DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/US22/30737, filed on 5/24/2022, and Provisional Application No. 63,215,342, filed 6/25/2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/11/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 71-95 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: Claims 71-95 are directed to statutory categories, namely a machine (claims 71-85), and a process (claims 86-95).
Step 2A, Prong 1: Claims 71-95 in part, recite the following abstract idea:
…result in operations comprising: receiving a plurality of transaction records, wherein each transaction record of the plurality of transaction records, as received, represents an independent transaction of a plurality of transactions at … at a medical facility; wherein the plurality of transaction records comprises: time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transaction; and an elapsed time for a portion of the plurality of transactions; identifying, based at least in part on: (i) a comparison of the time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transactions and a threshold inter- transaction trip time; and (ii) a comparison of the elapsed time for the portion of the plurality of transactions and a threshold elapsed trip time, a sequence of the portion of the plurality of transactions as a unique trip from a pharmacy; and generating, based on the portion of the plurality of transaction records, at least one trip metric indicating an effectiveness of the unique trip; and suggesting, based on the at least one trip metric, an updated medical workflow configured to reduce a quantity of unscheduled trips of the plurality of trips of the medical workflow, the updated medical workflow comprising one or more of: a sequence of the plurality of trips of the medical workflow, a time at which the plurality of trips should be performed, one or more transactions to perform during each of the plurality of trips, or a route through the medical facility (Claim 71),
A method comprising: under control of one or more processing devices, receiving a plurality of transaction records, wherein each transaction record of the plurality of transaction records, as received, represents an independent transaction of a plurality of transactions at … at a medical facility, wherein the plurality of transaction records comprises: time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transaction; and an elapsed time for a portion of the plurality of transactions; identifying, based at least in part on: (i) a comparison of the time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transactions and a threshold inter- transaction trip time; and (ii) a comparison of the elapsed time for the portion of the plurality of transactions and a threshold elapsed trip time, a sequence of the portion of the plurality of transactions as a unique trip from a pharmacy; and predicting, based on the identification of the unique trip and a model that accepts a set of input values characterizing a trip and provides a set of output values identifying a trip type of the trip, the trip type of the unique trip, wherein the trip type of the unique trip is at least one of a scheduled trip or an unscheduled trip; and generating, based on the portion of the plurality of transaction records, at least one trip metric indicating an effectiveness of the unique trip, wherein the at least one trip metric comprises one or more of: a duration of at least one trip of the plurality of trips, a quantity of … visited during the at least one trip, a transaction type of the transaction performed at the … during the at least one trip, and a quantity of different transaction types of the transaction performed at the … during the at least one trip, a total quantity of trips in the medical workflow, a total quantity of refill transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of critical low refill transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of refills less than maximum transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of inventory transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of load and/or unload transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of expiration no- remove transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of expiration remove transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total duration of the medical workflow, a total quantity of transactions performed during the medical workflow, and a total quantity of stock out refills transactions performed during the medical workflow (Claim 86).
These concepts are not meaningfully different than the following concepts identified by the MPEP:
Concepts relating to certain methods of organizing human activity. The aforementioned limitations describe steps for managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions. Specifically, updating a medical workflow to reduce trips to an automated dispensing cabinet is considered to describe steps for managing personal behavior, as well as following rules or instructions. As such, claims 71 and 86 recite concepts identified as abstract ideas.
Dependent claims 72-85 and 87-95 recite limitations relative to the independent claims, including, for example:
wherein the operations further comprise: predicting, based on the identification of the unique trip and a model that accepts a set of input values characterizing a trip and provides a set of output values identifying a trip type of the trip, the trip type of the unique trip, wherein the trip type of the unique trip is at least one of a scheduled trip or an unscheduled trip [Claim 72],
wherein the operations further comprise: annotating, with an identifier of the trip type, at least one of the portion of the plurality of transaction records and a record for the unique trip [Claim 73],
wherein the operations further comprise: determining a total number of trips having the trip type over a predetermined period of time; detecting that the total number of trips over the predetermined period of time is greater than or equal to a threshold number of trips; and generating an alert indicating that the total number of trips over the predetermined period of time is greater than the threshold number of trips [Claim 74],
wherein the operations further comprise: adjusting, based on the detection, a schedule of a future trip [Claim 75].
The limitations of these dependent claims are merely narrowing the abstract idea identified in the independent claims, and thus, the dependent claims also recite abstract ideas.
Step 2A, Prong 2: This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, claims 71 and 86 only recite the following additional elements –
A system comprising: at least one data processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one data processor … an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC)… (Claim 71),
… an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) …; ADCs… ADC… ADC… (Claim 86).
The apparatus and executable instructions are recited at a high-level of generality (see MPEP § 2106.05(a)), like the following MPEP example:
iii. Gathering and analyzing information using conventional techniques and displaying the result, TLI Communications, 823 F.3d at 612-13, 118 USPQ2d at 1747-48;
Furthermore, the computer implemented element is considered to amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (see MPEP 2106.05(f)), like the following MPEP example:
i. A commonplace business method or mathematical algorithm being applied on a general purpose computer, Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. V. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 223, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1983 (2014); Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 64, 175 USPQ 673, 674 (1972); Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015);
Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
The remaining dependent claims do not recite any new additional elements, and thus do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Step 2B: Claims 71 and 86 and their underlying limitations, steps, features and terms, considered both individually and as a whole, do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the following reasons:
A system comprising: at least one data processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one data processor … an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC)… (Claim 71),
… an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) …; ADCs… ADC… ADC… (Claim 86).
