GB2434140A

GB2434140A - Information carrier with event recording leaf

Info

Publication number: GB2434140A
Application number: GB0622446A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Beverley Ward
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-11-11
Filing date: 2006-11-10
Publication date: 2007-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 2026-11-10
Also published as: WO2007054713A1; GB0622446D0; GB2434140B

Abstract

An information carrier 10 has an event recording leaf 2 and an information bearing leaf 1, the leaves 1,2 being foldable relative to each other to form open and closed configurations. The event recording leaf 2 may comprise a system of readily removable markers or stickers 12, so that a person may keep track of certain events, such as a the timely completion of a course of medication over days or weeks. The carrier 10 may also feature a third leaf 3, which may also carry information. The information carrier 10 may be attached to a container (fig.2) which may contain medication. Also disclosed is an information carrier 10 with an event recording leaf 2 with an integral and/or separate information encoding means which are machine readable.

Description

INFORMATION CARRIER

The present invention relates generally to an information carrier and specifically to an information carrier for recording information. More specifically, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to an information carrier for recording the consumption of consumables such as medication.

Patient compliance with medicinal prescriptions is a known concern in the medical field.

Several packaging designs have been developed to incorporate dosage recording systems to mitigate this concern For example, US 4,752,087 discloses a dosage recording system comprising a label having an array of readily removable marks representing for example, one dose of medication. The label is adhered to a container which holds the medicine. US 6,279,759 discloses a similar label comprising an optional barcode encoding the patients' important information, which may be scanned to display that information and/or record the date and time of administering a dosage.

This may be useful for example, in the case of a hospital with multiple patients In which case patient compliance can be monitored in real time. Of course, such systems require a large amount of infrastructure.

GB 2,260,748 discloses an alternative dosage recording system wherein there is provided an information carrier separate from the medication packaging. This arrangement provides means for preventing unwanted removal of the aforementioned removable marks, in addition to the further advantages of a separate information carrier disclosed in this document The present invention seeks to provide an improved dosage recording system. More particularly, the present invention seeks to provide a dosage recording system which increases the likelihood of patient compliance with medical prescriptions.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a dosage recording system which enables retrieval and analysis of data relating to patient compliance with medicinal prescriptions.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an information carrier having an open condition and a closed condition and comprising at east first and second leaves which lie in face-to-face relation with each other when the information carrier is in the closed condition and which are substantially co-planar when the information carrier is in the open condition, wherein first major faces of the first and second bear, respectively, information pertaining to an event and event recording means.

Preferably the first major faces lie in face-to-face relation in the closed condition.

Said event recording means may comprise an array of readily removeable marks Preferably, each of the readily removable marks covers a respective secondary, more permanent mark More preferably, the presence and/or absence of the readily removable marks and/or the secondary marks is machine-readable.

Preferably, said information is carried on a label adhered or otherwise connected to the face of the first leaf.

Optionally, the information carrier further comprises a third leaf, wherein the third leaf lies in face-to-face relation with said first and second leaves when the information carrier is in the closed condition and the first, second and third leaves are substantially co-planar when the information carrier is in the open condition. More preferably, the face of the third leaf in face-to-face relation with said first and second leaves when the information carrier is in the closed condition comprises information thereon.

By providing a third leaf more space is provided in an information carrier having the same footprint as a two leaf information carrier, when both are in the closed condition.

This allows either for the same information to be provided in a larger format, which may for example be of benefit to the visually impaired, or for the information to be provided in different formats, e.g. different languages or with a Braille translation, or for more information to be applied whilst not altering substantially the space required to store the articles, say, prior to use.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the information comprises machine readable representation of at least some of the information Preferably, the machine readable representation is in a visual format for example, on the surface of the label.

More preferably, the machine-readable representation of information comprises a barcode, preferaby a barcode wherein information is recorded in two dimensions, such as a two-dimension array of pixels for example, arranged in pictographic or other form.

The information, e.g. the label, may comprtse information pertinent to the event to be recorded, for example a dose regime.

Optionally, the other faces of the leaves may comprise promotional information thereon.

