Management of pharmacy kits

• US 9,058,413 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2015
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bluesight, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Kit Check, Inc.
• Inventors: MacDonald, Kevin William, Kress-Spatz, Timothy James Leo
• Primary Examiner(s): LAM, ELIZA ANNE
• Application Number:
  US14/603,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20150142468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 144 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10415 the interrogation device being fixed in its position, such as an access control device for reading wireless access cards, or a wireless ATM banking machines in general G07F19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A system for managing pharmacy kits comprises a reading station configured to read tag information from a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags associated with a pharmacy kit, and an information processing system operatively connected to the reading station and configured to receive the tag information from the reading station and determine a status of the pharmacy kit based on the tag information, a plurality of stored templates defining contents to be included in each of a plurality of pharmacy kits, and a plurality of kit records indicating the current contents of a plurality of pharmacy kits.

Claims

1. A system for managing a pharmacy kit, comprising:

an information processing system communicatively coupled to a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, the information processing system comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to;

receive tag information of a plurality of RFID tags coupled to a plurality of pharmacy item containers based at least in part on an antenna emitting a radio signal at least within a pharmacy kit container that provides electromagnetic shielding,

wherein the plurality of pharmacy item containers are configured to store a plurality of pharmacy items,

wherein a particular RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags is coupled to a particular pharmacy item container of the plurality of pharmacy item containers and the particular pharmacy item container is configured to store a particular pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items, and

wherein the particular RFID tag is associated with particular pharmacy item data comprising at least an identifier of the particular pharmacy item;

verify the plurality of pharmacy items using the tag information, wherein to verify at least a first pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items the computer-executable instructions cause the one or more processors to;

determine that a first pharmacy item container configured to store a first pharmacy item is not present based at least in part on the tag information, and

determine that a second pharmacy item container configured to store a substitute first pharmacy item is present based at least in part on the tag information; and

cause a display to display results of the verification of the plurality of pharmacy items including information regarding the substitute first pharmacy item.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to compare pharmacy item data with a pharmacy kit template, wherein the pharmacy item data is associated with the tag information and comprises at least the particular pharmacy item data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the pharmacy kit template specifies a group of pharmacy items that form at least a portion of a pharmacy kit.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the first pharmacy item container configured to store the first pharmacy item is determined to be not present based at least in part on the comparison of the pharmacy item data with the pharmacy kit template.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to identify one or more missing pharmacy items based at least in part on the comparison of the pharmacy item data with the pharmacy kit template.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether an expiration of each of the plurality of pharmacy items satisfies an expiration threshold.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether a quantity of each pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items satisfies a threshold quantity.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether any of the plurality of pharmacy items are subject to a recall.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the information processing system and the RFID reader form at least a portion of an RFID reading station.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the information processing system and the RFID reader are distinct and communicate via at least one of a local area network, a cellular network, or Internet.

9. A method of managing a pharmacy kit, comprising:

receiving tag information of a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags coupled to a plurality of pharmacy item containers based at least in part on an antenna coupled to a pharmacy kit container emitting a radio signal at least within the pharmacy kit container that provides electromagnetic shielding,

wherein the plurality of pharmacy item containers are configured to store a plurality of pharmacy items,

wherein a particular RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags is coupled to a particular pharmacy item container of the plurality of pharmacy item containers and the particular pharmacy item container is configured to store a particular pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items, and

wherein the particular RFID tag is associated with particular pharmacy item data comprising at least an identifier of the particular pharmacy item;

verifying the plurality of pharmacy items including at least a first pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items using the tag information, wherein verifying the at least a first pharmacy item comprises;

determining that a first pharmacy item container configured to store the first pharmacy item is not present based at least in part on the tag information, and

determining that a second pharmacy item container configured to store a substitute first pharmacy item is present based at least in part on the tag information; and

causing a display to display results of said verifying the plurality of pharmacy items including information regarding the substitute first pharmacy item.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said verifying the plurality of pharmacy items further comprises comparing pharmacy item data with a pharmacy kit template, wherein the pharmacy item data is associated with the tag information and comprises at least the particular pharmacy item data.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the pharmacy kit template specifies a group of pharmacy items that form at least a portion of a pharmacy kit.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said verifying the plurality of pharmacy items further comprises identifying one or more missing pharmacy items of the pharmacy kit based at least in part on said comparing the pharmacy item data with the pharmacy kit template.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein said verifying the plurality of pharmacy items further comprises determining at least one pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items is expired based at least in part on an amount of time since the at least one pharmacy item was removed from refrigeration.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein said verifying the plurality of pharmacy items further comprises determining at least one pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items is expired based at least in part on a determination that the least one pharmacy item does not satisfy an expiration threshold.

