ITVR20110084A1 - MEDICINE DISTRIBUTOR FOR HOSPITAL OR SIMILAR DEPARTMENTS AND INTELLIGENT DISTRIBUTION METHOD OF DRUGS - Google Patents

Description

Title: â € œDISTRIBUTOR OF DRUGS FOR HOSPITAL OR SIMILAR DEPARTMENTS AND METHOD OF INTELLIGENT DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGSâ €

FIELD OF APPLICATION

The present invention relates to a dispenser and a method for the intelligent distribution of departmental drugs to improve the traceability and correctness of the administration of daily care to the patient in a hospital or similar setting.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a new medical micro-logistics device in the ward and in the logic of data exchange between the device and the ward server and between the ward server and the palmtop of the nursing staff. The device is a portable automatic dispenser that can be associated to the individual patient and automatically identifiable (via HF / UHF RFID tag or simple bar code) to allow the correct administration of daily medicines and to promote patient autonomy when permitted by treatment.

The dispenser is basically made up of a â € œintelligent chest of drawersâ € and â € œportableâ €, light and versatile, large enough to be able to store the daily care of a patient and check the correct intake via radio frequency (dose-type and time of administration).

Due to its low weight and size, the intelligent dispenser can be placed comfortably on the bedside table next to the bed, even in a suspended position (by means of brackets), so as not to occupy useful support space for the patient, it will be able to follow the patient as he goes. occurrence during his hospitalization up to home care.

The present invention finds application in the field of devices for the intelligent distribution of drugs, in particular devices for medical use and in particular for hospital use.

STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE

As is well known, the healthcare sector represents an extremely complex reality and comparable to technologically advanced industrial systems.

It is also known that to date numerous local optimization activities have been developed, dictated by the needs of the individual actors involved from time to time, such as a head physician and his department, or a single hospital pharmacy, or a laboratory, without conducting to global and long-term optimizations or to devices capable of operating in the most varied operating environments, from traditional and manual ones to the most advanced and already automated ones.

The various logistical restructuring pilot projects proposed to date in this sense have not led to a reduction in public spending (which instead tends to rise) nor to the creation of national or regional standard procedures. Often the micrologistics solutions developed during the pilot projects are strongly linked to the implementation of entire integrated and complete automatic systems, proposed “turnkey”.

For example, in the hospital sector solutions are known such as those that include an automatic warehouse combined with an intelligent trolley and an intelligent bed unit, which have proved to be highly expensive and not always implementable in traditional hospital-type operating environments, where many activities are still carried out. they remain manual and computer integration has not evolved.

Furthermore, the traditional smart ward trolleys, although they can be considered excellent tools to ensure the safety of the drug withdrawal by the nurse, are very heavy devices (all the electronics and the power supply are positioned at edge of the trolley) and expensive, and have led to a low diffusion given the numerous limitations in use. They also require a substantial investment in the training of the personnel assigned to use them.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes to make available a distributor and a method for the intelligent distribution of ward drugs to improve the traceability and correctness of the administration of daily care to the patient in the hospital setting, which are able to eliminate or at least reduce the drawbacks highlighted above.

The invention also aims to provide a dispenser and a method for the intelligent distribution of ward drugs that is relatively simple to implement.

This is achieved by means of a dispenser and a method for the intelligent distribution of departmental drugs, the characteristics of which are described in the main claim.

The dependent claims of the solution in question outline advantageous embodiments of the invention.

The main advantages offered by this system, in addition to all those deriving from the construction and management simplicity, concern first of all the fact that through the use of suitable equipment and single distribution units, it is possible to allow only one daily filling of the drugs to be part of one or more expert nurses, for example at night or in the morning after a doctor's prescription, using a specially designed filling station equipped with automatic data capture equipment. The filling station will be centralized by the department and adjacent to the department warehouse, be it automated or manual.

The present solution aims to overcome the existing limits in the current processes for administering the drug to the ward patient and completely eliminate the need to use the ward automated trolley. The new micro-logistics device that is presented will allow to solve an extremely widespread problem in healthcare: knowing the actual consumption of drugs per patient, thus avoiding theft and uncontrolled withdrawals and monitoring the correct intake of the drug prescribed by the doctor.

The devices envisaged by the present invention envisage the use of a new departmental health micro-logistics device that will also allow the development of a new pharmaceutical management logistic procedure aimed at the efficient and integrated management of materials within a extended health network in order to guarantee the complete traceability of materials and of the treatment administered to patients.

