Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

• This invention relates generally to point-of-sale systems for use in pharmacies and, more specifically, to systems for automatically generating advisory and other information for distribution to pharmacy patients.
• Various systems have been used to distribute advisory and other information to pharmacy patients based principally on the identification of a prescription drug being purchased.
• Prescription drugs in the United States are uniquely identifiable by a National Drug Code (NDC), which is typically entered into a computer terminal by a pharmacist, and may be encoded on the product itself in bar-code form.
• NDC National Drug Code
• Other prescription drug identification systems are employed in other countries, but the principle is the same: to provide a unique code for each prescription drug dispensed by the pharmacy.
• a computer at the point of sale may be used to generate advisory messages to the patient, some of which may be required by governmental regulation, or to generate promotional materials concerning related or complementary products sold in the pharmacy.
• the present invention resides in a method and apparatus for generating advisory and other information without major modification of an existing pharmacy computer system.
• the method of the invention comprises the steps of capturing a data record pertaining to a pharmacy transaction as transmitted to a pharmacy printer; comparing selected components of the captured data record with corresponding components of a database to determine the contents of a message associated with particular values of the data components; building an output message based on the results of the comparing step: and transmitting the output message to a printer in the pharmacy, to print an advisory message that is appropriate for the particular values of the data components defining the transaction.
• the selected data components include any combination of the identity of the dispensed product, the patient's age and gender, the identity of a party primarily responsible for payment to the pharmacy for the transaction and an indication of whether the transaction is based on a new or a refill prescription. Based on these factors, the advisory message can be tailored to the particular transaction. Moreover, this goal is achieved without major modification of the existing pharmacy computer system.
• the terms “message”' and “advisory message" include all types of information provided to pharmacy patients, including information about the prescribed product being dispensed, information about related products or procedures, promotional materials or discounts pertaining to the purchase of prescription products or other products, or simply news items pertaining to the dispensed product or to pharmaceutical products and health in general.
• the information may take the form of multiple-color, two-sided papers, depending on the available printer technology. Some of the information may be generated as a result of a patient condition inferred from, other factors, such as the patient's age and the type of medication prescribed.
• the invention may also be defined in terms of apparatus for generating targeted messages to pharmacy patients, for use in a pharmacy computer system having a pharmacy processor and at least one printer.
• the apparatus comprises a hardware interface interposed between the pharmacy processor and the printer or printers, to monitor pharmacy data pertaining to each transaction in which a pharmacy product is dispensed to a patient; a database containing advisory message data in association with preselected combinations of components of transaction data; an additional processor, for comparing transaction data components monitored in each transaction with the preselected combinations of transaction data components in the database, wherein the advisory message data components associated with the monitored transaction data components are retrieved from the database; and wherein the additional processor also includes means for building an advisory message from the retrieved advisory message data components; and means for printing the advisory message for distribution to the patient whose transaction is being monitored.
• the preselected combinations of transaction data components include the identity of the dispensed product, the patient's age and gender, the identity of the party primarily responsible for payment to the pharmacy for the transaction, and an indication of whether the transaction is a new or a refill prescription.
• the hardware interface in the apparatus may take any of various forms, depending primarily on the configuration of the existing pharmacy computer system. For example, if the pharmacy computer outputs data in parallel format to its printer, the hardware interface includes a parallel-to-serial data convener, for sending monitored data in serial form to the additional processor, and the means for printing the advisory message includes a parallel data connection from the additional processor to the hardware interface and means within the hardware interface for mediating printer conflicts arising between print data transmitted from the pharmacy processor and print data transmitted from the additional processor.
• the hardware interface includes a serial data tap, for monitoring the serial data for transmission to the additional processor, and the means for printing the advisory message includes a parallel data connection from the additional processor to the printer, which has both parallel and serial pom and which includes means for mediating printer conflicts arising between print data received through the parallel and serial potts.
• Another important advantage of the invention is that, because it "eavesdrops" passively to obtain data from the pharmacy system print stream, any malfunction in the invention apparatus does not affect basic operation of the pharmacy system, which can continue to process prescriptions and print labels.
• FIG. 1 is a top-level block diagram showing the hardware of the invention in relation to a pharmacy system computer and pharmacy printing resources;
• FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the functions performed in accordance with the method of the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an example of a promotion using the principles of the invention:
• FIG. 4 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 1 and showing one configuration of printer data capture hardware;
• FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of the parallel data capture hardware shown in FIG. 4;
• FIG. 6 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 4, but showing an alternative configuration of printer data capture hardware.
• FIG. 7 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 6, but showing an additional pharmacy label printer in the configuration. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
• the present invention pertains to apparatus and a related method for automatically providing advisory information to pharmacy patients, based on the identification of the drugs being dispensed and on other information pertaining to the patient and to the prescription.
