WO2022167896A1

WO2022167896A1 - Methods of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services

Info

Publication number: WO2022167896A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/050636
Authority: WO
Inventors: Omer Einav; Doron Shabanov; Tamir Ben David; Anthony Joseph Spero; Eyal Livschitz; Thomas A. Mckinney; Moshe Liberman
Original assignee: Tech Pharmacy Services, Llc
Priority date: 2021-02-02
Filing date: 2022-01-25
Publication date: 2022-08-11

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients comprising a plurality of individuals from at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine, comprising assigning a service level agreement (SLA) for each of said two or more groups of clients; analyzing pharmaceutical dispensing parameters; generating a first schedule; identifying one or more time windows outside said first schedule; generating, on said identified one or more time windows, a second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services; dispensing pharmaceuticals according to said first and said second schedule.

Description

METHODS OF PROVIDING PHARMACEUTICAL DISPENSING SERVICES

RELATED APPLICATION/S

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/144,526 filed on 2 February 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to methods of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to methods of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to a plurality of different groups of individuals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Following is a non-exclusive list including some examples of embodiments of the invention. The invention also includes embodiments which include fewer than all the features in an example and embodiments using features from multiple examples, also if not expressly listed below.

Example 1. A method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients comprising a plurality of individuals, said pharmaceutical dispensing services provided from at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine, the method comprising: a. assigning to each of said two or more group of clients a service level agreement (SLA), said SLA being a different SLA for each of said two or more groups of clients; b. automatically analyzing pharmaceutical dispensing parameters for a first group of clients from said two or more groups of clients to calculate a time for the preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individuals of said first group of clients; c. automatically generating a first schedule for providing said pharmaceutical dispensing services to said first group according to one or more results of said calculated time; d. automatically identifying one or more time windows outside said generated first schedule when said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine is not occupied with preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers for said first group of clients; e. automatically generating, on said identified one or more time windows, a second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services for at least one additional group of clients from said two or more groups of clients having a different SLA compared with said first group; said preparing comprising preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individual of said at least one additional group of clients; f. dispensing pharmaceuticals according to said first and said second schedule.

Example 2. The method according to example 1, wherein said second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services comprises more than one time window.

Example 3. The method according to example 1 or example 2, wherein said one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are one or more of individual specific pharmaceuticals, urgent pharmaceuticals and generic pharmaceuticals.

Example 4. The method according to any one of examples 1-3, wherein generating said second schedule comprises calculating time required to deliver said personalized individual pharmaceutical containers.

Example 5. The method according to any one of examples 1-4, wherein said calculate a time for the preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers is influenced by mechanical capabilities of said pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

Example 6. The method according to any one of examples 1-5, wherein dispensing lifesaving pharmaceuticals overcomes any type of SLA and are dispensed first.

Example 7. The method according to any one of examples 1-6, further comprising announcing in advance to said two or more group of clients when pharmaceutical dispensing services are delayed or cancelled.

Example 8. The method according to any one of examples 1-7, wherein said dispensing pharmaceuticals comprises prioritizing the dispensing of essential pharmaceuticals.

Example 9. The method according to any one of examples 1-8, wherein ready to be dispensed personalized individual pharmaceutical containers collected during said one or more time windows are stored in said pharmaceutical dispensing machine until all personalized individual pharmaceutical containers of said one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are ready to be dispensed together.

Example 10. The method according to any one of examples 1-9, further comprising delaying said first schedule when possible when essential pharmaceuticals are required to be dispensed.

Example 11. The method according to any one of examples 1-10, wherein each of said two or more group of clients are physically located apart from each other and/or located at different locations. Example 12. The method according to any one of examples 1-11, wherein physical distance to said pharmaceutical dispensing machine influences said SLA.

Example 13. The method according to any one of examples 1-12, wherein said assigning is performed manually or automatically.

Example 14. The method according to any one of examples 1-13, said pharmaceutical dispensing machine utilizes as many time windows as necessary to finish said preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services.

Example 15. The method according to any one of examples 1-14, wherein said dispensing pharmaceuticals of said one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are dispensed in one or more distinct deliveries.

Example 16. The method according to any one of examples 1-15, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine is physically located apart from each of said groups.

Example 17. The method according to any one of examples 1-16, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine comprises instructions for preparing said personalized individual pharmaceutical containers in a dedicated container suitable for mailing when said pharmaceutical dispensing services or said SLA comprise mailing said personalized individual pharmaceutical containers.

Example 18. A pharmaceutical dispensing machine for providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients, comprising: a. a plurality of different pharmaceuticals; b. a plurality of pharmaceutical dispensing containers configured to receive at least one pharmaceutical from said plurality of pharmaceuticals ; c. a plurality of totes for receiving at least one pharmaceutical dispensing container from said plurality of pharmaceutical dispensing containers; d. a plurality of modules configured to perform actions related to a pharmaceutical dispensing process; e. circuitry for coordinating said actions performed by said plurality of modules for said pharmaceutical dispensing process; said pharmaceutical dispensing process comprises instructions to prepare one or more batches of pharmaceuticals to said two or more groups of clients according to at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter.

Example 19. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to example 18, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedule. Example 20. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to example 18 or example 19, wherein at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals to a location different to that of said pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

Example 21. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-20, wherein said circuitry comprises instructions to insert pharmaceutical dispensing containers belonging to different groups of clients into different totes.

Example 22. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-21, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to prepare and dispense pharmaceutical dispensing containers to be immediately dispensed.

Example 23. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-22, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to prepare and store pharmaceutical dispensing containers to be dispensed at later times.

Example 24. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-23, wherein said plurality of pharmaceuticals are stored in a pharmaceutical array module.

Example 25. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-24, wherein said plurality of pharmaceuticals are one or more of pills, liquids, bandages, syringes and creams.

