Pharmacy Dispensing System and Method

Abstract

A system for filling a prescription order for a patient includes a plurality of trays each having an RFID tag for storing a unique identifier corresponding to the prescription order, and a plurality of workstations operatively linked to one another, each workstation having an antenna for detecting the unique identifier in one of the plurality of trays, where the detecting is operative to trigger displaying of a profile of at least one prescription item for the corresponding prescription order.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for filling a prescription order for a patient comprising:
 a tray including a unique identifier associated with a prescription order of a patient;   a filling workstation including a display screen; and   a reader communicatively coupled to the filling workstation configured to read the unique identifier of the tray when the tray is located at the filling workstation;   wherein the filling workstation is configured to display information related to the prescription order to be filled at the filling workstation on the display screen as a result of the reader reading the unique identifier.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the prescription order consists of a first subset and a second subset, and wherein the unique identifier is associated with the first subset of the prescription order, the system further comprising:
 a second tray including a second unique identifier associated with the second subset of the prescription order. 
 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the unique identifier is an RFID tag, and the reader includes an antenna configured to receive a signal from the RFID tag. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  further comprising a tray programmer configured to program the RFID tag with the unique identifier. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the prescription order includes at least two unfilled individual prescription items, and further wherein the filling workstation is configured to highlight on the display at least one of the unfilled individual prescription items as a result of the at least one of the unfilled individual prescription items being stored in an area proximate the filling workstation. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the information related to the prescription order includes an image of an individual prescription item. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the information related to the prescription order includes text information identifying the patient, text information identifying the individual prescription item, and the image of the individual prescription item. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the information related to the prescription order includes information identifying a storage location of an individual prescription item. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the information identifying the storage location is an indication of shelf location where the individual prescription item is stored. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the filling workstation is configured to display information related to multiple unfilled individual prescription items of the prescription order on the display screen in response to the reader reading the unique identifier. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the prescription order includes at least two unfilled individual prescription items, and further wherein the filling workstation is configured to order the display of information for the unfilled individual prescription items to minimize a cost function associated with filling the prescription order. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the prescription order includes at least two unfilled individual prescription items, and further wherein the filling workstation is configured to order the display of information for the unfilled individual prescription items to minimize a distance traveled by pharmacy personnel to fill the prescription order. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an automated dispenser, wherein the filling workstation is configured to trigger dispensing by the automated dispenser as a result of the reader reading the unique identifier. 
     
     
         14 . A system for filling a prescription order for a patient, comprising:
 a tray having an RFID tag;   a tray programmer to program a unique identifier into the RFID tag of the tray, wherein the unique identifier is associated with a prescription order; and   a workstation that comprises:
 a display, and 
 a reader coupled to the display for detecting the unique identifier, 
   wherein, as a result of detecting the unique identifier, the display presents a profile information corresponding to at least one individual prescription item to be filled for the prescription order while the tray is located at the workstation.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the profile information includes textual information representing at least one of:
 an individual prescription item of the prescription order, and 
 a respective storage location for the individual prescription item. 
 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the profile information includes an image representing the individual prescription item. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the profile information includes a graphical user interface symbol representing a respective storage location for the individual prescription item. 
     
     
         18 . A system for filling a prescription medication order, comprising:
 a prescription medication order that consists of a first subset and a second subset;   a plurality of trays that include a respective plurality of unique machine-readable tray identifiers, the plurality of trays including a first tray with a first tray identifier associated with the first subset of the prescription medication order and a second tray with a second tray identifier associated with the second subset of the prescription medication order;   a database which includes prescription data representative of at least one prescription item, data representative of the at least one of the plurality of tray identifiers, and data which associates the first tray identifier with the prescription data; and   a workstation in communication with the database, and including a display screen and a tray identifier reader configured to read the plurality of tray identifiers.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the prescription data includes data representative of a patient name. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the prescription data includes data representative of a prescription order.