• Most approaches to supplying information to pharmacy patients require major modifications to the pharmacy computer system and do not appropriately target the advisory information, except to the extent that information may be provided based on the identification of the prescribed drug.
• data generated by a pharmacy system computer indicated generally by reference numeral 10, and destined for a printer, indicated by the pharmacy printing resources 12, are captured in a passive manner for use in a health advisory computer 14, using printer data capture hardware 16.
• the printing resources 12 may include multiple printers for various reasons, to handle label and informational printing, or simply to handle a large volume of transactions.
• the hardware 16 may take a variety of forms, depending on the configuration of a specific pharmacy system to which the invention is to be adapted. Some pharmacy systems use two printers, one for printing labels and another, usually a laser printer, for printing advisory information for the patients. Other systems use only a single printer.
• printer data capture hardware 16 performs two principal functions. First, data destined for the pharmacy printing resources 12 are captured or tapped by the hardware 16 with only relatively simple changes in the pharmacy system computer 10. The changes needed include, for example, the addition of an "end-of-job" notification in a label print stream, to allow the health advisory computer 14 to deteirnine when to start printing other advisory information, and changing the printable and non-printable information transmitted to the printer, to include such fields as age and gender. Basically, the health advisory computer 14 "eavesdrops" on output data being transmitted by the pharmacy system computer 10.
• the hardware 16 may also provide an interface through which information generated in the health advisory computer 14 is transmitted to the printing resources 12.
• the information is generated in the health advisory computer 14 based on selected components of the prescription and patient data captured in the hardware 16.
• the information is described in this specification as including "advisory messages,” which is meant to be a broad term encompassing information pertaining to the dispensed product, promotional materials or coupons pertaining to prescription or non-prescription products, and news about pharmacy products or procedures, or pertaining to health in general.
• the functions performed in the health advisory computer 14 are depicted in the flowchart of FIG. 2. As shown in block 20, data destined for the pharmacy printing resources 12 are captured in the hardware 16 and sent to the computer 14 for processing. The computer 14 must be provided with knowledge of the transaction data format for a particular pharmacy system with which the invention is used. A validity check is performed, as indicated in block 22, to determine if the national drug code
• a database associated with the computer 14 is queried, as indicated in block 28. to determine which advisory messages, if any. should be delivered to the patient.
• the advisory messages, together with other standard items of message content, are compiled in an output buffer, as indicated in block 30, and finally printed as indicated in block 32.
• the printing step utilizes the printer data capture hardware 16 to provide for appropriate sharing of the printer resources 12 with the pharmacy system computer 10.
• Targeting of information is based on the following factors associated with each transaction in which a prescription drug is dispensed: • The national drug code (NDC) uniquely identifying the drug. • The age of the patient. • The gender of the patient.
• NDC national drug code
• Age specific targeting is useful in a variety of contexts.
• An example is the dispensing of oral contraceptives, which are sometimes prescribed to young women not for birth control but to promote regularity of the menstrual cycle.
• One type of advisory message concerning birth control and recommendations for preventing sexually transmitted diseases, might not be thought suitable for female children under twelve years of age.
• the message can be tailored by age.
• Gender specific targeting also is useful, because some drugs are used by both men and women, but for different purposes.
• the drug Metronodazol is commonly prescribed for women, to treat non-specific vaginal infections, but is also prescribed to control pimples and more serious infections, such as tetanus, in both men and women.
• the advisory message can be tailored appropriately depending whether the patient is a man or a woman.
• advisory information can be appropriately targeted to the patient.
• different insurers have a different "disease state protocols," which are recommended procedures for treatment of patients having various diseases.
• a patient with Type II diabetes may be required by an insurance company to have a bi-annual blood panel to help physicians monitor the progress of the disease and its treatment adequately.
• Appropriate advisory messages can, therefore, be generated based on the identity of the insurer, if any. Even self- insuring patients can be advised of the desirability of follow-up diagnostic tests for the condition being treated.
• Whether the prescription is new or a refill is also information that can be used to generate different types of advisory messages.
• the refill patient may not need all the information provided to the new patient, or the refill patient may need to be reminded about an insurer's policies regarding refills.
• the age ranges employed in the system of the invention are a matter of design choice, but narrower ranges are needed for growing children than for mature adults. In the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the following age ranges are used: 0-1, 2-4, 5-11, 12-18, 19-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-60, and over 60.
• Each different combination of factors may be used to trigger generation of a different advisory message.