15. A system for managing a pharmacy kit, comprising:

an information processing system communicatively coupled to a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, the information processing system comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to;

receive tag information of a plurality of RFID tags coupled to a plurality of pharmacy item containers based at least in part on an antenna emitting a radio signal at least within a pharmacy kit container that provides electromagnetic shielding,

wherein the plurality of pharmacy item containers are configured to store a plurality of pharmacy items,

wherein a first RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags is coupled to a first pharmacy item container of the plurality of pharmacy item containers and the first pharmacy item container is configured to store a first pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items, and

wherein the first RFID tag is associated with first pharmacy item data comprising at least an identifier of the first pharmacy item and an expiration of the first pharmacy item;

verify a pharmacy kit using the tag information, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions cause the one or more processors to identify the first pharmacy item as an expired pharmacy item based at least in part on a determination that the expiration of the first pharmacy item does not satisfy an expiration threshold; and

cause a display to display results of the verification of the pharmacy kit, including information that the expiration of the first pharmacy item does not satisfy the expiration threshold.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to compare pharmacy item data with a pharmacy kit template, wherein the pharmacy item data is associated with the tag information and comprises at least the first pharmacy item data.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the pharmacy kit template specifies a group of pharmacy items that form at least a portion of a pharmacy kit.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to identify one or more missing pharmacy items based at least in part on the comparison of the pharmacy item data with the pharmacy kit template.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether an expiration of each of the plurality of pharmacy items satisfies an expiration threshold.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether a quantity of each pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items satisfies a threshold quantity.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether any of the plurality of pharmacy items are subject to a recall.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether a quantity of each pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items satisfies a threshold quantity.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the computer-executable instructions when executed further cause the one or more processors to determine whether any of the plurality of pharmacy items are subject to a recall.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the expiration threshold comprises at least one of an expiration date or a date prior to the expiration date.

27. A system for managing a pharmacy kit, comprising:

one or more processors communicatively coupled to an antenna, the one or more processors configured to;

receive tag information of a plurality of RFID tags coupled to a plurality of pharmacy item containers based at least in part on the antenna emitting a radio signal at least within a pharmacy kit container that provides electromagnetic shielding,

wherein the plurality of pharmacy item containers are configured to store a plurality of pharmacy items,

wherein a particular RFID tag of the plurality of RFID tags is coupled to a particular pharmacy item container of the plurality of pharmacy item containers and the particular pharmacy item container is configured to store a particular pharmacy item of the plurality of pharmacy items, and

wherein the particular RFID tag is associated with particular pharmacy item data comprising at least an identifier of the particular pharmacy item;

verify a pharmacy kit using the tag information, wherein to verify the pharmacy kit, the one or more processors are configured to at least one of;

determine that a first pharmacy item container configured to store a first pharmacy item is not present based at least in part on the tag information, and determine that a second pharmacy item container configured to store a substitute first pharmacy item is present based at least in part on the tag information,

determine that the first pharmacy item is subject to a recall based at least in part on the tag information, or

identify the first pharmacy item as an expired pharmacy item based at least in part on a determination that an expiration of the first pharmacy item does not satisfy an expiration threshold; and

cause a display to display results of the verification of the pharmacy kit.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein to verify the plurality of pharmacy items, the one or more processors are further configured to compare pharmacy item data with a pharmacy kit template, wherein the pharmacy item data is associated with the tag information and comprises at least the particular pharmacy item data.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the pharmacy kit template specifies a group of pharmacy items that form at least a portion of a pharmacy kit.