These elements do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea for the reasons discussed in 2A prong 2 with regard to MPEP 2106.05(a) and MPEP 2106.05(f). By the failure of the elements to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application there, the additional elements likewise fail to amount to an inventive concept that is significantly more than an abstract idea here, in Step 2B.
As such, both individually or in combination, these limitations do not add significantly more to the judicial exception.
The remaining dependent claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the dependent claims do not recite any new additional elements other than those mentioned in the independent claims, which amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (see MPEP 2106.05(f)). As such, these claims are not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 71-75, 77, 80, 82-88, 90 and 93-95 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Braun et al., U.S. Publication No. 2014/0262690 [hereinafter Henderson].
Regarding Claim 71, Henderson anticipates …A system comprising: at least one data processor (Henderson, ¶ 246, A schematic illustration of an apparatus which may be implemented as a nurse server, patient server, or user terminal in a central pharmacy or unit storage device is illustrated in FIG. 52. As shown, in some example embodiments, the processing circuitry may include a processor 700 and, in some embodiments, may further include memory 710. The processing circuitry may be in communication with, include or otherwise control a user interface 720 and/or a communication interface 730. As such, the processing circuitry may be embodied as a circuit chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip) configured (e.g., with hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software) to perform operations described herein), (Id., ¶ 247, The processor 700 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor may be embodied as various processing means such as one or more of a microprocessor or other processing element, a coprocessor, a controller, or various other computing or processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or the like. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciated that the processor may comprise a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may be in operative communication with each other and may be collectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of a system for handling, storing, transporting, or distributing medication as described herein. The plurality of processors may be embodied on a single computing device or distributed across a plurality of computing devices. In some example embodiments, the processor may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory or otherwise accessible to the processor. As such, whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied in circuitry--in the form of processing circuitry) capable of performing operations according to embodiments of the present invention while configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA, or the like, the processor may be specifically configured hardware for conducting the operations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor is embodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processor to perform one or more operations described herein)
and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one data processor, result in operations comprising: receiving a plurality of transaction records, wherein each transaction record of the plurality of transaction records, as received, represents an independent transaction of a plurality of transactions at an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) at a medical facility (Id., ¶ 248, In some example embodiments, the memory 710 may include one or more non-transitory memory devices such as, for example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory that may be either fixed or removable. In this regard, the memory 710 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. It will be appreciated that while the memory 710 is illustrated as a single memory, the memory may comprise a plurality of memories. The plurality of memories may be embodied on a single computing device or may be distributed across a plurality of computing. The memory may be configured to store information, data, applications, instructions and/or the like for enabling embodiments of the present invention to carry out various functions in accordance with one or more example embodiments. For example, the memory may be configured to buffer input data for processing by the processor. Additionally or alternatively, the memory may be configured to store instructions for execution by the processor. As yet another alternative, the memory may include one or more databases that may store a variety of files, contents, or data sets. Among the contents of the memory, applications may be stored for execution by the processor to carry out the functionality associated with each respective application), (Id., ¶ 141, FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment of a high-capacity unit storage device 960 (discloses automated dispensing cabinet). The illustrated embodiment includes two banks 962 of shelves configured to hold a plurality of medication or supply overpacks. The overpacks of the illustrated embodiment may include a common profile (e.g., frontal width and/or frontal height) while having various sized depths to accommodate different sizes of items. For example, each of the overpacks may be a bin with a width of about four inches, and the depths may be two, six, or twelve inches. The banks may have a depth of about 24 inches, and each bank may have a plurality of compartments 964 configured to receive the overpacks. Each compartment 964 may hold overpacks totaling 24 inches in depth. In some example embodiments, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the patient for whom they are intended. Additionally or alternatively, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the size of the bins. For example, all twelve-inch deep bins may be stored in a particular area of the banks, while six-inch and two-inch deep bins may be grouped in a respective area of the banks. A compartment may hold two twelve-inch deep overpack bins, four six-inch deep overpack bins, or twelve two-inch deep overpack bins), (Id., ¶ 143, The unit storage device of FIG. 22 further includes user interface 966 which may be used by authorized medical personnel to verify inventory, place medication orders, review medication order histories, etc. (discloses transaction records) The user interface may allow orders to be placed for distribution to other locations, and may provide alerts and messages as will be described further below), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request (discloses dispensing medicine), with or without other medication orders);
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wherein the plurality of transaction records comprises: time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transaction (Id., ¶ 234, In some embodiments, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage (discloses times of and between transactions). In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label);
and an elapsed time for a portion of the plurality of transactions (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses elapsed time of transactions), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full);
identifying, based at least in part on: (i) a comparison of the time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transactions and a threshold inter- transaction trip time (Id., ¶ 234, In some embodiments, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage (discloses times of and between transactions). In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label), (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses comparison of time between transactions and a threshold inter-transaction trip time), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full);
