement with said carousel in overlying relation with said magazine and having an access opening formed therein for exposing one of said cassettes, and handle means at the upper side of said cover and coupled to said carousel for manual rotation of said carousel upon manual rotation of said handle means. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
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a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including housing means for locked reception of said first and second canisters to prevent unauthorized removal of said canisters from said unit; and access means for restricting access to the at least one scheduled medication within said first canister to authorized personnel and further to predetermined medication doses during time windows of selected duration at intervals in accordance with said prescribed time schedule; and said access means further restricting access to the at least one unscheduled medication within said second canister to said authorized personnel on an as needed basis by the patient. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A medication dispensing system, comprising:
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a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to a patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; a dispensing unit for individual association with the patient and including first locking means for releasable locked reception of said first and second canisters; code entry means associated with said dispensing unit; memory means associated with said dispensing unit and said code entry means, said memory means recognizing entry of a first predetermined code using said entry means and responding thereto to permit access to and operation of said first locking means for selectively locking and releasing said first and second canisters from said dispensing unit; and second locking means for restricting access to the medications within said first and second canisters, said second locking means being releasable to permit limited access to predetermined medication within said first canister during each of a plurality of time windows at intervals corresponding with said prescribed time schedule, and to permit access to the medication within said second canisters; said memory means recognizing entry of a second predetermined code using said entry means to permit access to and operation of said second locking means. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A medication dispensing unit, comprising:
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a housing for individual association with a patient and having first and second chambers formed therein; a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to the patent in accordance with a prescribed time schedule, said first canister being receivable into said first housing chamber; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis, said second canister being receivable into said second housing chamber; programmable memory means for receiving and storing information regarding the medications received in said first and second housing chambers; locking means for permitting limited access to the medications within said first and second canisters; code entry means for manual entry of predetermined personnel identification codes; said memory means including means for recognizing one of said identification codes and for responding thereto to permit access to the medication within said second canister and to permit limited access to a single dose of the medication within said first canister within a time window and at an interval corresponding with prescribed time schedule; and further including means for preventing reception of said first canister into said second housing chamber and for preventing reception of said second canister into said first housing chamber. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A medication dispensing unit, comprising:
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a housing for individual association with a patient and having first and second chambers formed therein; a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for administration to the patent in accordance with a prescribed time schedule, said first canister being receivable into said first housing chamber; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis, said second canister being receivable into said second housing chamber; programmable memory means for receiving and storing information regarding the medications received in said first and second housing chambers; locking means or permitting limited access to the medications within said first and second canisters; and code entry means for manual entry of predetermined personnel identification codes; said memory means including means for recognizing one of said identification codes and for responding thereto to permit access to the medication within said second canister and to permit limited access to a single dose of the medication within said first canister within a time window and at an interval corresponding with prescribed time schedule; said first and second canisters each comprising a generally circular carousel having an annular outer tray, a magazine defining a generally annular array of cassettes for receiving the medication in individual doses, said magazine being supportable upon said cassette tray, a cover for locking engagement with said carousel in overlying relation with said magazine and having an access opening therein to expose one of said cassettes, and means for rotating said carousel beneath said cover. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A medication dispensing unit, comprising:
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a housing for individual association with a patient and having first and second chambers formed therein; a first medication canister for receiving at least one scheduled medication for adminstration to the patent in accordance with a prescribed time schedule, said first canister being receivable into said first housing chamber; a second medication canister for receiving at least one unscheduled medication for administration to the patient on an as needed basis, said second canister being receivable into said second housing chamber; said medication canisters each having a plurality of cassettes for receiving medication in individual doses; programmable memory means for receiving and storing information regarding the medications received in said first and second housing chambers; locking means for permitting limited access to the medications within said first and second canisters; code entry means for manual entry of predetermined personnel identification codes; said memory means including means for recognizing one of said identification codes and for responding thereto to permit access to the medication within said second canister and to permit limited access to a single dose of the medication within said first canister within a time window and at an interval corresponding with prescribed time schedule; and further including means for detecting removal of one of said cassettes from either of said first and second canisters, said memory means being responsive to said detecting means to create a record of said cassette removal.
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31. A method of dispensing medications to a patient, comprising the steps of:
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loading at least one scheduled medication into a first canister, the scheduled medication being for administration to the patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; loading at least one unscheduled medication into a second canister, the unscheduled medication being for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; locking the first and second canisters into a dispensing unit which cooperates with the canisters to limit access to the medications therein; and entering one of a plurality of predetermined identification codes into a dispensing unit memory which responds upon recognition thereof to permit access to a single dose of the scheduled medication during limited time windows at predetermined intervals and to permit access to the unscheduled medications. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of dispensing medications to a patient, comprising the steps of:
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loading at least one scheduled medication into a first canister, the scheduled medication being for administration to the patient in accordance with a prescribed time schedule; loading at least one unscheduled medication into a second canister, the unscheduled medication being for administration to the patient on an as needed basis; locking the first and second canisters into a dispensing unit which cooperates with the canisters to limit access to the medications therein; and entering one of a plurality of predetermined identification codes into a dispensing unit memory which responds upon recognition thereof to permit access to a single dose of the scheduled medication during limited time windows at predetermined intervals and to permit access to the unscheduled medications; the first and second canisters each including an annular array of medication-containing cassettes supported for rotation beneath a cover having an access opening therein, and further including the steps of accessing the scheduled medication by unidirectional rotation of the canister cassettes to rotate the next cassette in sequence to a position beneath the access opening and then locking the first canister cassette against further rotation, and accessing the unscheduled medication by rotating the second canister cassettes to align a selected cassette beneath the associated access opening.
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Specification