Example 26. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-25, further comprising a mechanical arm module configured to pick up individual single pharmaceuticals from said plurality of different pharmaceuticals and insert them into said pharmaceutical dispensing container.

Example 27. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-26, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a level of urgency of said dispensing.

Example 28. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-27, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a distance of said two or more groups of clients from said pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

Example 29. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of examples 18-28, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a level of criticality of said pharmaceuticals needed to be dispensed. Example 30. A method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients comprising a plurality of individuals, said pharmaceutical dispensing services provided from at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine, the method comprising: a. assigning to each of said two or more group of clients a service level agreement (SLA), said SLA being a different SLA for each of said two or more groups of clients; b. automatically analyzing pharmaceutical dispensing parameters for a first group of clients from said two or more groups of clients to calculate a time for the preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individuals of said first group of clients; c. automatically generating a first schedule for providing said pharmaceutical dispensing services to said first group according to one or more results of said calculated time; d. automatically identifying one or more time windows outside said generated first schedule when said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine is not occupied with preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers for said first group of clients; e. automatically generating, on said identified one or more time windows, a second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services for at least one additional group of clients from said two or more groups of clients having a different SLA compared with said first group; said preparing comprising preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individual of said at least one additional group of clients; f. storing in said pharmaceutical dispensing machine said generated personalized individual pharmaceutical containers for said at least one additional group of clients.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and/or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the invention, exemplary methods and/or materials are described below. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be necessarily limiting.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, some embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, some embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, some embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. Implementation of the method and/or system of some embodiments of the invention can involve performing and/or completing selected tasks manually, automatically, or a combination thereof. Moreover, according to actual instrumentation and equipment of some embodiments of the method and/or system of the invention, several selected tasks could be implemented by hardware, by software or by firmware and/or by a combination thereof, e.g., using an operating system.

For example, hardware for performing selected tasks according to some embodiments of the invention could be implemented as a chip or a circuit. As software, selected tasks according to some embodiments of the invention could be implemented as a plurality of software instructions being executed by a computer using any suitable operating system. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, one or more tasks according to some exemplary embodiments of method and/or system as described herein are performed by a data processor, such as a computing platform for executing a plurality of instructions. Optionally, the data processor includes a volatile memory for storing instructions and/or data and/or a non-volatile storage, for example, a magnetic hard-disk and/or removable media, for storing instructions and/or data. Optionally, a network connection is provided as well. A display and/or a user input device such as a keyboard or mouse are optionally provided as well.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized for some embodiments of the invention. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium and/or data used thereby may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for some embodiments of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Some embodiments of the present invention may be described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Some of the methods described herein are generally designed only for use by a computer, and may not be feasible or practical for performing purely manually, by a human expert. A human expert who wanted to manually perform similar tasks, such as deciding to whom provide pharmaceutical dispensing services, might be expected to use completely different methods, e.g., making use of expert knowledge and/or the pattern recognition capabilities of the human brain, which would be vastly more efficient than manually going through the steps of the methods described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the invention are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the invention. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the invention may be practiced.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of dispensing pharmaceuticals using a pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing 24 hours- schedule, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic representation of exemplary locations of groups of clients in relation to a pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to some embodiments of the invention; Figure 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Figures 6a-c are flowcharts of exemplary actions performed by the system, according to some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 7 is a schematic representation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing 24 hours- schedule, according to an example of some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 8 is a schematic representation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing 24 hours- schedule as exemplary seen by a pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to an example of some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 9 is a schematic representation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing 72 hours- schedule as exemplary planned by a pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to an example of some embodiments of the invention; and

Figure 10 is a schematic representation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing 72 hours- schedule as exemplary executed by a pharmaceutical dispensing machine with exemplary problems, according to an example of some embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Overview

An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to utilizing pharmaceutical dispensing machines to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to more than one group of individuals. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to a first group of individuals and, when possible, provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to at least one additional different group of individuals, as long as the pharmaceutical dispensing services to the first group of individuals is met and/or not affected/delayed. In some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing services are defined, for example, by service level agreements (SLAs), which define the activities of the pharmaceutical dispensing machines. In some embodiments, idle times of the pharmaceutical dispensing machine are used to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to the at least one additional different group of individuals. In some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing machines prepare personalized individual pharmaceutical containers, optionally for each individual. In some embodiments, unscheduled events having higher and/or different priorities, for example dispensing of critical pharmaceuticals, might cause a disturbance and/or delay in the schedule of the preparation and dispensing of pharmaceuticals being executed by the pharmaceutical dispensing machine. In some embodiments, real-time adjustments in the pharmaceutical dispensing schedules are performed when unscheduled events occur and take precedence.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components and/or methods set forth in the following description and/or illustrated in the drawings and/or the Examples. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways.

For purposes of better understanding some embodiments of the present invention, as illustrated in Figures 2-9 of the drawings, reference is first made to the construction and operation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing machine as illustrated for example in Figure 1. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine 100 comprises one or more modules selected from the group consisting of: a pharmaceutical array module 102, a pharmaceutical tote module 104, a pharmaceutical operational module 106 and a mechanical arm module 108. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine comprises at least one backup and/or redundant software and/or hardware. In some embodiments, the one or more modules comprise at least one backup and/or redundant hardware and/or module adapted to perform the same and/or similar and/or different functions. In some embodiments, the one or more modules and the at least one backup and/or redundant hardware and/or module perform tasks at the same time.

In some embodiments, the one or more modules comprise at least one dedicated sensor adapted to monitor the functioning and/or the performance and/or the demands of the modules. In some embodiments, the at least one dedicated sensor is activated remotely by a user via a dedicated server.

In some embodiments, verification on functionality of hardware, updated software, content (i.e. pharmaceuticals), consumables (i.e. envelopes/containers) is performed on the modules. In some embodiments, a user and/or a technician at the site of the pharmaceutical dispensing machine perform the verification. In some embodiments, a user and/or a technician perform the verification remotely.