ILLUSTRATION OF DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become evident upon reading the following description of an embodiment of the invention, provided by way of non-limiting example, with the aid of the drawings illustrated in the attached tables, in which:

- figure 1 represents the schematic view of an automatic drawer unit which constitutes the basic element of the dispenser for the intelligent distribution of departmental drugs according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic sectional view thereof;

- figure 3 represents a schematic front view of the chest of drawers according to the invention;

- figure 4 shows a schematic top view of the chest of drawers according to the invention;

- Figures 5 to 7 show schematic views of the chest of drawers according to the invention, highlighting possible opening mechanisms;

- Figures 8 and 9 represent views of the block diagrams of the management system according to the present invention, considering that all the test instances present in the procedure (rhombuses in the diagram) are associated with a radio frequency or bar-code data reading and control , fully automatic and / or activated by the nurseâ € ™ s handheld device, thanks to the tags and sensors positioned in the dispenser, on the filling blister, in the automatic dispenser drawers.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION With reference to the attached figures, the present invention consists, as mentioned, in a new device for the ward health micro-logistics and in the data exchange logic between the device and the ward server and between the server of ward and palmtop of the nursing staff.

The device basically consists of a portable automatic dispenser 10 that can be associated with the individual patient, as well as automatically identifiable, via HF / UHF RFID tag or simple bar code, to allow the correct administration of daily medicines and facilitate the autonomy of the patient when allowed by the treatment.

The dispenser 10 is to all intents and purposes an â € œintelligent chest of drawersâ € and â € œportableâ €, light and versatile, large enough to be able to store the daily care of a patient and check the correct intake via radio frequency (dose-type and time of administration).

The basic components of the dispenser 10 are constituted by an external frame 11 on the front of which several drawers 12 are arranged, typically six, one for each time band of therapy administration, and centrally there is a manual button 13 to allow the Opening of the drawer that has reached the exact time of administration.

Each drawer 12 is associated with a respective LED 14 which flashes when it is time to withdraw the drug.

Each drawer 12 also comprises a cup 15 of the disposable dose holder type and equipped with a lid: one cup per drawer.

The dispenser 10 comprises a rear compartment 16 in which the electrical components are housed, and each drawer 12 is equipped with an opening mechanism 17 shown in detail in Figures 5 to 7.

According to the illustrated solution, which is provided by way of example but not of limitation, a possible opening and closing mechanism of each drawer comprises a frame 18 which is hinged on a rotation pin 19. The frame 18 is driven by an electric motor 20 which brings each drawer from a recessed position in the drawer unit to an open position for taking the drug, by operating the switch 13 or other device, also of an automatic type, suitable for the purpose.

On the side or in another suitable position of the dispenser 10, there is a Bar-code 21 identifying the dispenser with a clear numerical code, and an RFID HF / UHF Tag 22 that uniquely identifies the dispenser.

The use of any optionals (not shown) is also envisaged, including a touch screen monitor for therapy detail on the bedside connected to the dispenser, a camera associated with the dispenser to control who opens the drawer, a series of 6 Displays one per drawer to highlight the time band, 1 Central display to show the patient's name, the exact time, the date and possibly the daily therapy inserted in the dispenser, a remote opening command of the drawer via TAG RF placed on the patient bracelet .

Due to its low weight and size, the intelligent dispenser 10 can be comfortably positioned on the bedside table next to the bed, even in a suspended position by means of suitable brackets, so as not to occupy useful support space for the patient, and will be able to follow the patient as he goes. Occurrence during his hospitalization up to home care.

The automatic opening drawers 12 can be programmed by each department according to the administration time slots used, considering that the time slots can also be customized on the basis of the individual patient.

The same drawers 12, can be simple or equipped with a display with date of the day and time slot of programmed administration, and are also of the type with automatic opening, in the sense that they are operated by a mechanism that allows opening and closing only when the patient pushes the opening button 13 and the luminous LED 14 starts flashing, signaling to the patient (or to the caregiver) that the exact time of drug intake has started.

The drawers 12 are equipped with a housing for the disposable sterilized cup 15 (equipped with a lid) and sensors that signal the presence of the cup or its absence from the drawer. The nurse can also open the drawers by giving the manual opening command with her RFID / Bar-code PDA. The management of the individual drawers is completely automatic, in fact the vending machine is equipped with on-board electronics capable of communicating with the management server of the palmtops and with the department server.

