Claims:We Claim:
1. A medical system for integrating data management with the process of controllably dispensing products including medications, the system comprising:
a. one or more dispensers configured to controllably release a product in response to a control signal;
b. an admission subsystem configured to maintain patient information;
c. a prescription subsystem coupled to said one or more dispensers and configured to receive entry of prescription information, to relate patient information from said admission subsystem to the prescription information
2. The system of claim 1, wherein said determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient a pharmacy adjudication.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient comprises a drug utilization review (DUR).
4. The system of claim 1, wherein said prescription subsystem is further configured to manage and control a virtual inventory by tracking ownership and utilization of a plurality of individually owned and co-mingled inventories in said one or more dispensers.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein access to a medication in inventory is further controlled according to ownership of the medication as tracked in said virtual inventory.
, Description:Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of automated and semiautomated data collection and data management services. In particular, the present invention relates to a computerized system to collect and process data regarding the dispensing of medications that are commonly used or prescribed by physicians, and to provide the processed information to interested parties.
Background of the Invention
Prescription Dispensing Procedure
Current prescription filling methods and processes are inadequate and inefficient. First, an authorized caregiver, usually a doctor, writes a prescription on a pre-printed prescription pad. The patient selects a retail pharmacy, usually based upon insurance coverage, and presents the handwritten prescription for filling. The pharmacy puts the prescription into a preparation queue and when the prescription reaches the top of the queue, the pharmacy enters the prescription into its own records or system. If necessary, the pharmacy personnel place calls (callbacks) to the medical office to clarify or notify MD of issues or questions. Some of the reasons for these call backs are clinical issues, quantity issues or recommend medication change (these examples are not conclusive). The pharmacy selects the prescription medication according to prescription benefits manager (PBM) guidelines. The prescription is taken from stock within the pharmacy, prepared, bottled and labeled. The patient receives the medication and required counseling from the pharmacist. The patient then pays a co-pay if required. The pharmacy retains the details of the prescription for refilling.
Various attempts have been made to overcome the drawbacks of the traditional prescription filling method. However, the new procedures still lack efficiency and adequate features. These programs are either non-automated or require significant pharmacy approvals.
Sample medications in today's medical office play an important role in the delivery of efficient and effective medication therapy. Pharmaceutical companies spend large portions of launch budgets and promotional budgets on sample programs to build brand awareness and attempt to capture long-term therapies. For the patient, sample medication programs allow patients to immediately begin a course of therapy, ensures patient tolerance of medication prior to prescription fulfillment, provides medication therapy to the indigent, and provides non-insurance covered medications to patients.
Sample medications differ from the prescription medications by packaging, length of therapy and exclusion of pharmacist review prior to dispensing. In many instances’ physicians give patients more than a “normal” trial amount and instead dispense a full course or monthly quantity. Physicians allocate space in their cramped office for samples based on their desire to “test” medication therapy prior to writing a script and to increase patient satisfaction. Physicians enjoy giving a “free” service to their patients.
As with OTC medications and cosmeceuticals, patient care items represent a significant fraction of the retail side of a physician's practice. Correspondingly, each office has a means of keeping inventory and ensuring that payment is received for these items.
Current medication dispensing systems focus on tracking only the dispensing of prescription medications. Part of the reason for this focus is due to single service, segregated nature of these dispensing systems. Even though a medical office might be equipped with a prescription drug dispenser which collects data regarding the dispensing of prescription medications, the dispensing of non-prescribed medications is still tracked using the traditional in-office inventory accounting system.
For all the items mentioned herein, there are conditions in which individual parties operating together in a common space need to keep the ownership, accounting, and management of products stored and dispensed separate. The need for separate management may arise from, among other things, regulatory needs, business practices, and security issues. The scarcity of available space in some of these environments can prohibit the deployment of individual automated inventory control and dispensing systems for each party. The amount of space required by individual systems can increase by as much as 100% per party in the worst case. It is therefore desirable to be able to take advantage of shared storage space, yet maintain the individual control, management, and accounting of inventory movement.
Object of the Invention
The object of the present invention is generally directed to systems and methods for medical product dispensing and integrated information distribution and business management
Summary of the Invention
In one aspect the present system relates to a medical system for integrating data management with the process of controllably dispensing products including medications. The medical system can include one or more dispensers configured to controllably release a product in response to a control signal. The medical system can include an admission subsystem configured to maintain patient information, and a prescription subsystem coupled to the one or more dispensers. The prescription subsystem can be configured to receive entry of prescription information. The subsystem can be configured to relate patient information from the admission subsystem to the prescription information to initiate a determination of whether the product is appropriate for the patient. The subsystem can be configured to send a control signal to the one or more dispenser units to release the product. The above-mentioned determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient can include a pharmacy adjudication. Also, the determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient can include a drug utilization review (DUR).