and (ii) a comparison of the elapsed time for the portion of the plurality of transactions and a threshold elapsed trip time, a sequence of the portion of the plurality of transactions as a unique trip from a pharmacy (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses comparison of elapsed time and a threshold elapsed trip time of transactions), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full), (Id., ¶ 73, While the prediction of medication which may be needed by patients over a particular period of time may increase efficiency of medication distribution, having the predicted medication ready for dispensing at or near the patient's location may further increase the efficiency of medication dispensing and administration. Such prediction and staging of medication may increase the efficiency of an authorized medical person, such as a nurse. For example, staging a medication proximate a patient and dispensing a medication to an authorized medical person proximate the patient may reduce the time needed for the authorized medical person to walk to retrieve medications and wait for their delivery (discloses time elapsed for a unique trip from a pharmacy). By reducing the time spent retrieving medications, additional time is afforded to an authorized medical person for administration of the medication or for care of a patient. This additional time may allow for higher quality patient care and less time spent in non-value added tasks of tracking down needed medications and supplies for a patient. Additionally, automating all or part of the distribution of medication in a healthcare facility may increase medication accuracy by providing automated verification of the medication type and dose at various stages of the distribution process);
and generating, based on the portion of the plurality of transaction records, at least one trip metric indicating an effectiveness of the unique trip (Id., ¶ 261, Embodiments may use unit-dose overpacks; however, additionally or alternatively, all of the medications and supplies for a patient that may be needed over a specific time period may be grouped together into a single overpack. Such an embodiment may reduce the overall number of overpacks needed (discloses trip metric measuring effectiveness by number of required overpacks) for a facility and may increase the efficiency of dispensing the medications and supplies; however the ability to individually manipulate unit doses automatically may be lost. Some medications may be grouped together by their purpose, for instance a medication that includes nausea as a side effect may be grouped with an anti-nausea medication. As such, removing the medication with a side effect removes the need for the nausea medication, such that the medications may be grouped together in a single overpack without the need to track them individually);
and suggesting, based on the at least one trip metric, an updated medical workflow configured to reduce a quantity of unscheduled trips of the plurality of trips of the medical workflow, the updated medical workflow comprising one or more of: a sequence of the plurality of trips of the medical workflow, a time at which the plurality of trips should be performed, one or more transactions to perform during each of the plurality of trips, or a route through the medical facility (Id., ¶ 73, While the prediction of medication which may be needed by patients over a particular period of time may increase efficiency of medication distribution, having the predicted medication ready for dispensing at or near the patient's location may further increase the efficiency of medication dispensing and administration. Such prediction and staging of medication may increase the efficiency of an authorized medical person, such as a nurse. (discloses updated medical workflow comprising transactions to be performed during each trip) For example, staging a medication proximate a patient and dispensing a medication to an authorized medical person proximate the patient may reduce the time needed for the authorized medical person to walk to retrieve medications and wait for their delivery. By reducing the time spent retrieving medications, additional time is afforded to an authorized medical person for administration of the medication or for care of a patient. This additional time may allow for higher quality patient care and less time spent in non-value added tasks of tracking down needed medications and supplies for a patient. Additionally, automating all or part of the distribution of medication in a healthcare facility may increase medication accuracy by providing automated verification of the medication type and dose at various stages of the distribution process), (Id., ¶ 99, Transporting or moving medications and supplies within a healthcare facility is inefficient when the medications are moved individually or without regard for other medications that are bound for the same or a similar destination. As such, logistics may be implemented to optimize transport and to efficiently move groups of medications to common locations, such as unit storage devices, within a healthcare facility. Software may be used to group together a plurality of medications or supplies in overpacks to be sent to the same location. The software may be implemented on a user terminal, as described further below, or across a network of a healthcare facility. The software may determine which overpacks are to be grouped, and route them to their appropriate destination. As described herein "routing" of medication and supplies within a healthcare facility includes generating a route or a planned route for the medication and supplies (discloses updated workflow comprising a route through the medical facility). Routing is generally provided by software, while the physical transport of the medication and supplies is performed by hardware, or in some cases, people. For example, a route may be established for an individual unit dose in an overpack; however, that overpack may be transported together with other overpacks that have the same, or a portion of the same route).
Regarding Claim 72, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the operations further comprise: predicting, based on the identification of the unique trip and a model that accepts a set of input values characterizing a trip and provides a set of output values identifying a trip type of the trip, the trip type of the unique trip, wherein the trip type of the unique trip is at least one of a scheduled trip or an unscheduled trip (Id., ¶ 71, While the aforementioned criteria are primarily historical correlations used for prediction of medication anticipated to be needed, additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the invention may implement an algorithm to predict the medication which may be needed by a patient over a predefined period of time. (discloses model for characterizing a trip type) For example, if a patient has a combination of symptoms and/or particular abnormal vital statistics (e.g., pulse, temperature, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.), an algorithm may take each of these variables into consideration to determine a predicted medication or medication regimen that the patient will need over a particular period of time), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips)).
Regarding Claim 73, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 72…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the operations further comprise: annotating, with an identifier of the trip type, at least one of the portion of the plurality of transaction records and a record for the unique trip (Id., ¶ 234, In some embodiments, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage (discloses times of and between transactions). In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label (discloses annotation of trip type and records) when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label).