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to pick up single pharmaceuticals and insert them into individual containers (for example envelopes/containers), each individual container destined for one specific individual. In some embodiments, more than one pharmaceutical and/or more than one type of pharmaceutical is inserted in the individual container. For example, certain individual/patient needs to receive four distinct pharmaceuticals at a certain time, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine will pick up and insert four distinct pharmaceuticals into one container, close the container and print the personal details of the specific individual on the container, therefore preparing a personalized unique dose of pharmaceuticals for a specific individual. In some embodiments, ready to be dispensed containers comprising pharmaceuticals are stored in totes in the tote module, which will be then picked up by dedicated personnel to be distributed between the patients/users.

Further technical information regarding the pharmaceutical dispensing machines have been disclosed elsewhere, including the following patent documents: US2020/0185076A1, US2020/0327980A1, US2020/0388100A1, US16/558,188, US17/009,953, US2020/0323737A1, US2020/0388369A1, US63/049,147, US 10614916, W02020/208439, US 17/009,953, US 16/988,770 and US63/014,145, which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

Referring now to Figure 2, showing a flowchart of an exemplary method of dispensing pharmaceuticals using a pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to some embodiments of the invention. In some embodiments, a pharmaceutical dispensing system collects all relevant data of the patients associated with a specific pharmaceutical dispensing machine, for example in a non-exhaustive matter, the schedule of dispensing pharmaceuticals, which pharmaceuticals to dispense, location of the patients (either in a specific building/room or another scheduled location - for example the patient is at physiotherapy or undergoing a medical test), background information about the patients, historical data of the patients and more. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing system, optionally by the server, delivers a schedule to the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and therefore, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine receives the pharmaceutical dispensing schedule 202. In some embodiments, a certain predetermined time before the scheduled time of dispensing, for example the time when dedicated personnel will come to collect the ready to be dispensed pharmaceutical containers, the pharmaceutical dispensing system/machine will assess the status of the patients to confirm that nothing has changed (for example that certain patient is not at the expected location, that a certain patient has been discharged or has died, etc.) in comparison to the information of the patients that was previously received 204. In some embodiments, if nothing has changed then the pharmaceutical dispensing machine continues as scheduled. In some embodiments, if something has changed, the system will amend what is necessary. Examples of these can be found in other patent documents as mentioned above. In some embodiments, certain predetermined time before the scheduled time of dispensing is the time necessary for the pharmaceutical dispensing machine to prepare all the scheduled individual pharmaceutical containers for the patients. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine then prepares all the scheduled individual pharmaceutical containers for the patients 206. In some embodiments, at the scheduled time, a dedicated personnel picks up the ready to be dispensed pharmaceuticals in their individual containers 208, optionally as a group of medications in a tote or a tray for example. In some embodiments, the system is updated that the scheduled dispensing of pharmaceuticals have been finished 210.

Referring now to Figure 3, showing a schematic representation of an exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing 24 hours-schedule, according to some embodiments of the invention. For the following example, a pharmaceutical dispensing machine located, for example, in a longterm care facility, is scheduled to dispense twice a day, according to a predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedule. For example, dedicated personnel is scheduled to pick up the personalized pharmaceutical containers at 6:00 in the morning (06:00 a.m.) and at 16:00 in the afternoon (04:00 p.m.). In some embodiments, following the exemplary general method as disclosed above, three hours before the pharmaceutical dispensing machine begins the preparation of the individual pharmaceutical containers, and one hour before, the pharmaceutical dispensing system assesses the status of the patients. It should be understood that the times shown here are just examples provided to enable a person having skills in the art to understand the invention, and that those times should not be limiting in any way. In some embodiments, the three hours preparation time is directly correlated to the number of pharmaceuticals containers that need to be prepared, so it should be understood that for example, if more containers are needed, then it might take more time, and vice versa.

In some embodiments, as mentioned above, the pharmaceutical dispensing services comprise the preparation and dispensing of a certain quantity of individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers comprising the necessary, and optionally different, pharmaceuticals for a plurality of single individuals. For example, in a case where there are a hundred individuals, the pharmaceutical dispensing services will comprise the preparation of a hundred individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers each being unique for a specific individual and each containing the necessary pharmaceuticals, optionally different pharmaceuticals, for each unique individual. In some embodiments, the preparation of a certain quantity of individual pharmaceutical dispensing container is calculated by the system, and it is known, since the system is capable of calculating the time required to prepare each single individual pharmaceutical dispensing container. For example, the time required to prepare the pharmaceutical dispensing container (for example an envelope) for the insertion of pharmaceuticals, picking up individual pharmaceuticals (for example individual pills), optionally different individual pharmaceuticals, bringing them into the pharmaceutical dispensing container, closing the pharmaceutical dispensing container and bringing pharmaceutical dispensing container to the waiting area in the pharmaceutical dispensing machine where all ready-to-be dispensed pharmaceutical dispensing containers are stored (for example the tote module).

As can be seen in Figure 3, potentially, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is idle between 00:00 (midnight) and 02:00 (02:00 a.m.), between 07:00 (07:00 a.m.) and 11:00 (11:00 a.m.) and between 17:00 (05:00 p.m.) and 00:00 (midnight).

The scope of some embodiments of the invention relates to providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to one or more additional groups of individuals, optionally from the same pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

Exemplary types of pharmaceutical dispensing services

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing system provides a plurality of different types of pharmaceutical dispensing services. In some embodiments, exemplary types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are one or more of the following:

Daily personalized pharmaceutical dispensing services: in some embodiments, the system provides one or more times a day personalized pharmaceutical dispensing containers comprising specific amount and types of pharmaceuticals to specific unique users (e.g. tenants, patients), optionally according to a predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedule.

Weekly personalized pharmaceutical dispensing services: in some embodiments, the system provides one or more times a week personalized pharmaceutical dispensing containers comprising specific amount and types of pharmaceuticals to specific unique users (e.g. patients), optionally according to a predetermined weekly pharmaceutical dispensing schedule.

