Controller for a medical products storage system

Abstract

A medical product storage device includes a controller that operates an access control system to limit access to a storage space of the medical product storage device. The controller monitors a temperature in the storage space and other operating parameters of the medical product storage device. The medical product storage device includes a display that displays information related to the operating parameters. The information related to the operating parameters includes a graph of the temperature in the storage space, the graph including icons associated with specific events that occur relative to the operating parameters. Activation of the icons cause an event history to be displayed. Activation of a specific event permits a user to generate a corrective action record. A user remote from the medical product storage device may be notified of specific adverse events.

1 . A medical product storage device comprising
 a storage space,   a refrigeration unit operable to cool the storage space,   a controller electrically coupled to the refrigeration unit, the controller including a processor and a memory device electrically coupled to the processor,   a user interface including a display and a user input device, the user interface electrically coupled to the controller,   a temperature sensor electrically coupled to the controller, the temperature sensor communicating a temperature signal to the controller, the temperature signal indicative of the temperature in the storage space, and   wherein the controller is operable to generate an electronic record if the medical product storage device experiences an event that meets predetermined criteria for documentation and the controller is operable to allow a user to enter information related to the event, the user entered information being added to the record.   
     
     
         2 . The medical product storage device of  claim 1 , wherein the information related to the event is unalterable after the information has been written to the record. 
     
     
         3 . The medical product storage device of  claim 1 , wherein the event that meets predetermined criteria is a temperature in the storage space that is outside of an acceptable limit. 
     
     
         4 . The medical product storage device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is operable to generate an alarm when the event occurs. 
     
     
         5 . The medical product storage device of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is operable to provide a notification to a user spaced apart from the medical product storage device. 
     
     
         6 . The medical product storage device of  claim 5 , wherein the notification to the user is a message provided over a network connection between the controller and an external network. 
     
     
         7 . The medical product storage device of  claim 5 , wherein the notification to the user is a message transmitted to the user through a wireless signal that communicates to a communication device associated with the user. 
     
     
         8 . The medical product storage device of  claim 7 , wherein the user to whom the notification is communicated is selected from a list of potential contacts, the user selected according to predetermined criteria. 
     
     
         9 . The medical product storage device of  claim 8 , wherein the predetermined criteria includes the nature of the event about which the user is to be notified. 
     
     
         10 . The medical product storage device of  claim 9 , wherein the controller reads the temperature signal, communicates the temperature signal to the user interface, and wherein the user interface generates an image on the display that graphically displays the temperature as a function of time. 
     
     
         11 . The medical product storage device of  claim 10 , wherein the controller communicates the event to the user interface and the user interface graphically displays an icon representative of the event on the image, the location of the icon corresponding to the time of the event. 
     
     
         12 . The medical product storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the user interface is operable to allow a user to operate the user input to activate the icon representative of the event to thereby display the record associated with the specific event. 
     
     
         13 . The medical product storage device of  claim 12 , wherein the record of the event appears as an entry in a log of events and wherein activation of any part of the record in the log causes the user interface to generate an image on the display that includes additional details of the record. 
     
     
         14 . The medical product storage device of  claim 13 , wherein the additional details of the record include an action taken to resolve the event. 
     
     
         15 . The medical product storage device of  claim 1 , further comprising an electrically actuated access control device electrically coupled to the controller, the electrically actuated access control device operable to prevent access to the storage space under the control of the controller. 
     
     
         16 . The medical product storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the user interface is operable to receive a password from a user permitting access to the storage space. 
     
     
         17 . The medical product storage device of  claim 16 , wherein when a user accesses the storage space, a record is generated that includes information related to user's access to the storage space including the time and duration of the access. 
     
     
         18 . The medical product storage device of  claim 17 , wherein the controller communicates the record wirelessly to an external device associated with a particular user. 
     
     
         19 . The medical product storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the electrically actuated access control device includes a solenoid actuated lock. 
     
     
         20 . The medical product storage device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory device includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to
 signal the user interface to display a first image on the display that indicates a graphical history of the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor,   in response to the receipt of information that predetermined criteria for documentation has been met, signal the user interface to display an icon indicative of an event that meets predetermined criteria for documentation on the image displayed,   identify a user to be notified of the event, the user being identified based on criteria related to the event,   generate a signal that is transmitted from the medical product storage device to a location that is remote from the medical product storage device to signal the event to the user,   respond to a user input activating the icon by signaling the user interface to display a second image on the display that shows a list of event that have occurred over a history,   respond to a user input activating one of the data items in the list of events by signaling the user interface to display a third image on the display that shows details regarding a specific event,   respond to the user activating a first portion of the third image by permitting the user to input a cause associated with the specific event,   respond to the user activating a second portion of the third image by permitting a user to input a corrective action associated with the specific event,   respond to the user activating a third portion of the third image by permitting a user to enter to input a code associated with the user, and   respond to the user activating a fourth portion of the third image by permitting the user to save the input information to a record.