Regarding Claim 74, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 72…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the operations further comprise: determining a total number of trips having the trip type over a predetermined period of time; detecting that the total number of trips over the predetermined period of time is greater than or equal to a threshold number of trips (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses identifying trips/transactions exceeding a threshold trip time), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full), (Id., ¶ 129, The efficiency of dispensing of medications and supplies within a healthcare facility may be improved by delivering the medications and supplies, including those that are known to be needed (e.g., previously prescribed) and those that are predicted to be needed, in groups to a location closer to the patients than the central pharmacy. This transportation maximizes resources, such as transport carts, while minimizing the required number of trips that must be made to deliver medications and supplies to units of a healthcare facility. Upon arrival at the healthcare facility unit, the medications and supplies may be dispensed to a local storage device that may further enhance the efficiency of distributing the medications and supplies to the patients);
and generating an alert indicating that the total number of trips over the predetermined period of time is greater than the threshold number of trips (Id., ¶ 143, The unit storage device of FIG. 22 further includes user interface 966 which may be used by authorized medical personnel to verify inventory, place medication orders, review medication order histories, etc. The user interface may allow orders to be placed for distribution to other locations, and may provide alerts and messages as will be described further below), (Id., ¶ 219, Medications and supplies may be dispensed from the nurse server or patient server in a variety of manners. In one example embodiment, when the medication needed by a patient arrives at the nurse server, a message may be sent to the appropriate authorized medical person that is responsible for retrieving and administering the medication to the patient. In such an embodiment, an overpack may arrive at the nurse server or at a staging area proximate the nurse server, and upon scanning of the identifying indicia, an alert or message may be sent, for example via a wireless network or near-field communication protocol, to a device carried by the authorized medical person. The device may include a pager, a phone, a tablet computer, or any other portable device able to receive and present the alert or message), (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses identifying trips/transactions exceeding a threshold trip time), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full), (Id., ¶ 231, FIG. 51 illustrates another example embodiment of a nurse server which may be embodied as a portable cart 596. The portable cart may be assigned to a nurse for use during their shift. Through a user interface, such as a user interface 598 on the cart 596, a nurse or authorized medical person may request medications and supplies for a patient or for a plurality of patients. The request may be transmitted, e.g. via a healthcare facility network, to a unit storage device. The unit storage device may load the medication overpacks onto a transport device for transport to a location proximate to the requesting nurse. Upon arrival, the nurse may be signaled that the medication has arrived. The alert may be received, for example, at the user interface 598, or other device, such as a pager or portable communication device carried by the nurse, or a healthcare facility unit dashboard (e.g., a screen displaying information at a nurse station). The nurse may then go to the proximate storage location 592 where the medications are staged, which may be, for example, in an overhead enclosure where the transport device may be disposed. The nurse may provide identification at the proximate storage location 592 through a user interface at the location, or through the user interface 598 of the cart 596, after which the medication overpacks 590 may be lowered to a location from which the nurse may retrieve them. The overpacks 590 may then be loaded into the cart for administration of their contents to the appropriate patient. The illustrated overpacks 590 may be patient specific or may be unit dose overpacks. In patient specific overpacks 590, the overpack 590 may include all of the medications needed for a patient at a particular time).
Regarding Claim 75, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 74…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the operations further comprise: adjusting, based on the detection, a schedule of a future trip (Id., ¶ 73, While the prediction of medication which may be needed by patients over a particular period of time may increase efficiency of medication distribution, having the predicted medication ready for dispensing at or near the patient's location may further increase the efficiency of medication dispensing and administration. Such prediction and staging of medication may increase the efficiency of an authorized medical person, such as a nurse. (discloses updating trip schedule by alerting a nurse that medication is ready) For example, staging a medication proximate a patient and dispensing a medication to an authorized medical person proximate the patient may reduce the time needed for the authorized medical person to walk to retrieve medications and wait for their delivery. By reducing the time spent retrieving medications, additional time is afforded to an authorized medical person for administration of the medication or for care of a patient. This additional time may allow for higher quality patient care and less time spent in non-value added tasks of tracking down needed medications and supplies for a patient. Additionally, automating all or part of the distribution of medication in a healthcare facility may increase medication accuracy by providing automated verification of the medication type and dose at various stages of the distribution process), (Id., ¶ 99, Transporting or moving medications and supplies within a healthcare facility is inefficient when the medications are moved individually or without regard for other medications that are bound for the same or a similar destination. As such, logistics may be implemented to optimize transport and to efficiently move groups of medications to common locations, such as unit storage devices, within a healthcare facility. Software may be used to group together a plurality of medications or supplies in overpacks to be sent to the same location. The software may be implemented on a user terminal, as described further below, or across a network of a healthcare facility. The software may determine which overpacks are to be grouped, and route them to their appropriate destination. As described herein "routing" of medication and supplies within a healthcare facility includes generating a route or a planned route for the medication and supplies (discloses updated workflow comprising a route through the medical facility). Routing is generally provided by software, while the physical transport of the medication and supplies is performed by hardware, or in some cases, people. For example, a route may be established for an individual unit dose in an overpack; however, that overpack may be transported together with other overpacks that have the same, or a portion of the same route), (Id., ¶ 231, FIG. 51 illustrates another example embodiment of a nurse server which may be embodied as a portable cart 596. The portable cart may be assigned to a nurse for use during their shift. Through a user interface, such as a user interface 598 on the cart 596, a nurse or authorized medical person may request medications and supplies for a patient or for a plurality of patients. The request may be transmitted, e.g. via a healthcare facility network, to a unit storage device. The unit storage device may load the medication overpacks onto a transport device for transport to a location proximate to the requesting nurse. Upon arrival, the nurse may be signaled that the medication has arrived. The alert may be received, for example, at the user interface 598, or other device, such as a pager or portable communication device carried by the nurse, or a healthcare facility unit dashboard (e.g., a screen displaying information at a nurse station). The nurse may then go to the proximate storage location 592 where the medications are staged, which may be, for example, in an overhead enclosure where the transport device may be disposed. The nurse may provide identification at the proximate storage location 592 through a user interface at the location, or through the user interface 598 of the cart 596, after which the medication overpacks 590 may be lowered to a location from which the nurse may retrieve them. The overpacks 590 may then be loaded into the cart for administration of their contents to the appropriate patient. The illustrated overpacks 590 may be patient specific or may be unit dose overpacks. In patient specific overpacks 590, the overpack 590 may include all of the medications needed for a patient at a particular time).