Monthly personalized pharmaceutical dispensing services: in some embodiments, the system provides one or more times a month personalized pharmaceutical dispensing containers comprising specific amount and types of pharmaceuticals to specific unique users (e.g. patients), optionally according to a predetermined monthly pharmaceutical dispensing schedule.

General pharmaceutical dispensing services: in some embodiments, the system provides pharmaceuticals following a specific general request from one or more of the groups of clients. In some embodiments, the general request is a general request for a certain period of time, for example for the next three months. For example, an elderly home without a pharmaceutical dispensing machine at the place requests to receive a certain amount of antibiotic pills due to a virus spreading there. Sporadic pharmaceutical dispensing services: in some embodiments, the system provides pharmaceuticals following a sporadic request from one or more of the groups of clients, optionally from an individual. For example, a person is in need of medication and there is a pharmaceutical dispensing machine in the proximity of his home, the person can request to pick up the medication at the pharmaceutical dispensing machine. Optionally, a currier can pick up the medicine from the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and deliver it to the person’s home.

3^rd party requests for pharmaceutical dispensing services: in some embodiments, upon a request from a 3^rd party, which also provides pharmaceutical dispensing services, the pharmaceutical dispensing system activates pharmaceutical dispensing machines to deliver pharmaceuticals to clients belonging to that 3^rd party. For example, Amazon Pharmacy® has problems with their packaging machines and needs to provide personalized medicines to a plurality of clients. Amazon Pharmacy® contacts the pharmaceutical dispensing system, which then prepares the required medicines.

Local emergency network: in some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine, via the pharmaceutical dispensing server, is connected to a local emergency network where, in case of a local emergency, a request for urgent dispensing of pharmaceuticals is received and the pharmaceutical dispensing machine dispenses what was requested.

Pharmaceutical dispensing mailing services: in some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine prepares one or more batches of pharmaceuticals to be dispensed via mailing services. In some embodiments, once the pharmaceuticals are ready to be picked and/or at a certain predetermined schedule, the mailing representative picks up the pharmaceuticals from the pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

Backup service: in some embodiments, one or more pharmaceutical dispensing machines are recruited to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services when in need, for example, when one pharmaceutical dispensing machine brakes down, other machines are recruited to provide what is required.

Local event service: in some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine, via the pharmaceutical dispensing server, is made available to the public and/or to dedicated medical personnel, to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services during an event, for example a sports event, a parade, a strike, etc.

Drugstores or Convenient stores: in some embodiments, drugstores or convenient stores in need of specific pharmaceuticals, for example, due to lack in the inventory, can request from the pharmaceutical dispensing system to provide. Exemplary locations of Pharmaceutical Dispensing Machines and groups of clients

Referring now to Figure 4, showing a schematic representation of exemplary locations of groups of clients in relation to a pharmaceutical dispensing machine, according to some embodiments of the invention. In some embodiments, a pharmaceutical dispensing machine 400 is located at a certain location 402, for example a hospital or an elderly house. In some embodiments, a first group of clients 404 resides at the same location 402 as the pharmaceutical dispensing machine 400. In some embodiments, one or more different groups of clients (406, 408, 410, 412) are located in different locations in relation to location 402, and still receive pharmaceutical dispensing services from the pharmaceutical dispensing machine 400 located in location 402. In some embodiments, a pharmaceutical dispensing machine 414 is located at a location 416 where no groups of clients are located, and pharmaceutical dispensing services are provided from that pharmaceutical dispensing machine to either of the groups of clients.

In some embodiments, a plurality of pharmaceutical dispensing machines provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to one or more groups of clients.

Exemplary different pharmaceutical dispensing containers for different clients

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to mark pharmaceutical dispensing containers in order to provide an indication to the person picking up the containers to which client the pharmaceutical dispensing container belongs. For example, pharmaceutical dispensing container can be added a coloured sticker, or printed with a mark and/or a coloured sign. In some embodiments, instead or in addition to marking the pharmaceutical dispensing containers, the pharmaceutical dispensing totes are marked.

Exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing containers with digital screens

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing containers comprise a digital screen and the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to introduce the information in the pharmaceutical dispensing container once and/or with the pharmaceuticals have been inserted in the pharmaceutical dispensing container. In some embodiments, the screens will show to which client the pharmaceutical dispensing container belongs.

Exemplary pharmaceutical dispensing containers with visual information

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing containers comprise one or more visual information on them, for example, a list of all the pharmaceuticals contained in the pharmaceutical dispensing container, pictures of the pharmaceuticals contained in the pharmaceutical dispensing container and a picture of the client/patient/tenant. In some embodiments, the visual information is directly printed on the pharmaceutical dispensing container. In some embodiments, the visual information is printed on a paper or sticker that is then attached to the pharmaceutical dispensing container.

Service level agreements (SLA) for pharmaceutical dispensing services

In some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing services provided by the pharmaceutical dispensing machine, optionally by more than one pharmaceutical dispensing machine, to a certain group of individuals is ruled by a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

In some embodiments, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a commitment between the service provider (in this case the pharmaceutical dispensing system using the pharmaceutical dispensing machine) and a client (in this case one or more groups of individuals in need to be provided with a pharmaceutical dispensing service). In some embodiments, particular aspects of the service, for example, quality, availability, responsibilities, are agreed between the service provider and the service user. In some embodiments, the SLA states that the services should be provided to the customer as agreed upon in the contract. In some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing services are provided according to a SLA. In some embodiments, operations and/or activities of a pharmaceutical dispensing machine (optionally more than one pharmaceutical dispensing machine) are influenced by aspects related to a SLA.