The dispenser 10 is identified and uniquely associated with the patient who is using it by means of an RFID tag or bar-code placed on the dispenser and a barcode bracelet on the patient's wrist. At any time the nurse can check the correct association of the tag / bar-code with the tag / bar-code of the bracelet on the patient's wrist or the tag of the distributor / tag of the patient bracelet at any time if the ward uses RF bracelets. If the ward does not use bar-code or RF bracelets, the dispenser tag can be associated with a barcode or tag placed directly on the patient's bed, always guaranteeing the correct dispenser-bed association, and therefore consequently patient-dispenser.

In the simplest version, each LED 14 flashes red when the drugs have to be taken and therefore are in the drawer waiting to be withdrawn. After 30 seconds (the duration can be programmed at will), if the cup is not removed from the drawer, the device sends an acoustic warning signal.

Approximately after 1 minute (the duration can be programmed at will) if the dose is not taken, the dispenser sends an alarm signal to the central server and then to the nurses' handheld devices, communicating the room, the bed and the name of the patient to whom the nurse must go to solve the problem.

In the more advanced version of the dispenser, the indicator light can take on three different colors (eg yellow, green and red) in order to give different signals to the user. For example, the green signal will communicate that the intake has already occurred correctly, the yellow signal will instead inform the patient that the drawer contains a drug / s but that it is not yet time to take it.

Thus, from the beginning of the day, the patient will already know what his hourly therapy program will be and which of the 6 available drawers have been filled by the nurse, he will therefore try not to go out during the hours in which he knows he must take drugs. The red signal will indicate the error for the dose forgotten in the drawer.

An audible signal by means of a special buzzer 23 can also be combined with the luminous signal of the various drawers and the duration and volume of the acoustic signal (or voice message) can be programmed directly by the user in agreement with the nurse. Once the drawer has been opened using the central button on the front of the drawer unit, it will remain open only for a certain time interval (programmable by the nurses based on safety reasons) to allow the patient / relatives to withdraw the drug and then close again.

The light traffic lights (eg green-yellow-red) for each time slot described above can also be reproduced on the software of the central ward computer and monitored by the head nurse in a simple and intuitive way or reproduced only at the nurse's portable PDA level. room attendant.

From the management point of view, the active control of the correct administration of daily care is guaranteed by the system of automatic identification and capture of radio frequency data, made using HF or UHF tags and portable readers (RFID palmtops).

In any case, the control is always possible also with optical reading, two-dimensional barcodes and portable optical readers. The luminous LEDs and acoustic signals offer local and direct control to the patient, relative or nurse who supervises the room. At the same time, however, the drawer opening signal is sent to the ward server and from the server directly to the room nurseâ € ™ s handheld device. If after a pre-established and programmed time (decided by the head nurse on the basis of the ward rules) the drawer is not emptied correctly by the user (for example after two successive audible alarms) the nurse will receive an alarm signal on the palmtop, with the exact position of the dispenser in the floor plan of the ward and the name of the patient associated with it, in order to be able to reach it quickly. The visual recognition of the user who empties the drawer at the edge of the bed will only be possible in the most advanced version equipped with a camera, while the exact moment of emptying the drawer will always be recognized and stored on the server through the use of very sensitive sensors positioned at the € ™ inside of each dispenser drawer.

As regards the filling mode and filling station, the advantage offered by this system is the fact that it allows only one filling of the dispensers per day by one or more expert nurses (e.g. at night or in the morning after prescriptions of doctors) using a specially designed filling station equipped with automatic data capture equipment.

The filling station is centralized in the department and adjacent to the department store (be it automated or manual). The filling station will be equipped with the following components:

1) Set of blisters equipped with 6 slots for glasses marked with relative colored rings to ensure the correct association of the full glass and time slot. Each blister is uniquely identified by barcode or RFID tag and automatically read as soon as it is placed on the filling shelf by the nurse;

2) Set of disposable cups with colored mark according to the corresponding time slot and with lid;

3) Shelf for housing the blister during filling (one blister at a time) equipped with a fixed RFID / bar code reader and positioned on the shelf in order to allow automatic recognition of the code placed on the blister. This will allow the nurse to associate the blister code with the patient code (whose therapy is being filled) via touch-screen;

4) Client station for therapy consultation: a touch-screen interfaced with the ward server will give the nurse information on the drugs to be withdrawn based on the therapy stored on the server.