Regarding Claim 77, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the identifying further comprises: dynamically generating, based on one or more of historical trip data, a size of the medical facility, a number of patient rooms at the medical facility, a number of ADCs at the medical facility, a distance from a pharmacy to a farthest possible location of a transaction of the plurality of transactions, a square footage of the medical facility, a number of patients being treated at the medical facility, a number of elevators at the medical facility, and a number of floors at the medical facility, at least one of the inter-transaction threshold or the threshold elapsed trip time (Id., ¶ 70, Another criterion that may be used to predict medications which may be needed by a patient over a particular period of time may include a historical record of medication administered to the patient. For example, if a patient has a chronic condition and is on a maintenance medication, embodiments of the invention may predict that the patient will require their maintenance medication over the particular period of time. Further, a patient may have a historical record of medications taken for a particular ailment, such as in a prior visit to the healthcare facility. In such an embodiment, the record of the prior visit, the prior ailment, the prior medication administered, (discloses historical trip data) and the efficacy of the medication may each be considered), (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses identifying trips/transactions exceeding a threshold trip time), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full).
Regarding Claim 80, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the at least one trip metric comprises one or more of: a duration of at least one trip of the plurality of trips, a quantity of ADCs visited during the at least one trip, a transaction type of the transaction performed at the ADC during the at least one trip, and a quantity of different transaction types of the transaction performed at the ADC during the at least one trip, a total quantity of trips in the medical workflow, a total quantity of refill transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of critical low refill transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of refills less than maximum transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of inventory transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of load and/or unload transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of expiration no- remove transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of expiration remove transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total duration of the medical workflow, a total quantity of transactions performed during the medical workflow, and a total quantity of stock out refills transactions performed during the medical workflow (Henderson, ¶ 113, Another example embodiment of loading unit dose medications into bins may be similar to that illustrated in FIG. 14; however the system may allow loading of multiple bins with the same type/dose of medication at the same time to increase efficiency. For example, if a user has seven unit doses of a particular medication, the first unit dose may be scanned by reader 32, and a quantity of unit doses may be entered on the user interface 34. Subsequently, the corresponding number of appropriately sized bins 36 may be transferred from the plurality of bins 38 to the conveyor 40. The user may then load all of the bins substantially simultaneously to increase efficiency by reducing the time required. (discloses quantity of load transactions)).
Regarding Claim 82, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the plurality of transaction records are generated from one or more data systems comprising the ADC, an access control system, or an infusion system, and wherein transaction records are generated from one or more of the ADC and an identification tag of a medical professional performing the independent transaction (Id., ¶ 141, FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment of a high-capacity unit storage device 960 (discloses automated dispensing cabinet). The illustrated embodiment includes two banks 962 of shelves configured to hold a plurality of medication or supply overpacks. The overpacks of the illustrated embodiment may include a common profile (e.g., frontal width and/or frontal height) while having various sized depths to accommodate different sizes of items. For example, each of the overpacks may be a bin with a width of about four inches, and the depths may be two, six, or twelve inches. The banks may have a depth of about 24 inches, and each bank may have a plurality of compartments 964 configured to receive the overpacks. Each compartment 964 may hold overpacks totaling 24 inches in depth. In some example embodiments, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the patient for whom they are intended. Additionally or alternatively, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the size of the bins. For example, all twelve-inch deep bins may be stored in a particular area of the banks, while six-inch and two-inch deep bins may be grouped in a respective area of the banks. A compartment may hold two twelve-inch deep overpack bins, four six-inch deep overpack bins, or twelve two-inch deep overpack bins. (Id., ¶ 143, The unit storage device of FIG. 22 further includes user interface 966 which may be used by authorized medical personnel to verify inventory, place medication orders, review medication order histories, etc. (discloses transaction records) The user interface may allow orders to be placed for distribution to other locations, and may provide alerts and messages as will be described further below), (Id., ¶ 88, A closure for an overpack may also be selected based upon whether the contents are government regulated, as in the case of controlled substances, or if the contents are a high-value candidate for theft. In such embodiments, a lockable closure may be used to seal the overpack. FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of an overpack with a hinged closure. As illustrated, the overpacks 120 of FIG. 2 may include a common profile, but have varying widths to accommodate medications and supplies of various sizes. The overpack base 122 and hinged lid 124 may open in a clamshell fashion to allow access to the interior cavity containing the medication or supply. As shown, the overpack may include a divider 126 which may allow two articles to be carried within one overpack without the two interfering with one another. The separation afforded by the divider may help to reduce confusion or mistakes when multiple medications are contained in an overpack for a particular patient. Also illustrated in the overpacks of FIG. 2 are a closure mechanism including a tab 130 received within latch 128. The closure mechanism may be a locking mechanism requiring a key, code, or biometric identifier. For example, authorized medical personnel may have access to a key, such as a magnetic key kept (discloses identification tag) on their person or at a nurse station, which may unlock the latch 128. Optionally, the latch may be a push-button release configured only to maintain the lid 124 in a closed position during transport. While closures and locks may be used to secure controlled substances, security of controlled substances may additionally rely upon security by obscurity, in which narcotics and other controlled substances are not distinguished from non-controlled substances, such that locating controlled substances among the plurality of medication overpacks may be difficult).
