Systems and methods for dispensing medical products

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods for the remote dispensing of packaged and non-packaged medical products using networked communications systems. A preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes a network to provide for the secure delivery of confidential patient information and the sending of dispense instructions to a remote dispensing station. A preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to systems and methods of dispensing samples of drugs or other medical products. Another preferred embodiment of the invention provides a system and method for dispensing non-prescription medications.

What is claimed:  
     
         1 . A medical product sample dispenser comprising: 
 a housing;    a plurality of sample storage locations within the housing; and    a processor that records dispensing of a sample, the processor generating a script corresponding to the sample such that the script is sent to a dispense location.    
     
     
         2 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the processor further comprises a computer mounted to the housing.  
     
     
         3 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the dispenser further comprises a user identification system.  
     
     
         4 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 3  wherein the user identification system comprises a thumb print detector.  
     
     
         5 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the dispenser further comprises a magnetic card reader.  
     
     
         6 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the dispenser further comprises a security monitoring device.  
     
     
         7 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 6  wherein the security monitoring device comprises a camera.  
     
     
         8 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the dispenser comprises a labeling device.  
     
     
         9 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the dispenser comprises a barcode reader.  
     
     
         10 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein the dispenser comprises a helix coil dispenser device.  
     
     
         11 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  further comprising a collector having a tray with a pushing device.  
     
     
         12 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 11  wherein the pushing device comprises an S-rail screw.  
     
     
         13 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 11  wherein the collector tray comprises at least one S-rail screw.  
     
     
         14 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 2  wherein the computer is in communication with a database data processor.  
     
     
         15 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 14  wherein the communication between the computer and the database data processor includes transmission using one of at least the Internet, a telephone system, a satellite system, a wireless system, a facsimile device and a pager system.  
     
     
         16 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  further comprising a card reader.  
     
     
         17 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  wherein each storage location comprises a tray that stores a plurality of packaged medical products.  
     
     
         18 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 11  wherein the collector is mounted within a housing door such that the collector moves vertically within the housing.  
     
     
         19 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 8  wherein the labeling device prints a label for a product being dispensed and attaches the label to the product package.  
     
     
         20 . The medical product dispenser of  claim 1  further comprising an adjudication system within the dispenser including a card reader and a communication link to a network to record payment for the medical product.  
     
     
         21 . A method of obtaining a sample of a drug from a drug dispenser comprising the steps of: 
 providing a drug dispenser housing with a plurality of drug samples;    providing a user identification to a database interfaced with the drug dispenser;    selecting a drug to be dispensed by the drug dispenser from the database;    retrieving the selected drug from the drug dispenser; and    sending a script corresponding to the sample to a dispense location.    
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing computer-readable data transmission medium between a plurality of computers having a data structure including: 
 a first subset of data for processing at a first authorizing computer, the first subset of data including authorization for dispensing a medical product; and  
 a second subset of data for processing at a second dispensing computer, the second subset of data including the data for a medical product label that accompanies a dispensed medical product.  
 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising providing a third subset of data for processing at a controlling computer, the third subset of data including data that includes data resulting from parsing the first subset of data.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing a computer program product for implementing a dispensing of a medical product, the computer program product comprising: 
 a computer usable medium having computer-readable code therein, including a program code which:  
 authorizes the dispensing of the medical product at a first location, and  
 executes the dispensing of the medical product at a second location.  
 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the script is dispensed as a packaged pharmaceutical at a pharmacy.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing at least one door mounted to the housing the at least one door having a plurality of bins.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing a camera attached to the housing to record an image of each user.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising printing a label in the housing and attaching the label to the package.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing a user identification system.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing drug a card reader.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29  further comprising providing a control system connected to the identification system.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing a barcode reader.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising providing a computer in communication with a database data processor.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  further comprising communicating between the computer and the database data processor by transmission using one of at least the Internet, a telephone system, a satellite system, a wireless system, and a pager system.  
     
     
         35 . A method of dispensing a drug sample comprising the steps of: 
 storing a plurality of sample drug packages;    dispensing a sample drug package to a user;    generating a script corresponding to the sample; and    sending the script to a dispense location.    
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising sending the script to a drug dispensing device.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising sending the script to a pharmacy.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising transmitting the script to a pharmacy via facsimile  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising providing a computer connected to a sample dispenser, the computer being connected to a communication link for transmission of the script to a dispense location.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising providing a dispenser housing having a plurality of storage locations for a plurality of different drug samples.