5) Fixed wall bar code reader for reading the drugs gradually inserted into the glasses by the nurse;

6) Blister holder rack equipped with wheels on which the filled blisters will be placed and with which they will be carried by the ward staff to the various rooms.

The nurse will fill the glasses of each blister (even the individual glasses can be colored with different colors depending on the time slot to facilitate visual control of the filling process) by taking the boxes of drugs from the ward warehouse and following the indicated therapy on the touch-screen placed in front of her.

The association will therefore be as follows:

filling blister pack> patient code> patient therapy> drugs taken manually by the nurse and placed in the cup> (transport to bedside)> dispenser code associated with the patient.

The nurse associating the reading of the bar-code shown on the packaging of each individual drug (using the fixed bar code reader positioned in front of her) to the tag / bar-code of the blister and to the electronic card that will be shown on the touch- screen of the station, will be able to cross-check the prescribed therapy-drug taken-patient blister. If the server recognizes an error in the association of these three information, it will immediately give the nurse the error signal, allowing her to remedy immediately and not to bring the wrong drugs to the patient's bed. In carrying out the check, the server can also query other databases collected by the head nurse during the patient's medical history and, for example, check that the drug prescribed by the doctor does not generate allergy problems.

If the dispenser blister is filled correctly, the data will compile a database of the daily drug consumption of each individual patient and download the ward warehouse. This will make it possible to create a real consumption profile per patient to carry out subsequent analyzes (linked to inventory management techniques) and to avoid phenomena related to unjustified withdrawals of drugs from department stores.

The blister filling procedure and the filling station will oblige the nurse to fill one blister at a time in order to avoid exchanging glasses between different blisters and to check all the filling phases. The identification code of the nurse stored in the PDA will always be memorized and it will be possible to trace the exact time and the exact person who filled the blisters.

Only once a day the blisters will be brought to the individual dispensers by means of a blister rack equipped with wheels. By inserting the blister into the dispenser, the nurse will be able to associate the tag / bar-code shown on the blister with the one shown on the dispenser, checking the accuracy of the blisterdispenser association and at the same time checking through his handheld that the dispenser is associated to the correct patient (i.e. that no bed swaps have occurred).

The advantages and advances with respect to the state of the art are the following:

1) the dispenser is always connected via wireless network to the department management system and therefore remotely controlled.

2) the dispenser-patient association is controlled by radiofrequency tag or bar-code with consequent traceability of all activities and functions in real time.

3) With the dispenser at the bed of each patient it will be possible to check the stock of medicines and those actually distributed to patients in the ward to check for any anomalies, misalignments, thefts.

4) The reduction of administration errors and the increase in safety for the patient is guaranteed as the daily therapies are prepared directly in the department warehouse and managed with RF / barcode reader and Tag / barcode for control positioned directly on the blister filling. The filling nurse will never be able to fill more than one blister at a time, and therefore will not be able to mistakenly swap drugs.

5) The dispenser is safe from the point of view of sanitation as disposable cups are used (similarly to what is done now) with a lid, the patient does not touch the medicines and these are closed in drawers and therefore not accessible to third parties .

6) The dispenser will offer a net saving of time and cost of distributing medicines in the ward and will not require the nurses to perform operations other than what they already do every day.

With reference to Figures 8 and 9, the block diagrams of the management system according to the present invention must be observed considering that all the test instances present in the procedure (rhombuses in the diagram) are associated with a radio-frequency data reading and control or with bar-code, fully automatic and / or activated by the nurseâ € ™ s handheld device, thanks to the tags and sensors positioned in the dispenser, on the filling blister, in the automatic dispenser drawers.

The invention has been previously described with reference to a preferential embodiment thereof. However, it is clear that the invention is susceptible to numerous variants that fall within its scope, within the framework of technical equivalences.