Regarding Claim 83, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 72…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the predicting comprises: determining an inflection value from the set of input values (Henderson, ¶ 234, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage. In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label (discloses an inflection value for perishable medication) when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label).
Regarding Claim 84, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 83…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the predicting further comprises: determining that the unique trip is the scheduled trip when the inflection value is greater than or equal to a threshold value; and determining that the unique trip is the ad hoc trip when the inflection value is less than the threshold value (Id., ¶ 71, While the aforementioned criteria are primarily historical correlations used for prediction of medication anticipated to be needed, additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the invention may implement an algorithm to predict the medication which may be needed by a patient over a predefined period of time. For example, if a patient has a combination of symptoms and/or particular abnormal vital statistics (e.g., pulse, temperature, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.), an algorithm may take each of these variables into consideration to determine a predicted medication or medication regimen that the patient will need over a particular period of time), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips)), (Id., ¶ 76, Healthcare facilities may include a central pharmacy in which medications are stored and dispensed to areas throughout the healthcare facility. Some healthcare facilities may rely on a supplier, distribution center, or remote central pharmacy which stores medications and supplies at a remote location and delivers the medications and supplies on an as needed basis. In such an embodiment, the medications from the supplier, distribution center, or remote central pharmacy may be received by a healthcare facility at a receiving area. While embodiments of the present invention may be described as transporting and dispensing medication from a central pharmacy, embodiments in which central pharmacies are located remotely or embodiments using distribution centers may implement embodiments of the inventions from the area in which medications and supplies are received from the central pharmacy or distribution center. The indication of medications anticipated to be needed may be provided to the central pharmacy or distribution center with sufficient lead time such that the healthcare facility may receive the medications in advance of when they are anticipated to be needed (discloses threshold lead time for planned trips)).
Regarding Claim 85, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
Henderson further anticipates …further comprising the ADC (Id., ¶ 141, FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment of a high-capacity unit storage device 960 (discloses automated dispensing cabinet). The illustrated embodiment includes two banks 962 of shelves configured to hold a plurality of medication or supply overpacks. The overpacks of the illustrated embodiment may include a common profile (e.g., frontal width and/or frontal height) while having various sized depths to accommodate different sizes of items. For example, each of the overpacks may be a bin with a width of about four inches, and the depths may be two, six, or twelve inches. The banks may have a depth of about 24 inches, and each bank may have a plurality of compartments 964 configured to receive the overpacks. Each compartment 964 may hold overpacks totaling 24 inches in depth. In some example embodiments, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the patient for whom they are intended. Additionally or alternatively, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the size of the bins. For example, all twelve-inch deep bins may be stored in a particular area of the banks, while six-inch and two-inch deep bins may be grouped in a respective area of the banks. A compartment may hold two twelve-inch deep overpack bins, four six-inch deep overpack bins, or twelve two-inch deep overpack bins).
Regarding Claim 86, Henderson anticipates …A method comprising: under control of one or more processing devices, receiving a plurality of transaction records, wherein each transaction record of the plurality of transaction records, as received, represents an independent transaction of a plurality of transactions at an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) at a medical facility, wherein the plurality of transaction records comprises: time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transaction (Henderson, ¶ 246, A schematic illustration of an apparatus which may be implemented as a nurse server, patient server, or user terminal in a central pharmacy or unit storage device is illustrated in FIG. 52. As shown, in some example embodiments, the processing circuitry may include a processor 700 and, in some embodiments, may further include memory 710. The processing circuitry may be in communication with, include or otherwise control a user interface 720 and/or a communication interface 730. As such, the processing circuitry may be embodied as a circuit chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip) configured (e.g., with hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software) to perform operations described herein), (Id., ¶ 247, The processor 700 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor may be embodied as various processing means such as one or more of a microprocessor or other processing element, a coprocessor, a controller, or various other computing or processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or the like. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciated that the processor may comprise a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may be in operative communication with each other and may be collectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of a system for handling, storing, transporting, or distributing medication as described herein. The plurality of processors may be embodied on a single computing device or distributed across a plurality of computing devices. In some example embodiments, the processor may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory or otherwise accessible to the processor. As such, whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied in circuitry--in the form of processing circuitry) capable of performing operations according to embodiments of the present invention while configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA, or the like, the processor may be specifically configured hardware for conducting the operations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor is embodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processor to perform one or more operations described herein), (Id., ¶ 234, In some embodiments, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage (discloses times of and between transactions). In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label), (Id., ¶ 248, In some example embodiments, the memory 710 may include one or more non-transitory memory devices such as, for example, volatile and/or non-volatile memory that may be either fixed or removable. In this regard, the memory 710 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. It will be appreciated that while the memory 710 is illustrated as a single memory, the memory may comprise a plurality of memories. The plurality of memories may be embodied on a single computing device or may be distributed across a plurality of computing. The memory may be configured to store information, data, applications, instructions and/or the like for enabling embodiments of the present invention to carry out various functions in accordance with one or more example embodiments. For example, the memory may be configured to buffer input data for processing by the processor. Additionally or alternatively, the memory may be configured to store instructions for execution by the processor. As yet another alternative, the memory may include one or more databases that may store a variety of files, contents, or data sets. Among the contents of the memory, applications may be stored for execution by the processor to carry out the functionality associated with each respective application), (Id., ¶ 141, FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment of a high-capacity unit storage device 960 (discloses automated dispensing cabinet). The illustrated embodiment includes two banks 962 of shelves configured to hold a plurality of medication or supply overpacks. The overpacks of the illustrated embodiment may include a common profile (e.g., frontal width and/or frontal height) while having various sized depths to accommodate different sizes of items. For example, each of the overpacks may be a bin with a width of about four inches, and the depths may be two, six, or twelve inches. The banks may have a depth of about 24 inches, and each bank may have a plurality of compartments 964 configured to receive the overpacks. Each compartment 964 may hold overpacks totaling 24 inches in depth. In some example embodiments, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the patient for whom they are intended. Additionally or alternatively, overpacks may be grouped together in compartments of the banks according to the size of the bins. For example, all twelve-inch deep bins may be stored in a particular area of the banks, while six-inch and two-inch deep bins may be grouped in a respective area of the banks. A compartment may hold two twelve-inch deep overpack bins, four six-inch deep overpack bins, or twelve two-inch deep overpack bins), (Id., ¶ 143, The unit storage device of FIG. 22 further includes user interface 966 which may be used by authorized medical personnel to verify inventory, place medication orders, review medication order histories, etc. (discloses transaction records) The user interface may allow orders to be placed for distribution to other locations, and may provide alerts and messages as will be described further below), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request (discloses dispensing medicine), with or without other medication orders);
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and an elapsed time for a portion of the plurality of transactions (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses elapsed time of transactions), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full);
identifying, based at least in part on: (i) a comparison of the time information between respective transactions of the plurality of transactions and a threshold inter- transaction trip time (Id., ¶ 234, In some embodiments, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage (discloses times of and between transactions). In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label), (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses comparison of time between transactions and a threshold inter-transaction trip time), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full);
and (ii) a comparison of the elapsed time for the portion of the plurality of transactions and a threshold elapsed trip time, a sequence of the portion of the plurality of transactions as a unique trip from a pharmacy (Id., ¶ 163, Overpacks may be loaded into the unit storage device 600 grouped according to their destination such that they may be loaded onto transport devices in groups. Optionally, in embodiments in which the overpacks are not grouped according to destination, a scanner within the unit storage device 600 may scan identifying indicia of the overpack to determine destination, and subsequently load each overpack onto a transport device destined for that destination. The unit storage device may assign a destination to a transport device once enough overpacks to fill the transport device have been scanned. Alternatively, if there are not enough overpacks to fill a transport device and the time waiting for enough overpacks has exceeded a predefined threshold (discloses comparison of elapsed time and a threshold elapsed trip time of transactions), the overpacks may be loaded to a transport device and sent to their destination without the transport device being full), (Id., ¶ 73, While the prediction of medication which may be needed by patients over a particular period of time may increase efficiency of medication distribution, having the predicted medication ready for dispensing at or near the patient's location may further increase the efficiency of medication dispensing and administration. Such prediction and staging of medication may increase the efficiency of an authorized medical person, such as a nurse. For example, staging a medication proximate a patient and dispensing a medication to an authorized medical person proximate the patient may reduce the time needed for the authorized medical person to walk to retrieve medications and wait for their delivery (discloses time elapsed for a unique trip from a pharmacy). By reducing the time spent retrieving medications, additional time is afforded to an authorized medical person for administration of the medication or for care of a patient. This additional time may allow for higher quality patient care and less time spent in non-value added tasks of tracking down needed medications and supplies for a patient. Additionally, automating all or part of the distribution of medication in a healthcare facility may increase medication accuracy by providing automated verification of the medication type and dose at various stages of the distribution process);
and predicting, based on the identification of the unique trip and a model that accepts a set of input values characterizing a trip and provides a set of output values identifying a trip type of the trip, the trip type of the unique trip, wherein the trip type of the unique trip is at least one of a scheduled trip or an unscheduled trip (Id., ¶ 71, While the aforementioned criteria are primarily historical correlations used for prediction of medication anticipated to be needed, additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the invention may implement an algorithm to predict the medication which may be needed by a patient over a predefined period of time. (discloses model for characterizing a trip type) For example, if a patient has a combination of symptoms and/or particular abnormal vital statistics (e.g., pulse, temperature, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.), an algorithm may take each of these variables into consideration to determine a predicted medication or medication regimen that the patient will need over a particular period of time), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips));
and generating, based on the portion of the plurality of transaction records, at least one trip metric indicating an effectiveness of the unique trip, wherein the at least one trip metric comprises one or more of: a duration of at least one trip of the plurality of trips, a quantity of ADCs visited during the at least one trip, a transaction type of the transaction performed at the ADC during the at least one trip, and a quantity of different transaction types of the transaction performed at the ADC during the at least one trip, a total quantity of trips in the medical workflow, a total quantity of refill transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of critical low refill transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of refills less than maximum transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of inventory transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of load and/or unload transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of expiration no- remove transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total quantity of expiration remove transactions performed during the medical workflow, a total duration of the medical workflow, a total quantity of transactions performed during the medical workflow, and a total quantity of stock out refills transactions performed during the medical workflow (Id., ¶ 113, Another example embodiment of loading unit dose medications into bins may be similar to that illustrated in FIG. 14; however the system may allow loading of multiple bins with the same type/dose of medication at the same time to increase efficiency. For example, if a user has seven unit doses of a particular medication, the first unit dose may be scanned by reader 32, and a quantity of unit doses may be entered on the user interface 34. Subsequently, the corresponding number of appropriately sized bins 36 may be transferred from the plurality of bins 38 to the conveyor 40. The user may then load all of the bins substantially simultaneously to increase efficiency by reducing the time required. (discloses quantity of load transactions)).