Exemplary parameters of pharmaceutical dispensing SLAs

In some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing SLAs are defined according to one or more and/or a combination of parameters. In some embodiments, the SLA parameters directly influence the activities of the (one or more) pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

In some embodiments, exemplary SLA parameters are one or more of the following:

Predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedules: in some embodiments, one or more locations receive pharmaceutical dispensing services according to a predetermined schedule (pharmaceutical dispensing schedule).

Non-scheduled dispensing of pharmaceuticals: in some embodiments, one or more locations receive unscheduled pharmaceutical dispensing services, for example, when in need of certain pharmaceuticals like painkillers and/or other pharmaceuticals that are dispensed when needed.

Priority: in some embodiments, one or more locations are provided with a priority score related to a priority scale. In some embodiments, locations having a higher priority score will receive first pharmaceutical dispensing services, when compared to locations having a lower priority score. In some embodiments, exemplary priority scales are static scales, for example first, second, third and so on. In some embodiments, exemplary priority scales are dynamic scales in which priority scores change according to changes in the SLA parameters.

Life and death situations: in some embodiments, a parameter of a SLA is that pharmaceutical dispensing services that are related to life and death situations, meaning for example, a delay in the dispensing of pharmaceuticals will probably cause the death of a patient, will bypass all other parameters and will be performed as soon as possible and/or immediately with the receiving of the pharmaceutical dispensing request.

Medical conditions: in some embodiments, a parameter of the SLA is that pharmaceutical dispensing services related to patients having critical and/or severe conditions but are not in life or death situations, would be prepared first and/or prior to the preparation of pharmaceuticals for patient not having critical and/or severe conditions.

Partial and/or complete batches: in some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing services comprise a determined quantity of pharmaceuticals to be dispensed. In some embodiments, as disclosed above, pharmaceutical dispensing services are performed by providing unique personalized pharmaceutical containers comprising one or more different pharmaceutical needed to be taken by a specific individual at a certain time. In order to facilitate the explanations, a “batch” is defined as all the pharmaceuticals requested and needed to be dispensed at a certain moment and/or for a certain request, optionally in dedicated individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers (for example envelopes/containers). In some embodiments, a SLA parameter will include if and when a dispensing event comprises a complete batch or a batch can be divided in partial batches that are delivered in different occasions and/or times. For example, a pharmaceutical dispensing machine prepares 70% of the pharmaceutical dispensing container that need to be delivered to a certain location, the SLA parameter will dictate if the delivery can be performed in two (or more) deliveries or the pharmaceutical dispensing machine will finish the whole batch and then the whole batch will be delivered in a single delivery.

Volume of pharmaceuticals required for dispensing: in some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing services comprise a certain volume of pharmaceuticals to be dispensed, optionally over a certain period of time. In some embodiments, one or more rounds of dispensing are performed until the requested volume is provided.

Additional processes needed to complete the dispensed product: in some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing services comprise the addition of elements and/or compounds and/or tools needed for the use and/or consumption of pharmaceuticals. For example providing one or more of bandages, swabs, water, syringes, etc.

Exemplary method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients

Referring now to Figure 5, showing a flowchart of an exemplary method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients, according to some embodiments of the invention. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing system utilizes one or more pharmaceutical dispensing machines, optionally in communication with one or more servers that coordinate the activities of the pharmaceutical dispensing system, to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients by performing one or more of the following actions. In some embodiments, the two or more groups of clients are physically apart from each other, for example in two different locations.

In some embodiments, the system assigns to each client a specific unique SLA 502. In some embodiments, a user assigns to each client a specific unique SLA. In some embodiments, the system automatically analyzes the pharmaceutical dispensing parameters for a first group of clients having a first SLA to calculate the time required for the preparation of the individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers 504. In some embodiments, the SLA of the first group of clients dictate that the first group of clients have the highest priority for dispensing, meaning for example that the pharmaceutical dispensing machine will first prepare pharmaceuticals to be dispensed to that group before performing pharmaceutical dispensing actions for other groups of clients. In some embodiments, as disclosed above, the pharmaceutical dispensing parameters comprise one or more of a number of individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers to be prepared and the time that those individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers need to be ready according to a predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedule. In some embodiments, based on the number of individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers to be prepared and the time that those individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers need to be ready according to a predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedule, the system is able to calculate the time required to prepare those individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers in view of the technical parameters of the pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

In some embodiments, technical parameters of a pharmaceutical dispensing machine are for example one or more of the mechanical limitations of a pharmaceutical dispensing machine regarding time required to prepare unique pharmaceutical dispensing containers by individually picking up each pharmaceutical and delivering them to the pharmaceutical dispensing container, mechanical limitations regarding the storage space in the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and limitations regarding the quantity and/or types of pharmaceuticals found in a pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

In some embodiments, the system automatically analyzes the pharmaceuticals dispensing parameters of all the different groups of clients a priori and saves the results of the analysis for later use. In some embodiments, the system generates a first schedule for providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to said first group of clients according to the results of said calculation 506.

In some embodiments, this is similar to what is shown in Figure 3. In some embodiments, the system then automatically identifies one or more time windows outside said generated first schedule 508. In some embodiments, this is similar to the empty slots shown in Figure 3. In some embodiments, the system then automatically generates a second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services for at least one additional group of clients having a different SLA compared to said first SLA of said first group 510.

In some embodiments, generating a second schedule comprises analyzing pharmaceutical dispensing parameters of at least one additional group of clients. In some embodiments, generating a second schedule comprises recovering data of previous analyzed pharmaceutical dispensing parameters of at least one additional group of clients. In some embodiments, completely preparing takes one or more time windows, for example, using the time schedule as shown in Figure 3, completely preparing a certain pharmaceutical dispensing service for at least one additional group of clients can be perform using one or more time windows between 07:00 (07:00a.m.) - 11:00 (11:00a.m.) and 17:00 (05:00p.m.) - 01:00 (01:00a.m.), optionally as many time windows as necessary. For example, completely preparing a large pharmaceutical dispensing request can take several days to finish using the available time windows.