• the various combinations selected to trigger a message are stored in a database or trigger matrix associated with the health advisory computer 14, and this trigger matrix is queried, as indicated in block 28 of the FIG. 3 flowchart, to determine which, if any, advisory messages are to be printed.
• An example of printing a promotional message in response to a combination of data factors is given in FIG. 3.
• the drugs Bactrim and Septra brands of Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim are used differently based on age of the patient.
• the drugs may be used to treat middle ear infections (otitis media) and an appropriate advisory message might point out the desirability of taking children's Motrin (an anti-inflammatory drug), but for adults the same drug is used to treat urinary tract infections.
• the advisory message may point out the advisability of drinking cranberry juice.
• different treatment may be advisable.
• new and refill prescriptions may be treated differently, and the advisory message may also be affected by the identity of the payer.
• FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment using a parallel printer and parallel data capture hardware 36.
• the pharmacy system computer 10 normally outputs in parallel format to a parallel printer, but in accordance with the invention the parallel printer cable is diverted through the parallel data capture hardware 36.
• serial refers to a commonly used mode of transmission of data from a computer system to a peripheral device, such as a printer or another computer, wherein binary data is formatted into "bytes" of eight or more data bits for transmission over parallel conductors in a cable.
• serial data transmission, the data bits are transmitted bit-by-bit over a single pair of conductors in a serial data cable.
• Parallel data arriving from the pharmacy system computer 10 are converted to a serial format in the hardware 36, and transmitted in serial form to the health advisory computer 14.
• the parallel data stream entering the hardware 36 also continues through the hardware box 36 and is transmitted to the printing resources 12, which in this case consist of a single parallel printer.
• the health advisory computer 14 processes the serial data in accordance with the functions described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, and generates advisory messages in the form of a parallel output stream directed back to the parallel data capture hardware 36.
• the latter also has the function of mediating any conflict for the printer between data arriving from the health advisory computer 14 and data arriving from the pharmacy system computer 10. This mediation is best implemented as a first-come-first-served protocol with appropriate timers to determine when an printer output has ended.
• FIG. 5 shows the principal components of the hardware 36 of FIG. 4.
• Parallel input data from the pharmacy system computer 10 are converted to serial data in parallel-to-serial conversion circuitry 37.
• the corresponding data stream in serial form is output to the health advisory computer 14 and the parallel input data stream continues through the hardware 36.
• a parallel data stream output from the health advisory computer 14 is merged with the parallel stream from the pharmacy system computer 10, in printer conflict mediation logic 38, which includes a storage buffer for the temporary storage of data when the printer is busy.
• FIG. 6 is a slightly different configuration, in which an existing pharmacy system computer 10 outputs data in serial form.
• the data capture hardware can take the form of a serial cable tap 40, which simply splits the serial data into two paths, one of which continues to a serial port of the printer 12, and the other of which is diverted to the health advisory computer 14.
• Advisory messages are output over a parallel cable to the same printer 12, which has both a serial port and a parallel port, and further includes logic to mediate any conflicts that arise between the two inputs. Many conventional laser printers have this capability.
• FIG. 7 is yet another configuration, in which the existing pharmacy system computer 10 has two serial output ports, one directed to a label printer and the other directed to an auxiliary printer for advisory messages.
• the serial cable tap 40 is again used to eavesdrop on data sent to the auxiliary printer, and to generate appropriate additional advisory messages for transmission to the printer over a parallel cable, in the same was as described with reference to FIG. 6.
• the invention represents a significant advance in the field of point-of-sale systems in the pharmacy environment. More specifically, the invention provides for targeting of information to pharmacy patients, taking into account important factors such as age, gender, prescription status, and payer identity, as well as the identification of the drug being dispensed. Further, the invention achieves these goals without major modification of existing pharmacy computer systems.
• An added advantage is that, because the apparatus of the invention taps passively into the pharmacy system print stream, any malfunction of the invention has no affect on the basic operation of the pharmacy system, which can continue to process prescriptions and print labels.
• the ability of the invention to provide targeted information to patients can be extended to the provision of product samples that are similarly targeted, based on the same patient factors determined from the print data stream of the pharmacy system.
• Yet another advantage of the invention is that, if the health advisory computer 14 is connected to a network of similar computers, advisory messages can be directed to pharmacists over this network and printed on the pharmacy printer.

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• 1999
  • 1999-01-21 EP EP99904046A patent/EP1163617A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 1999-01-21 JP JP2000595278A patent/JP2002535780A/ja active Pending
  • 1999-01-21 WO PCT/US1999/000387 patent/WO2000043925A1/en active Application Filing
  • 1999-01-21 CA CA002361562A patent/CA2361562A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-01-21 AU AU24531/99A patent/AU2453199A/en not_active Abandoned

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