One or more leaves may additionally or alternatively comprise a representation of a clock or other time recording or indicating indicia. Preferably, said indicia comprise one or more readily removable marks. Alternatively, said indicia could be markable to indicate a certain time or time period.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a combination comprising a container and the information carrier described above, wherein the container bears a label, the container label displaying information specific to any contents of the container and wherein the information carrier information displays at least some of the information displayed on the container label Preferably, the contents comprise medication The information on the one or both labels may further comprise at least some details of the person for whom the medication is intended. If present the machine readable component may comprise data corresponding to at least some of the same information According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of recording the consumption of consumable matter contained in a container, the method comprising, providing an information carrier as disclosed above, preparing information specific to the consumable matter, connecting the information to the container either before or after placing the consumables into the container, applying said information to the information carrier, and recording on event recording means when a portion of said consumable matter is consumed Preferably, the consumable matter is medication.

A further aspect of the invention provides an information carrier to be given to a person to record a series of events, the carrier comprising event recording means and encoded information relating at least in part to the person, wherein said event recording means enables a series of events to be recorded and wherein said encoded information and said event recording means comprise machine-readable components.

A yet further aspect of the invention provides a method of gathering prescription compliance data, the method comprising providing an information carrier as described above to a person to record, a plurality of medicine consumption or administration events, obtaining, or receiving, the information carrier after, or during, the term of a prescription and obtaining data pertaining to the consumption or administration events.

Preferably the data is obtained by machine-reading the information carrier.

The invention also relates to the data, a look-up table formed using the data and/or a database containing said data. The data may be used to monitor and/or check compliance regimes Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the inside of the information carrier of the invention in open condition, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the medication container and the information carrier of Figure 1 in a partially closed condition, and Figure 3 is a plan view of a second embodiment of an information carrier of the invention Referring to Figure 1, there is shown an information carrier 10 of the present invention formed in paperboard material which has been provided with a pair of fold lines 4 and 5 to nominally subdivide the carrier 10 into three equalsized portions. The information carrier 10 is shown in its open condition and comprises a first leaf 1, a second leaf 2 and a third leaf 3.

The first leaf I is substantially flat, rectangular in shape and comprises a first major surface 6, to which is adhered and, preferably substantially centred, a label 7 The label 7 is substantially rectangular with a surface area marginally smaller than that of the first leaf 1 The label 7 comprises a barcode 8 and information 9 printed thereon.

The orientation of the information 9 is such that it may be read with the longitudinal edges of the label 7 and first leaf 1 in a horizontal orientation.

The second leaf 2 is substantially flat, has substantially the same shape and size as the first leaf 1 and comprises a first major surface 11. An array of readily removable marks 12 are located on the first major surface 11 of the second leaf 2. The array of removable marks 12 is divided into groupings of four, the groupings being arranged in seven columns and four rows. Each removable mark 12 comprises a readily removable coating.

The second leaf 2 is hinged to the first leaf 1 along the fold line 5, which coincides with the upper longitudinal edge of the first leaf 1 and the lower longitudinal edge of the second leaf 2 when the first leaf is orientated such that the information 9 can be read by a patient.

The third leaf 3 is substantially flat, has substantially the same shape and size as the first and second leaves 1 and 2 and comprises a first major surface 13. Instructions 14 related to the use of the information carrier 10 are printed on the first major surface 13 of the third leaf 3 The orientation of the instructions 14 is such that they may be read with the information carrier in the same orientation as mentioned above. Seven column headings 15 are printed on the first major surface 13 of the third leaf 3 proximate the lower edge of the third leaf 3. Each of the column headings 15 corresponds to one day of the week, wherein consecutive column headings 15 correspond to consecutive days, starting with Sunday The third leaf 3 is hinged to the second leaf 2 along a second fold line 4, which coincides with the upper longitudinal edge of the second leaf 2 and the lower longitudinal edge of the third leaf 3 when the information carrier is in the aforementioned orientation. Each column heading 15 corresponds to one column of groupings of the removable marks 12, whereby each column of groupings relates to one day of the week and each row of groupings corresponds to one week.

