Medication dispensing system including medicine cabinet and tray therefor

a technology for distributing systems and medicine cabinets, which is applied in the direction of instruments, devices for distributing discrete articles, other domestic articles, etc., can solve the problems of requiring a large amount of nurse's time, avoiding traditional methods, and centralized systems used primarily in the u.s.a., so as to achieve efficient safe and efficient systems, the effect of eliminating unnecessary and costly elements

Inactive Publication Date: 2004-03-18
HAITIN DAVID +1
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0025] As will be described more particularly below, the above features of the invention, particularly when used together, integrate concepts of point-of-care systems with patient care unit devices, eliminate unnecessary and costly elements, and thus enable an efficient safe system to be attained having a user friendly operation, modular interfacing, computerized tracking and verification at all levels.

Problems solved by technology

Centralized systems are used primarily in the U.S.A. They are costly and very inefficient, mainly because of the use of a large trained staff.
The foregoing traditional method is subject to a number of disadvantages including: (1) possible confusion between patient files; (2) errors in brand or dosage when retrieving medications from the medicine cabinet; (3) errors in identifying individual patients; (4) errors in receptacle identification; (5) demanding of much of the nurse's time; (6) possibility of mistakes in inventory keeping and pharmacy ordering; and (7) very low degree of control even though expensive and involving narcotic drugs.
The report states that illegible handwriting, and the treatment of patients by several practitioners that do not have complete information about the medicines prescribed and the patient's illnesses, are part of the basic flaws in the way the health system is presently organized.
Disadvantages of such devices include large size, high cost, and reliance on efficient delivery systems.

Method used

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  • Medication dispensing system including medicine cabinet and tray therefor
  • Medication dispensing system including medicine cabinet and tray therefor
  • Medication dispensing system including medicine cabinet and tray therefor

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Embodiment Construction

[0037] The Overall System

[0038] The medication dispensing system described herein closely follows the existing manual decentralized systems, including ward cabinets for the supplies of the various medications, receptacles for the delivery of the medications to individual patients, and delivery devices, such as trays in FIG. 1 or mobile carts in FIG. 7, for delivering the medications to the point of care. However, the described system enables attaining a higher degree of safety, as well as increased efficiency in the dispensing, replenishing and record-keeping operations. The described system is simple, yet reliable, utilizes relatively basic hardware which can be easily installed and maintained, and requires a minimum of retraining on the part of the nurses or other healthcare attendants.

[0039] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of a medication dispensing system constructed in accordance with the present invention as may be provided in a medical institution h...

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PUM

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Abstract

A medication dispensing system includes a medicine cabinet having a plurality of compartments for containing supplies of different kinds of medications to be accessed by a healthcare attendant for preparing individual medication dosages for named patients; and a delivery device, preferably in the form of a mobile cart, having a plurality of sections for receiving medication dosages prescribed for named patients. The medicine cabinet includes a processor having a memory for storing the names of patients and their prescribed medication dosages, and a display screen for displaying the patient names and their respective prescribed medication dosages. The delivery device includes a display screen for displaying the patient names and their respective medication dosages, and a communication link with the medicine cabinet through which the cabinet processor communicates to the delivery device the patient names and their respective medication dosages.

Description

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001] The present invention relates to medication dispensing systems, and also to a novel medicine cabinet structure and a novel delivery device, such as a tray or mobile cart, for use in such systems.[0002] Automated medication dispensing systems have been in use for many years. The initial purpose of such systems was to reduce the high rates of medication errors associated with manual distribution. The literature indicates that medication errors occur in the following areas: 55% at ordering, 33% at administration, 6% at transportation and 5% at dispensing. The current automated systems present more sophisticated advantages, including: lower costs associated with pharmaceutical distribution, reduction of personnel, inventory control, substance control, automated documentation, further reduction of errors, and relieving professional pharmacists and nursing personnel of many tasks.[0003] There are two types of dispensing systems currently employe...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): A61G12/00A61J7/00G07F5/18G16H20/13
CPCA61G12/001G06F19/322G06F19/3462G07F5/18A61G2205/10G07F17/0092A61J7/0069A61J2205/30G07F11/002G16H10/60G07F9/002G16H20/13G16H10/65G07F9/001
Inventor HAITIN, DAVIDASSEO, GILEAD
Owner HAITIN DAVID
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