Claims (10)

Title: â € œDISTRIBUTOR OF DRUGS FOR HOSPITAL OR SIMILAR DEPARTMENTS AND METHOD OF INTELLIGENT DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGSâ € CLAIMS 1. Ward health micro-logistics device and in the data exchange logic between the device and the ward server and between the ward server and the nursing staff's PDA, characterized by the fact that it consists of an automatic portable dispenser (10) that can be associated with the single patient, as well as identifiable automatically, via HF / UHF RFID tag or simple bar code, to allow the correct administration of daily medicines and to favor the autonomy of the patient when allowed by the treatment, said dispenser (10) being equipped of organs suitable for storing the daily care of a patient and controlling the correct intake via radio frequency (dose-type and time of administration), and being made up of basic components including an external frame (11) on the front of which are arranged several drawers (12), typically six, one for each time slot for administering the therapy, and centrally there is a n manual button (13) to allow the opening of the drawer, as control LEDs (14) associated with each drawer, a cup (15) associated with each drawer and automatic movement means of the drawers are provided. 2. Health micro-logistics device according to the previous claim, characterized in that each drawer (12) is associated with a respective LED (14) which flashes when it is time to withdraw the drug and by the fact that each drawer (12 ) includes a cup (15) of the disposable dose holder type and equipped with a lid: one cup per drawer. 3. Sanitary micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the dispenser (10) comprises a rear compartment (16) in which the electrical components are housed, and each drawer (12) is equipped with an opening mechanism (17). 4. Sanitary micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a possible opening and closing mechanism for each drawer comprises a frame (18) which is hinged on a rotation pin (19), said frame (18) ) being operated by an electric motor (20) which brings each drawer from a position recessed in the drawer unit to an open position for taking the drug, by operating the switch (13) or other suitable automatic device purpose. 5. Sanitary micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that laterally or in another suitable position of the dispenser (10), there is a Bar code (21) identifying the dispenser with a clear numerical code, and a RFID HF / UHF tag (22) that uniquely identifies the dispenser. 6. Health micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the use of any optionals is provided, including a touch screen monitor for therapy detail on the bedside connected to the dispenser, a camera associated with the dispenser to control who opens the drawer, a series of 6 displays, one per drawer to highlight the time slot, a central display to show the patient's name, the exact time, the date and possibly the daily therapy inserted in the dispenser, a command opening of the drawer via TAG RF placed on the patient bracelet, called intelligent dispenser (10) due to its reduced weight and size, it can be positioned on the bedside table next to the bed, even in a suspended position by means of suitable brackets, so as not to occupy space. useful support to the patient, and will be able to follow the patient when necessary during his hospitalization up to home assistance. 7. Health micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that the automatic opening drawers (12) are programmable by each department according to the administration time slots used, considering that the time slots can also be customized in based on the individual patient, and by the fact that the same drawers (12), can be simple or equipped with a display with date of the day and time slot of programmed administration, and are also of the type with automatic opening, being operated by a mechanism that allows opening and closing only when the patient pushes the opening button (13) and the LED (14) starts flashing. 8. Sanitary micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drawers (12) are equipped with a housing for the disposable sterilized cup (15) and sensors that signal the presence of the cup or its absence from the drawer, and from the fact that even the nurse can open the drawers by giving the manual opening command with his RFID / Bar-code palmtop, the management of the individual drawers being completely automatic, and the vending machine being equipped with on-board electronics in able to communicate with the handheld management server and the department server. 9. Health micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said dispenser (10) is identified and uniquely associated with the patient who is using it by means of an RFID tag or bar-code placed on the dispenser and barcode bracelet on the wrist of the patient and the fact that at any time the nurse can check the correct association of the tag / bar-code with the tag / bar-code of the wristband on the patient's wrist at any time. bars or tags placed directly on the patient's bed. 10. Health micro-logistics device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filling station is equipped with the following components: a) Set of blisters equipped with 6 slots for glasses marked with relative colored rings to ensure the correct association of the full glass and time slot. Each blister is uniquely identified by barcode or RFID tag and automatically read as soon as it is placed on the filling shelf by the nurse; b) Set of disposable cups with colored mark according to the corresponding time slot and with lid; c) Shelf for housing the blister during filling (one blister at a time) equipped with a fixed RFID / bar code reader and positioned on the shelf in order to allow automatic recognition of the code placed on the blister. This will allow the nurse to associate the blister code with the patient code (whose therapy is being filled) via touch-screen; d) Client station for therapy consultation: a touch-screen interfaced with the ward server will give the nurse information on the drugs to be withdrawn based on the therapy stored on the server. e) Fixed wall bar code reader for reading the medications gradually inserted into the glasses by the nurse; f) Blister holder rack equipped with wheels on which the filled blisters will be placed and with which they will be carried by the ward staff to the various rooms.