In some embodiments, more than one additional pharmaceutical dispensing request are fulfilled in a single time window. In some embodiments, generating a second pharmaceutical dispensing schedule comprises generating a second schedule for preparing individual personalized pharmaceutical dispensing containers for a plurality of unique clients. In some embodiments, once the additional pharmaceutical dispensing request has been completely prepared, the complete batch is dispensed to the at least one additional group of clients 512.

It should be understood that the above described method is just an exemplary method provided so a person having skills in the art can understand the invention, and that additional and/or different actions could be performed by the pharmaceutical dispensing machine in order to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more distinct groups of clients. Exemplary features applied to pharmaceutical dispensing schedules for two or more groups of clients

Life/Death situations

In some embodiments, activities performed by a pharmaceutical dispensing machine related to the fulfillment of a pharmaceutical dispensing service according to a pharmaceutical dispensing schedule are temporarily stopped in order to fulfill the dispensing of pharmaceuticals for specific patients that urgently require pharmaceuticals and/or non-dispensing of pharmaceutical can cause a risk to the life of the patients. In some embodiments, the rules that apply to these cases are binary rules, for example: is the patient life at immediate risk if not provided with the necessary pharmaceuticals? - The only two possible responses are “yes” or “no”.

Medical conditions

In some embodiments, pharmaceutical dispensing activities related to patients having critical and/or severe conditions but are not in life or death situations, are prepared first and/or prior to the preparation of pharmaceuticals for patient not having critical and/or severe conditions.

Flexible pharmaceutical dispensing schedule

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing system comprises information on the flexibility of a certain pharmaceutical dispensing schedule. For example, using the schedule shown in Figure 3, the system comprises instructions that the dispensing of pharmaceuticals of 16:00 (04:00p.m.) is a flexible time and that it can be dispensed until 17:00 (05:00p.m.). In some embodiments, if and when necessary, the system will delay one or more of the activities related to the dispensing of 16:00 (04:00p.m.). For example, a complete preparation of a type of pharmaceutical dispensing service scheduled to be prepared in the time window beginning at 07:00 (07:00a.m.) requires continuous operation of the pharmaceutical dispensing machine until 12:30 (12:30p.m.). Since the following pharmaceutical dispensing activity has been defined as a flexible pharmaceutical dispensing schedule, the system will automatically amend the schedule to allow the complete preparation of the early service and then commence the following preparation of the later service. In some embodiments, changes in the pharmaceutical dispensing schedule incur notifying the relevant dedicated personnel responsible for receiving the pharmaceutical services (see below).

Delays/Non dispensing - notifications

In some embodiments, the system is configured to monitor the activities of the one or more pharmaceutical dispensing machines responsible for fulfilling one or more pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients. In some embodiments, when the system identifies that a certain pharmaceutical dispensing service may be delayed and/or could not be fulfilled according to a pharmaceutical dispensing schedule, the system automatically informs the relevant party of the delay and/or failure to dispense on time.

Priority of dispensing

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine comprises instructions to prepare and dispense first essential pharmaceuticals and then prepare and dispense less and/or non-essential pharmaceuticals.

Advancing future pharmaceutical dispensing activities

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine comprises instructions to prepare in advance less important and/or not personalized pharmaceutical dispensing containers and keep them in storage in the pharmaceutical dispensing machine until they are required.

Hierarchy of Pharmaceutical dispensing services in relation to the physical location of the pharmaceutical dispensing machine

In some embodiments, the hierarchy of who is more important and/or who will receive first pharmaceutical dispensing services from a certain pharmaceutical dispensing machine is directly related to the vicinity of a group of clients to that pharmaceutical dispensing machine. For example, a pharmaceutical dispensing machine is located at a hospital. The patients located at the hospital will receive higher priority to client located outside the hospital.

Manual and/or automatic assignment of priority

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing system comprises instructions to automatically assign a certain level of priority to one group of clients in relation to one or more other groups of clients. In some embodiments, the assignment of priority is guided by one or more of: a SLA of the different groups, the physical vicinity to the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and the type of pharmaceutical dispensing service assigned to a certain group of clients.

In some embodiments, the assignment of level of priority is performed manually by a dedicated personnel related to the pharmaceutical dispensing system.

Exemplary iterative actions

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and/or the server performs real-time and/or a posteriori corrections according to the pharmaceutical dispensing information received. For example, in some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine performs virtual simulations of the pharmaceutical dispensing process before and/or during the pharmaceutical dispensing process to evaluate the best course of action. In some embodiments, results of the simulations are used to improve and/or correct a pharmaceutical dispensing process.

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and/or the server performs real-time corrections to the pharmaceutical dispensing process according to information received in real-time. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and/or the server performs real-time corrections, if necessary, to the pharmaceutical dispensing process after each step of the process. In some embodiments, information is real information received, for example, an urgent request. In some embodiments, information is received from a simulation.

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and/or the server performs corrections a posteriori to the pharmaceutical dispensing process according to information accumulated during a pharmaceutical dispensing process. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and/or the server performs corrections, if necessary, to the pharmaceutical dispensing process to each step of the process independently.

In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine and/or the server comprises machine learning algorithms configured to analyze the outcome of the pharmaceutical dispensing processes and improve future performances.

In some embodiments, Al algorithms are used to optimize the content of the pharmaceuticals in the machine to maximize and/or optimize the pharmaceutical dispensing services according to parameters such as: SLAs, emergency dispensing, local public activities, costs, etc. As used herein with reference to quantity or value, the term “about” means “within ± 20% of’.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “has”, “having” and their conjugates mean “including but not limited to”.

The term “consisting of’ means “including and limited to”.

The term “consisting essentially of’ means that the composition, method or structure may include additional ingredients, steps and/or parts, but only if the additional ingredients, steps and/or parts do not materially alter the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed composition, method or structure.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, the term “a compound” or “at least one compound” may include a plurality of compounds, including mixtures thereof.

Throughout this application, embodiments of this invention may be presented with reference to a range format. It should be understood that the description in range format is merely for convenience and brevity and should not be construed as an inflexible limitation on the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the description of a range should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges as well as individual numerical values within that range. For example, description of a range such as “from 1 to 6” should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as “from 1 to 3”, “from 1 to 4”, “from 1 to 5”, “from 2 to 4”, “from 2 to 6”, “from 3 to 6”, etc.; as well as individual numbers within that range, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This applies regardless of the breadth of the range.

Whenever a numerical range is indicated herein (for example “10-15”, “10 to 15”, or any pair of numbers linked by these another such range indication), it is meant to include any number (fractional or integral) within the indicated range limits, including the range limits, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The phrases “range/ranging/ranges between” a first indicate number and a second indicate number and “range/ranging/ranges from” a first indicate number “to”, “up to”, “until” or “through” (or another such range-indicating term) a second indicate number are used herein interchangeably and are meant to include the first and second indicated numbers and all the fractional and integral numbers therebetween.

Unless otherwise indicated, numbers used herein and any number ranges based thereon are approximations within the accuracy of reasonable measurement and rounding errors as understood by persons skilled in the art.

It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the invention. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.

Various embodiments and aspects of the present invention as delineated hereinabove and as claimed in the claims section below find support in the following examples.

EXAMPLES

Reference is now made to the following examples, which together with the above descriptions illustrate some embodiments of the invention in a non limiting fashion.

Referring now to Figures 6a-c, showing a flowchart of exemplary actions performed by the system, according to some embodiments of the invention. Referring to Figure 6a, in some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine performs the actions as disclosed in Figure 5 602. In some embodiments, during the preparation of the individual pharmaceutical dispensing containers an unscheduled request to dispense pharmaceuticals to client X is received by the system 604. In some embodiments, the system assesses the SLA of client X 606. In some embodiments, in view of the recently assessment of the SLA of client X, the system assesses if the unscheduled request of pharmaceuticals for client X has a higher priority of dispensing than the current pharmaceutical dispensing process the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is performing 608. In some embodiments, when the answer is “NO” (flowchart continues following the letter A to Figure 6b), the system automatically generates a schedule for completely preparing the unscheduled request for client X according to its SLA and the SLAs of the other groups of clients 610. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine continues to prepare and dispense pharmaceuticals to the current client and then, to the other groups of clients, according to the amended schedule, including the schedule to prepare and dispense pharmaceuticals for client X 612. Returning to Figure 6a, in some embodiments, when the answer is “YES” (flowchart continues following the letter B to Figure 6c), the system automatically stops the current pharmaceutical dispensing process for the preparation of batches for the current client 614. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine prepares and dispenses the pharmaceuticals requested in the unscheduled request for client X 616. In some embodiments, after the dispensing of pharmaceuticals for client X, the system adjusts the pharmaceutical dispensing schedules in view of the delay caused by the preparation and dispensing of pharmaceuticals to client X in order to meet the pharmaceutical dispensing schedules according to the SLAs 618. In some embodiments, if no delay has been detected, then the pharmaceutical dispensing machine continues as scheduled. In some embodiments, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine continues to prepare and dispense pharmaceuticals according to the amended schedule 620.

A pharmaceutical dispensing machine is located at the basement of an elderly home. The elderly home comprise of a hundred tenants, each having specific pharmaceutical needs. According to a predetermined schedule, tenants receive personalized containers containing specific pharmaceuticals twice a day at 06:00 (06:00a.m.) and 18:00 (06:00p.m.). It takes two hours to assess the database/receive from server instructions regarding the pharmaceutical needs of the tenants, which can optionally comprise changes in their pharmaceutical needs, and prepare all personalized pharmaceutical dispensing containers. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine comprises instructions to have all pharmaceutical dispensing containers ready an hour before the time of delivery so dedicated personnel can pick up the pharmaceutical dispensing containers and have time to distribute them between the tenants by the schedule delivery time. Figure 7 shows a schematic time table showing the above. From the perspective of the pharmaceutical dispensing machine, the time table looks like the one shown in Figure 8, having two time windows in the schedule of the day, which are dedicated to Client A (in this example, client A is the elderly home). As can be seen, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is free to provide services to any other client (or group of clients) in the two remaining time windows, from 05:00 (05:00a.m.) to 14:59 (02:59p.m.) and from 17:00 (05:00p.m.) to 02:59 (02:59a.m.).

Figure 9 shows an example of how the pharmaceutical dispensing machine plans to utilize the free time windows to provide pharmaceutical dispensing services to other clients/group of clients (in this example client B and client C), for three consecutive days. As can be seen, on Day 1, the pharmaceutical dispensing machine is scheduled to be busy preparing pharmaceutical dispensing containers for client B from midnight (possibly also before, but it is not shown in this schedule) until to 02:59 (02:59a.m.). Then it is schedule to stop working for client B and work for client A as scheduled. Then it resumes the work for client B from 05:00 (05:00a.m.) to 10:59 (10:59a.m.). Then it should begin working on client C, and so on for the next three days, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 10 shows and example of what actually happened during those three consecutive days. Day 1 shows that everything when as scheduled. On Day 2, during the time window from 05:00 (05:00a.m.) to 14:59 (02:59p.m.), which was designated to be busy for client C, the machine interrupted the work for client C in order to provide pharmaceuticals (pharmaceutical dispensing services) for an emergency occurrence to client A. Since the interruption was short, the schedule was not affected and continued as scheduled until the next day. On Day 3, an unscheduled interruption due to maintenance occurred between 05:00 (05:00a.m.) to 08:59 (08:59a.m.) causing a delay in the schedule for client B, which caused a delay in the beginning of the work for client C.

It should be understood that these examples are brought in order to help a person having skills in the art understand the invention, and these examples should not limit the invention in any way.

Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.

It is the intent of the applicant(s) that all publications, patents and patent applications referred to in this specification are to be incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually noted when referenced that it is to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention. To the extent that section headings are used, they should not be construed as necessarily limiting. In addition, any priority document(s) of this application is/are hereby incorporated herein by reference in its/their entirety.

Claims

27 WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients comprising a plurality of individuals, said pharmaceutical dispensing services provided from at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine, the method comprising: a. assigning to each of said two or more group of clients a service level agreement (SLA), said SLA being a different SLA for each of said two or more groups of clients; b. automatically analyzing pharmaceutical dispensing parameters for a first group of clients from said two or more groups of clients to calculate a time for the preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individuals of said first group of clients; c. automatically generating a first schedule for providing said pharmaceutical dispensing services to said first group according to one or more results of said calculated time; d. automatically identifying one or more time windows outside said generated first schedule when said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine is not occupied with preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers for said first group of clients; e. automatically generating, on said identified one or more time windows, a second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services for at least one additional group of clients from said two or more groups of clients having a different SLA compared with said first group; said preparing comprising preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individual of said at least one additional group of clients; f. dispensing pharmaceuticals according to said first and said second schedule.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services comprises more than one time window.

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are one or more of individual specific pharmaceuticals, urgent pharmaceuticals and generic pharmaceuticals.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein generating said second schedule comprises calculating time required to deliver said personalized individual pharmaceutical containers.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein said calculate a time for the preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers is influenced by mechanical capabilities of said pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein dispensing life-saving pharmaceuticals overcomes any type of SLA and are dispensed first.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, further comprising announcing in advance to said two or more group of clients when pharmaceutical dispensing services are delayed or cancelled.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein said dispensing pharmaceuticals comprises prioritizing the dispensing of essential pharmaceuticals.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein ready to be dispensed personalized individual pharmaceutical containers collected during said one or more time windows are stored in said pharmaceutical dispensing machine until all personalized individual pharmaceutical containers of said one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are ready to be dispensed together.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, further comprising delaying said first schedule when possible when essential pharmaceuticals are required to be dispensed.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein each of said two or more group of clients are physically located apart from each other and/or located at different locations.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein physical distance to said pharmaceutical dispensing machine influences said SLA.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein said assigning is performed manually or automatically.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-13, said pharmaceutical dispensing machine utilizes as many time windows as necessary to finish said preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, wherein said dispensing pharmaceuticals of said one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services are dispensed in one or more distinct deliveries.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1-15, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine is physically located apart from each of said groups.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1-16, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine comprises instructions for preparing said personalized individual pharmaceutical containers in a dedicated container suitable for mailing when said pharmaceutical dispensing services or said SLA comprise mailing said personalized individual pharmaceutical containers.

18. A pharmaceutical dispensing machine for providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients, comprising: a. a plurality of different pharmaceuticals; b. a plurality of pharmaceutical dispensing containers configured to receive at least one pharmaceutical from said plurality of pharmaceuticals; c. a plurality of totes for receiving at least one pharmaceutical dispensing container from said plurality of pharmaceutical dispensing containers; d. a plurality of modules configured to perform actions related to a pharmaceutical dispensing process; e. circuitry for coordinating said actions performed by said plurality of modules for said pharmaceutical dispensing process; said pharmaceutical dispensing process comprises instructions to prepare one or more batches of pharmaceuticals to said two or more groups of clients according to at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter.

19. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to claim 18, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a predetermined pharmaceutical dispensing schedule.

20. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to claim 18 or claim 19, wherein at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals to a location different to that of said pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

21. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-20, wherein said circuitry comprises instructions to insert pharmaceutical dispensing containers belonging to different groups of clients into different totes.

22. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-21, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to prepare and dispense pharmaceutical dispensing containers to be immediately dispensed.

23. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-22, wherein said pharmaceutical dispensing machine is configured to prepare and store pharmaceutical dispensing containers to be dispensed at later times.

24. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-23, wherein said plurality of pharmaceuticals are stored in a pharmaceutical array module.

25. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-24, wherein said plurality of pharmaceuticals are one or more of pills, liquids, bandages, syringes and creams.

26. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-25, further comprising a mechanical arm module configured to pick up individual single pharmaceuticals from said plurality of different pharmaceuticals and insert them into said pharmaceutical dispensing container.

27. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-26, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a level of urgency of said dispensing. 31

28. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-27, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a distance of said two or more groups of clients from said pharmaceutical dispensing machine.

29. The pharmaceutical dispensing machine according to anyone of claims 18-28, wherein said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing service parameter comprises dispensing said one or more batches of pharmaceuticals according to a level of criticality of said pharmaceuticals needed to be dispensed.

30. A method of providing pharmaceutical dispensing services to two or more groups of clients comprising a plurality of individuals, said pharmaceutical dispensing services provided from at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine, the method comprising: a. assigning to each of said two or more group of clients a service level agreement (SLA), said SLA being a different SLA for each of said two or more groups of clients; b. automatically analyzing pharmaceutical dispensing parameters for a first group of clients from said two or more groups of clients to calculate a time for the preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individuals of said first group of clients; c. automatically generating a first schedule for providing said pharmaceutical dispensing services to said first group according to one or more results of said calculated time; d. automatically identifying one or more time windows outside said generated first schedule when said at least one pharmaceutical dispensing machine is not occupied with preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers for said first group of clients; e. automatically generating, on said identified one or more time windows, a second schedule for completely preparing one or more types of pharmaceutical dispensing services for at least one additional group of clients from said two or more groups of clients having a different SLA compared with said first group; said preparing comprising preparation of personalized individual pharmaceutical containers containing the required pharmaceuticals for said plurality of individual of said at least one additional group of clients; f. storing in said pharmaceutical dispensing machine said generated personalized individual pharmaceutical containers for said at least one additional group of clients.