Referring to Figure 2 there is shown the information carrier 10 in a partially closed condition and a container 100 of the present invention Each of the first, second and third leaves 1, 2 and 3 comprise respective secondary major surfaces 21, 22 and 23.

Promotional information or other indicia may be printed on the secondary major surfaces 21, 22 and 23 The container 100 comprises a hollow body 101 and a lid 102 for closing a top opening of the body Both the body 101 and the lid 102 are made of plastics material and have complementary threaded surfaces (not shown) for effecting the requisite seal as required for the contents.

There is adhered to the outer surface of the body 101 of the container 100 a label 107 comprising a barcode 108 and information 109 printed thereon. The barcode 108 and information 109 correspond respectively to the barcode 8 and information 9 printed on the label 8 of the information carrier 10.

Prior to use, a pharmacist will dispense the medication into the container 100 and print two labels 7 and 107, both comprising details of the prescription including patient and medication details. The patient details are encoded within the barcodes 8 and 108, typically also the pharmacist details and details of the medicament are encoded such as one or more of total number of doses, doses to be taken per day, start date of prescription, type of medication, manufacturer, and so on. The information 109 on the container label 107 comprises the name of the patient as well as details of the medication, while the information 9 on the label 7 preferably comprises only details of the medication. The reason for this will be explained below.

The pharmacist then affixes the container label 107 to the container 100 and the information carrier label 7 to the information carrier 10. The information carrier 10 may then be folded to a closed condition. This may be done by folding the first leaf 1 along the first fold line 5 such that the primary surfaces 6 and 11 of the first and second leaves 1 and 2 are in face-to-face relation and then folding the third leaf 3 along the second fold line 4 such that the primary surface 13 of the third leaf 3 is in face-to-face relationship with the secondary surface 21 of the first leaf 1 Alternatively, this may be done by folding the third leaf 3 along the second fold line 4 such that the primary surfaces 11 and 13 of the second and third leaves 2 and 3 are in face-to-face relation and then folding the first leaf 1 along the first fold line 5 such that the primary surface 6 of the first leaf 1 is in face-to-face relationship with the secondary surface 23 of the third leaf 3 The information carrier 10 is then associated mechanically with the container 100 for example, by placing them in a bag (not shown). When the information carrier 10 is in the closed condition, the removable marks 12 are protected from premature removal for example, through friction which might occur n the bag.

When the information carrier 10 is free of externally applied stress, it usually assumes io a configuration which can be seen in Figure 2, wherein the planar angle between adjacent primary surfaces is substantially less then 180 . This allows the information carrier 10 to support itself in an upstanding position with the three second major surfaces 21, 22, 23 clearly visible This feature is particularly advantageous when the second major surfaces 21, 22, 23 comprise promotional information In use, the patient picks up the information carrier 10 and unfolds it into the fully open condition as shown in Figure 1. The label 7 is readily visible for comparison with the label 107 on the container 100. The dose regime embodied by the marks 12 of the patient's intended consumption of the medication is also visible without the need to turn the information carrier 10 over or fold any of the leaves 1, 2 or 3 as was the case with the information carrier disclosed in the aforementioned prior art document GB 2,260,748. This provides a substantial advantage which, it is believed, increases patient comphance with medicinal prescriptions.

Also, by having the label 7 and marks 12 on the same sheet an easy check can be made that the information contained therein is consistent, i.e. the dose regime of the label 7 is replicated in the marks and a plurality of dose cards for different medicaments can be displayed together.

When the patient consumes a portion of medication from the container 100, he or she removes from the corresponding information carrier 10 the requisite removable mark 12 indicating that the medication has been taken. The removal of the mark 12 reveals a secondary, more permanent mark (not shown) of contrasting appearance, printed on the information carrier 10 beneath the removable mark 12.

After the mark 12 is removed, the information carrier may be folded to the fully closed condition as explained above and put away, or folded to the partially closed condition and placed upright on a surface as shown in Figure 2.

When the medication has been completely consumed, the pharmacist and/or medical staff may request return of the carrier For example, this may include incentive programmes for returning the information carrier 10 for analysis. The information carrier 10 described herein preferably comprises machine readable secondary marks (not shown). Consequently, when the information carrier 10 is in fully open condition, it can be passed through a reader which detects and reads the patient information and, if recorded, other details fiom the barcode 8 and subsequently, or simultaneously, detects the presence of the secondary marks which indicate the compliance of that patient with the prescription. This is facilitated by having the barcode 8, the removable marks (12) and secondary marks on the same side of the information carrier 10 when it is in a fully open condition.

The information so read can be used to provide a database of patient compliance Such information may be used to determine for example, one or more of whether it is likely that sub-groups will comply with certain dose regimes, whether particular medicaments have greater compliance rates, whether multiple dose regimes are complied with better than others or whether certain medicaments of known regimes have better compliance than others Furthermore, the fact that the name of the patient is not usually readily visible in the printed information 9 further encourages the patient to return the used information carrier, since it appears anonymous.

The carrier 10 may be adhered to a metal substrate such as a refrigerator using suitable means, e.g a magnet. In a further embodiment an adhesive, preferably protected by a release liner, may be applied, e.g. laminated, printed, etc. to the carrier 10, preferably in the region of the second major surface 23 so that the carrier 10 can be displayed in an open condition on, say, a vertical surface.

Whilst the information carrier 10 disclosed in the preferred embodiment is formed in paperboard, it may be formed in other foldable sheet material for example, plastic or the like, to which has been applied cut and fold lines.

It is hereby stated for the avoidance of doubt that the arrangement of the array of removable marks 12 shown in the Figures is used only as an example The arrangement of the array is dependent upon the requirements of the relevant event, e.g prescription, and a variety of such arrangements are envisaged For example, one, two, three or five events, e g doses, may be required per day in which case there would comprise an array divided in groups of one, two, three or five. Alternatively, the grouping may be divided based on for example, weekly events, e.g. doses. The arrangement of days, weeks, months and so on may be in any suitable or desirable pattern -the start day may be any day of the week, for example.

The information carrier 10 need not have a label 7 applied thereto. The information 9 and/or barcode 8 may be printed direct to the first major surface 6. In fact the entire carrier 10 may have all the information printed thereon, together with the permanent marks and/or removable marks 12 The removable marks 12 may comprise stickers which are removable In another embodiment the readily removable marks 12 may be absent and the secondary marks may be markable with for example, a machine readable or other ink to be applied by the user In a further embodiment, the secondary marks may be absent. In which case the removeable marks 12 may comprise machine readable components.

* . The carrier 10 may have two, three, four or more leaves, although three is preferred for one or more of ease of use, ease of display, economy of materials and environmental concerns.

Furthermore, the container 100 need not be cylindrical in shape or made of rigid plastics material For example, other container shapes are envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention including, but not limited to, various bottle shapes or flexible packaging such as pouches. The barcode 108 may be omitted.

Moreover, whilst the use described herein is for a container containing medication in the form of pills, it is envisaged that the medication may be in the form of a liquid or paste or the container may be adapted for dispensing an aerosol for inhalation by a patient To facilitate encoding of the information in the barcodes 8, 108, a computer program may be used which turns the standard character set of a QWERTY keyboard into pixellated representations of each character. In this way any string of letters, numbers and/or characters can be rendered machine readable. The display of the pixeilated representations may be further encoded by operation of a suitable algorithm in the program for example, to randomise the position of each pixellated representation in a grid and/or to convert the array (either uncoded or encoded) into a pictographic symbol.

As an alternative, the known PDF417 format may be used. The pixellated representations provide means for recording information in two-dimension.

Turning to Figure 3 (wherein like parts are indicated by the use of a prime ()), there is shown an information carrier 10' provided with a pair of fold lines 4', 5' to define a first leaf 1', second leaf 2' and third leaf 3'. The first leaf 1' has an area 17 to which information may be applied, e.g to which a label may be affixed.

The second leaf 2', which is approximately the same size and shape as the first leaf 1' comprises a major surface 11' on which an array of readily removable marks 12' are located The second leaf 2' is hinged to the first leaf 1' along the fold line 5.

The third leaf 3', which is hinged to the second leaf 2' along the second fold line 4', comprises a time indicating portion 200', which comprises a plurality of readily removable marks 201', each indicating a different hour of the clock although different subdivisions of time may be provided When the carrier 10 is used as a reminder to comply with a certain regime, for example a medicine consumption regime, at least some of the marks 201' can be removed to indicate one or more times of compliance For example, if the medicine is to be taken at 0900 and 21:00, the marks 201' corresponding to those hours will be removed, thereby providing a visual indicator of when the medicine should be taken.

The time indicating portion 200' need not comprise numbers, it may be in the form of a pictorial representation, for example clock face or pictures indicating meal times, breakfast, lunch, dinner and so on. The portion 201' may be markable rather than comprising removable marks, as discussed above.

In providing the time indicating portion it is possible to provide a further prompt and to engage other persons in the compliance or reminder system.

Claims

CLAIMS

1. An information carrier having an open condition and a closed condition, the carrier comprising first and second leaves which are able to lie in face-to-face relation with each other when the information carrier is in a closed condition and which are substantially co-planar when the information carrier is in an open condition, wherein a first major face of both the first and second leaves lie on one side of the information carrier and bear, respectively, information pertaining to an event and event recording means.

2. An information carrier according to Claim 1, wherein at least part of said event recording means is machine readable 3. An information carrier according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein said event recording is means comprises an array of readily removable marks 4. An information carrier according to Claim 3, wherein each of the readily removable marks covers a respective secondary, more permanent mark.

5 An information carrier according to Claim 4, wherein the presence or absence of the readily removable marks and/or the secondary marks is machine-readable.

6. An information carrier according to any preceding Claim, further comprising a third leaf, wherein the third leaf is able to lie in face-to-face relation with one or other of said first and second leaves when the information carrier is in the closed condition and the first, second and third leaves are substantially co-planar when the information carrier is in the open condition 7. An information carrier according to Claim 6, wherein one or both major surfaces of the third leaf comprise information thereon.

8. An information carrier according to any preceding Claim, wherein at least a portion of said information of said first leaf is machine readable 9 An information carrier according to Claim 8. wherein the machine readable portion of said information is in a visual format.

10. An information carrier according to Claim 8 or 9, wherein the machine-readable portion comprises a two-dimensional barcode.

11 An information carrier according to any preceding Claim, wherein the other faces of the leaves comprise promotional information thereon.

12. An information carrier according to any preceding Claim, wherein the carrier comprises time recording means.

13. An information carrier according to Claim 12, wherein said time recording means comprises an array of readily removable marks.

14 An information carrier according to Claim 12 or 13, wherein said time recording means comprises a plurality of areas to enable a specific time to be identified.

A combination comprising a container and an information carrier according to any preceding Claim, wherein the container contains contents and bears information specific to the contents and wherein the information carrier displays the information displayed on the container label 16. A combination according to Claim 15, wherein the information on the container further comprises details of the person for whom the medication is intended.

17. A combination according to Claim 15 or 16, wherein the contents comprise medication 18. A method of recording the consumption of consumable matter, the method comprising providing an information carrier as claimed in any one of claims I to 14, preparing information specific to the consumable matter, applying the information to a container either before or after placing consumables into the container, and removing one of said removable marks when a portion of said consumable matter is consumed.

19. An information carrier to be given to a person to record a series of events, the carrier comprising event recording means and encoded information relating, at least in part, to the person, wherein said event recording means enables a series of events to be recorded and wherein said encoded information and said event recording means comprise machine-readable components.

20 A method of gathering prescription compliance data, the method comprising providing an information carrier according to any one of Claims 1 to 14 to a person to record a plurality of medicine consumption or administration events, obtaining or receiving the information carrier after or during the term of the prescription and obtaining data from the information carrier pertaining to the administration or consumption events 21. A method as disclosed in Claim 20, comprising obtaining the data by reading the information carrier by machine.