The prescription subsystem further can be configured to manage and control a virtual inventory by tracking ownership and utilization of a plurality of individually owned and co-mingled inventories in the one or more dispensers. The prescription subsystem can be configured so that access to a medication in inventory further can be controlled according to ownership of the medication as tracked in the virtual inventory. The prescription subsystem can be configured to manage and control a physical inventory by sending a reorder message to reorder a product when an inventory level is at a predefined level. The predefined level can include a par inventory level. The predefined level can include a dynamic par level that is based upon medical office product usage data. The admission subsystem can generate a patient specific drug benefit profile used in prescribing the medication.
The medical system further can include a sample management subsystem configured to track the distribution of a sample medication to a patient. The sample management subsystem also can be configured to associate information gathered from the distribution of the sample medication with the patient information, and to initiate a determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient. Further, the sample management subsystem can be configured to send a control signal to be said one or more dispenser units to release a sample medication.
The medical system further can include a patient care subsystem configured to relate the patient information to data collected from the dispensing of an office administered medication. The patient care subsystem can be configured to send a control signal to the one or more dispenser units to release the office administered medication. The medical system further can include an over-the-counter subsystem configured to relate the patient information to data collected from the dispensing of an over the counter product. Also, it can be configured to send a control signal to the one or more dispenser units to release the over the counter product. The medical system can dispense the medications or products at the point of care, for example.
The medical system further can include a central server connected via a network to the prescription subsystem. The central server can be configured to receive and process the determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient. The central server can be coupled to an enterprise resource planning system (ERP). The ERP can have, for example, an accounting module configured to track finances and collection of money, an inventory module configured to manage physical and virtual product inventories, a purchasing module configured to automatically process purchase requests, a fulfillment module configured to manage product order requests, and the like.
Another aspect of the present system relates to a medical product dispensing system for integrating data management with the process of controllably dispensing medical products at the point of care. The medical product dispensing system can include one or more dispensers configured to controllably grant access to a product in response to a control signal and an admission subsystem configured to collect and maintain patient information. Also, the medical product dispensing system can include a prescription subsystem for receiving entry of prescription information. Also, for relating patient information from the admission subsystem to the prescription information to initiate a determination of whether the medication is appropriate for the patient. Further, for sending a control signal to be said one or more dispenser units to release a product. The medical product dispensing system can include a sample management subsystem configured to track the distribution of a sample medication to a patient and to associate information gathered from the distribution of the sample medication with the patient information to initiate a determination of whether the sample medication is appropriate for the patient. The sample medication subsystem can be configured to send a control signal to be said one or more dispenser units to grant access to the sample medication. Further, the medical product dispensing system can include a marketing subsystem configured to associate the patient information with the information from at least one other subsystem, thereby determining appropriate marketing information to transmit. The medical product dispensing system can include a point of sale subsystem configured to manage payment information.
Brief Description of Drawings
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the subsystems of the medical office system.
Detailed Description of Invention
FIG. 1 exemplifies the interaction between subsystems on the medical office system, and the flow of information during a visit to a medical office. Data obtained by the admission subsystem can be utilized by any of the subsystems, including the prescription subsystem, the patient care subsystem, the cosmeceutical subsystem, the OTC subsystem, and the sample management subsystem. Further, the marketing subsystem can distribute data to the various subsystems. The prescription subsystem, the patient care subsystem, the cosmeceutical subsystem, and the OTC subsystem can interact with the POS subsystem when payment is required. Although not necessarily illustrated, it should be noted that the prescription subsystem, the patient care subsystem, the cosmeceutical subsystem, the OTC subsystem, and the sample management subsystem can communicate information with each other. For example, when a particular prescription is dispensed by the prescription subsystem , based upon the particular medication, the cosmeceutical subsystem, the OTC subsystem, and the sample management subsystem , alone or in conjunction with the marketing subsystem can recommend or suggest other items that might be beneficial to a patient with a condition necessitating the prescribed medication. The various subsystems are described in more detail below.
Admission Subsystem
The system described herein fully incorporates patient admission, and thus, it becomes an integral part of streamlining the front office workflow. A patient visit to the physician office usually begins with check-in and collection of the visit co-pay at the front desk by the clerk, all prior to the patient examination. Current admissions, scheduling, billing and other like procedures are typically managed through a practice management system (PMS).
To provide increased utility to the physician office staff, there are options that allow this system to either integrate or coexist with the physician office PMS. One option includes a complete interface between the admission subsystem and the office PMS. Such an interface allows a clerk to easily transfer patient data stored by the PMS to the admission subsystem as well as to enter new patient information into both the PMS and the admission subsystem at the same time. A second option provides for a stand-alone admission subsystem that physically resides next to the physicians existing PMS. A third option provides for a standalone subsystem that resides on the physician's exiting PMS as an icon that accesses either the admission subsystem or the front office server. Unlike the first option, the second and third options require that the clerk to enter patient information into two systems or transfer the information from one system to the other.
The admission subsystem streamlines the workflow of the front office staff by providing several essential features. The basic function of the admission subsystem is to receive or collect, process and maintain, and display patient information. However, to expand its functionality, this subsystem incorporates additional features, such as, patient searching capabilities, a data retrieval module, new patient information templates and patient information editors. Also, the admission subsystem accepts any information required for pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs).