JP7360197B2 - Dispensing support device, dispensing support system, dispensing support method, and dispensing support program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to technology for supporting dispensing operations at a dispensing pharmacy.

When a prescription is issued to a patient who visits a medical institution, the patient submits the paper prescription to a dispensing pharmacy and requests that it be dispensed. However, currently, there is often a long waiting time (about 15 to 30 minutes) from when a patient submits a prescription to when they receive their medicine.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the general flow from when a prescription is issued until a patient receives medicine. When a prescription is issued at a medical institution (step S1), the patient visits a dispensing pharmacy and submits the prescription (step S2). On the other hand, at the dispensing pharmacy, prescription information is input into the terminal device (step S3), and the pharmacist performs a prescription audit. In the prescription audit, we check whether the prescription contents listed in the prescription are appropriate and whether there are any drugs that do not mix well with each other (confirmation of prescription information, step S4), and then meet with the patient. The patient confirms symptoms and the like, and explains how to take the medicine and precautions (patient information confirmation, step S5).

When the prescription audit is completed, the pharmacist dispenses the medicine (step S6). Specifically, they search the shelves in the warehouse for the medicine written in the prescription, take out the prescribed dose, and prepare the medicine. Thereafter, the pharmacist inspects the prepared medicine (step S7) and finally hands the medicine to the patient (step S8).

In the flow shown in FIG. 1, the prescription audit (prescription information) in step S4 and the dispensing operation in step S6 tend to take time, which is a major factor causing patients to wait for a long time at the dispensing pharmacy.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing support device that can shorten the waiting time of patients at dispensing pharmacies.

A dispensing support device according to the present invention is a dispensing support device that supports dispensing operations at a dispensing pharmacy, and includes a prescription acquisition unit that acquires prescription data of a person scheduled to visit the dispensing pharmacy, and a prescription acquisition unit that acquires prescription data of a person scheduled to visit the dispensing pharmacy. The prescription confirmation unit includes a prescription confirmation unit that causes a pharmacist to confirm the prescription data, and a prescription preparation instruction unit that instructs a prescription preparation robot to prepare the medication based on the confirmed prescription data.

According to the present invention, before a patient comes to the hospital, prescription data is acquired, prescription information is confirmed, and the medicine to be prescribed is prepared in the form of a box at the pharmacist's hand by a dispensing preparation robot. This eliminates the need for pharmacists to search for medicines from the shelves. Therefore, waiting time for patients at the dispensing pharmacy can be shortened.

It is a flowchart showing the general flow from when a prescription is issued until a patient receives medicine. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a medical network according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a photograph showing an example of a robot for dispensing preparation. It is a photograph showing an example of an automatic medicine receiving machine. 1 is a flowchart showing the flow from when a prescription is issued until a patient receives medicine in an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

(System configuration)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a medical network 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the medical network 1, the terminal device 21 of the medical institution 2, the prescription management database DB, and the dispensing support device 31 of the dispensing support system 3 are able to communicate with each other via a communication network N such as the Internet.

The terminal device 21 is a computer installed in a medical institution 2 such as a clinic or hospital. The terminal device 21 includes a prescription issuing unit 211 that issues prescription data in response to a doctor's operation. The prescription data includes the name of the doctor in charge, the patient's name, insurance card information, and the type and dosage of the prescribed drug.

The prescription management database DB is a database provided on the cloud, and manages prescription data issued by one or more medical institutions. The prescription data issued by the prescription issuing unit 211 is transmitted to the terminal at the accounting counter of the medical institution 2 and registered in the prescription management database DB in order to be output as a paper prescription.

The dispensing support system 3 is provided within a dispensing pharmacy and supports dispensing operations at the dispensing pharmacy. The dispensing support system 3 includes a dispensing support device 31, a dispensing preparation robot 32, and an automatic medicine receiving machine 33.

The dispensing support device 31 is a terminal device that supports dispensing operations at a dispensing pharmacy, and can be configured with a general-purpose computer. The dispensing support device 31 has a hardware configuration including an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU or MPU, and a storage device such as a DRAM or a hard disk.

Further, the dispensing support device 31 includes a prescription acquisition section 311, a prescription confirmation section 312, and a dispensing preparation instruction section 313 as functional blocks. Each of these units is realized by the arithmetic processing unit executing the dispensing support program stored in the storage device. The dispensing support program may be downloaded to the dispensing support device 31 via the communication network N, or may be recorded on a computer-readable non-temporary recording medium such as a CD-ROM and stored in the memory. It may also be installed in the dispensing support device 31 via a medium.

The prescription acquisition unit 311 has a function of accessing the prescription management database DB and acquiring prescription data of a person scheduled to visit the dispensing pharmacy. Prescription data registered in the prescription management database DB cannot be freely accessed by dispensing pharmacies; access from specific dispensing pharmacies is permitted for prescription data of specific patients. For example, a patient who uses a dispensing pharmacy as his or her personal pharmacy registers to allow the dispensing pharmacy to access his or her prescription data. As a result, when the prescription data of the patient is registered in the prescription management database DB, the registration is automatically notified from the prescription management database DB to the prescription acquisition unit 311, and the prescription acquisition unit 311 acquires the prescription data. can do.

The prescription confirmation unit 312 has a function of allowing a pharmacist to confirm the contents of prescription data. Specifically, the prescription confirmation unit 312 causes the prescription data information acquired by the prescription acquisition unit 311 to be displayed on the display device of the dispensing support device 31 for the pharmacist to view. The pharmacist checks whether there is any problem with the information in the prescription data, and after checking, presses a button (such as an OK button) indicating that there is no problem.

The dispensing preparation instructing section 313 has a function of instructing the dispensing preparation robot 32 to prepare a dispensing based on the prescription data confirmed by the prescription confirming section 312. The dispensing support device 31 is connected to the dispensing preparation robot 32 so as to be able to communicate wirelessly or by wire.

The medicine preparation robot 32 is movably provided in a warehouse where medicines are stored. As the dispensing preparation robot 32, for example, the BD Rowa Vmax system manufactured by Nippon Becton Dickinson Co., Ltd. can be used.

FIG. 3 is a photograph showing an example of the dispensing preparation robot 32. On both the left and right sides of the photo, there are shelves for storing boxes of medicine. The medication preparation robot 32 in the center memorizes the correspondence between the shelf area and the type of medicine stored, and can access any position on the shelf and take out a box of medicines. .

When the prescription preparation instruction unit 313 sends a prescription preparation instruction to the prescription preparation robot 32, the prescription preparation robot 32 identifies the drug included in the instruction and its storage location, and takes out the box containing the drug from the shelf. , and deliver it to the pharmacist. The operation of the dispensing preparation robot 32 only delivers the box of medicine to the pharmacist's hand, and therefore does not fall under the act of dispensing, but corresponds to the act of preparing for dispensing, which is a pre-stage of the act of dispensing. For example, even if the prescription data specifies "10 tablets A", the dispensing preparation robot 32 only delivers the box containing the A tablets from the shelf to the pharmacist's hand; Tablet A is not removed from the container.

The automatic medicine receiving machine 33 is a device that allows medicine to be received without human intervention. FIG. 4 is a photograph showing an example of the automatic medicine receiving machine 33. The automatic medicine receiving machine 33 can store medicine therein, and is equipped with a barcode reading section for reading a barcode at the lower front. When the medicine is stored in the automatic medicine receiving machine 33 in association with the patient's ID, etc., the medicine can be taken out by holding the barcode indicating the ID etc. over the barcode reading section. As the automatic medicine receiving machine 33, a pickup terminal manufactured by Nippon Becton Dickinson Co., Ltd. can be used.

(Flow of dispensing)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow from when a prescription is issued until the patient receives medicine in this embodiment. When a prescription is issued at a medical institution (step S1), the prescription data is registered in the prescription management database DB, and the prescription acquisition unit 311 of the dispensing support device 31 in the dispensing pharmacy acquires the prescription data from the prescription management database DB ( Step S1-1, prescription acquisition step). Subsequently, the prescription confirmation unit 312 of the dispensing support device 31 displays information on the prescription data on the display device of the dispensing support device 31, and has the pharmacist confirm it (step S1-2, prescription confirmation step). This allows the pharmacist to check whether there are any problems with the prescription data before the patient comes to the office.

If there is no problem with the information in the prescription data, the dispensing preparation instruction section 313 of the dispensing support device 31 instructs the dispensing preparation robot 32 to prepare for dispensing based on the prescription data (step S1-3, dispensing preparation instruction step). In response to this, the dispensing preparation robot 32 prepares for dispensing (step S1-4, dispensing preparation step). The dispensing preparation robot 32 delivers a box containing the medicine specified by the prescription data from the warehouse shelf to the pharmacist's hand. Although it depends on the type of medicine, the time required for the medicine preparation robot 32 to prepare the medicine is usually about several tens of seconds.

After the prescription is issued, the patient completes the payment at the medical institution, receives a paper prescription, and then visits the dispensing pharmacy (step S2). Even if the medical institution and dispensing pharmacy are close to each other, steps S1-1 to S1-3 above can be completed before the patient visits the dispensing pharmacy. .

After the patient comes to the clinic, the pharmacist meets with the patient to audit the prescription (step S5). Specifically, we check on symptoms, etc. (whether there are any side effects, whether there are any leftover medicines, etc.), and explain how to take the medicine and precautions.

Thereafter, the pharmacist dispenses the medicine (step S6'). The dispensing here differs from the dispensing action (step S6) shown in FIG. , you only need to take out the required dose from the box. As a general rule, dispensing must be performed after a prescription audit.

Thereafter, the pharmacist inspects the prepared medicine (step S7) and finally hands the medicine to the patient (step S8).

As described above, in this embodiment, compared to the conventional flowchart shown in FIG. , and the act of searching for medicine from the shelf during dispensing (step S6) can be omitted. In particular, in the case of drugs that are rarely prescribed, it often takes a pharmacist a long time to search for the drug from the shelves, causing long waiting times for patients. In contrast, in this embodiment, before the patient comes to the hospital, prescription data is acquired, the prescription information is confirmed, and the medicine to be prescribed is delivered to the pharmacist in the form of a box by the dispensing preparation robot 32. This eliminates the need for pharmacists to search for drugs from the shelves. This makes it possible to significantly shorten the patient's waiting time after coming to the hospital (for example, to about 5 minutes).

In this embodiment, after the prescription audit in step S5, the patient waits inside the dispensing pharmacy until the processes in steps S6' and S7 are completed. However, if the patient wishes to omit this waiting time, the pharmacist stores the drug for which the dispensing inspection has been completed in the automatic drug receiving machine 33 in association with the patient's ID and the like. As a result, the next time the patient visits the hospital, the patient can receive the medicine without going through the pharmacist (that is, without having to wait) by simply holding the barcode indicating the ID or the like over the automatic medicine receiving machine 33.

(Additional notes)
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

1 Medical network 2 Medical institution 3 Dispensing support system 21 Terminal device 211 Prescription issuing section 31 Dispensing support device 311 Prescription acquisition section 312 Prescription confirmation section 313 Dispensing preparation instruction section 32 Dispensing preparation robot 33 Automatic drug receiving machine DB Prescription management database N Communication network

Claims (4)

A terminal device of a medical institution,
a prescription management database that manages prescription data issued by the medical institution and registers the prescription data when the medical institution issues the prescription data ;
A dispensing support device that supports dispensing operations at a dispensing pharmacy;
a dispensing preparation robot installed in the dispensing pharmacy, capable of communicating with the dispensing support device, and preparing for dispensing;
The terminal device, the prescription management database, and the dispensing support device can communicate with each other ,
The dispensing support device includes:
a display device that displays information;
When the prescription data of a specific patient who uses the dispensing pharmacy as a family pharmacy is registered in the prescription management database, the prescription management database automatically notifies the dispensing support device that the prescription data has been registered; a prescription acquisition unit that accesses the prescription management database from the dispensing support device and acquires the prescription data of the patient as a person scheduled to visit the dispensing pharmacy;
a prescription confirmation unit that displays the prescription data of the patient acquired by the prescription acquisition unit on the display device and causes a pharmacist to confirm the contents of the prescription data;
a dispensing preparation instruction unit that instructs the dispensing preparation robot, based on the confirmed prescription data, to prepare for dispensing to deliver a box containing the drug specified in the prescription data to a pharmacist from a storage location; ,system. A dispensing support device in the system according to claim 1,
A robot for dispensing preparation in the system according to claim 1;
an automatic drug receiver capable of containing a drug therein and receiving the drug;
The automatic medicine receiver includes a reader capable of reading a code indicating the patient's ID,
The automatic medicine receiving machine is configured such that when the medicine corresponding to the patient's ID is stored in the automatic medicine receiving machine, if the reading unit reads the code indicating the patient's ID, the automatic medicine receiving machine A dispensing support system configured to be able to take out the medicine stored in a medicine receiving machine. A terminal device of a medical institution, a prescription management database that manages prescription data issued by the medical institution, a computer as a terminal device that supports dispensing operations at a dispensing pharmacy, and a computer installed in the dispensing pharmacy and the computer. A dispensing support method for supporting dispensing operations at the dispensing pharmacy by using a system comprising: a dispensing preparation robot that can communicate with a dispensing robot and prepares dispensing;
The terminal device of the medical institution, the prescription management database, and the computer can communicate with each other ,
The computer includes a display device that displays information,
When the prescription data is issued by the medical institution, the prescription data is registered in the prescription management database, and when the prescription data of a specific patient who uses the dispensing pharmacy as a family pharmacy is registered in the prescription management database, The prescription management database automatically notifies the computer of the registration, and the computer accesses the prescription management database and records the prescription data of the patient as a person scheduled to visit the dispensing pharmacy. a prescription acquisition step;
a prescription confirmation step in which the computer displays the patient's prescription data acquired in the prescription acquisition step on the display device and causes a pharmacist to confirm the contents of the prescription data;
a dispensing preparation instructing step in which the computer instructs the dispensing preparation robot to prepare for dispensing to deliver a box containing the drug specified in the prescription data from a storage location to a pharmacist, based on the confirmed prescription data; and,
A dispensing support method, comprising: a dispensing preparation step in which the dispensing preparation robot prepares dispensing based on the instruction in the dispensing preparation instruction step. A dispensing support program that causes a computer to operate as the prescription acquisition section, the prescription confirmation section, and the dispensing preparation instruction section in the dispensing support device of the system according to claim 1.