Regarding Claim 87, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those in claims 73, and is rejected for the same reasons as stated above.
Regarding Claim 88, Henderson anticipates …The method of claim 86…
Henderson further anticipates …further comprising: scheduling, based in part on the trip type, at least a portion of a future trip from the pharmacy to the ADC (Id., ¶ 73, While the prediction of medication which may be needed by patients over a particular period of time may increase efficiency of medication distribution, having the predicted medication ready for dispensing at or near the patient's location may further increase the efficiency of medication dispensing and administration. Such prediction and staging of medication may increase the efficiency of an authorized medical person, such as a nurse. (discloses updating trip schedule by alerting a nurse that medication is ready) For example, staging a medication proximate a patient and dispensing a medication to an authorized medical person proximate the patient may reduce the time needed for the authorized medical person to walk to retrieve medications and wait for their delivery. By reducing the time spent retrieving medications, additional time is afforded to an authorized medical person for administration of the medication or for care of a patient. This additional time may allow for higher quality patient care and less time spent in non-value added tasks of tracking down needed medications and supplies for a patient. Additionally, automating all or part of the distribution of medication in a healthcare facility may increase medication accuracy by providing automated verification of the medication type and dose at various stages of the distribution process), (Id., ¶ 99, Transporting or moving medications and supplies within a healthcare facility is inefficient when the medications are moved individually or without regard for other medications that are bound for the same or a similar destination. As such, logistics may be implemented to optimize transport and to efficiently move groups of medications to common locations, such as unit storage devices, within a healthcare facility. Software may be used to group together a plurality of medications or supplies in overpacks to be sent to the same location. The software may be implemented on a user terminal, as described further below, or across a network of a healthcare facility. The software may determine which overpacks are to be grouped, and route them to their appropriate destination. As described herein "routing" of medication and supplies within a healthcare facility includes generating a route or a planned route for the medication and supplies (discloses updated workflow comprising a route through the medical facility). Routing is generally provided by software, while the physical transport of the medication and supplies is performed by hardware, or in some cases, people. For example, a route may be established for an individual unit dose in an overpack; however, that overpack may be transported together with other overpacks that have the same, or a portion of the same route), (Id., ¶ 231, FIG. 51 illustrates another example embodiment of a nurse server which may be embodied as a portable cart 596. The portable cart may be assigned to a nurse for use during their shift. Through a user interface, such as a user interface 598 on the cart 596, a nurse or authorized medical person may request medications and supplies for a patient or for a plurality of patients. The request may be transmitted, e.g. via a healthcare facility network, to a unit storage device. The unit storage device may load the medication overpacks onto a transport device for transport to a location proximate to the requesting nurse. Upon arrival, the nurse may be signaled that the medication has arrived. The alert may be received, for example, at the user interface 598, or other device, such as a pager or portable communication device carried by the nurse, or a healthcare facility unit dashboard (e.g., a screen displaying information at a nurse station). The nurse may then go to the proximate storage location 592 where the medications are staged, which may be, for example, in an overhead enclosure where the transport device may be disposed. The nurse may provide identification at the proximate storage location 592 through a user interface at the location, or through the user interface 598 of the cart 596, after which the medication overpacks 590 may be lowered to a location from which the nurse may retrieve them. The overpacks 590 may then be loaded into the cart for administration of their contents to the appropriate patient. The illustrated overpacks 590 may be patient specific or may be unit dose overpacks. In patient specific overpacks 590, the overpack 590 may include all of the medications needed for a patient at a particular time).
Regarding Claim 90, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those in claims 74, and is rejected for the same reasons as stated above.
Regarding Claim 93, Henderson anticipates …The method of claim 86…
Henderson further anticipates …further comprising: suggesting, based on the at least one trip metric, an updated medical workflow configured to reduce a quantity of unscheduled trips of the plurality of trips of the medical workflow, wherein the updated medical workflow comprising one or more of: a sequence of the plurality of trips of the medical workflow, a time at which the plurality of trips should be performed, one or more transactions to perform during each of the plurality of trips, and a route through the medical facility (Henderson, ¶ 73, While the prediction of medication which may be needed by patients over a particular period of time may increase efficiency of medication distribution, having the predicted medication ready for dispensing at or near the patient's location may further increase the efficiency of medication dispensing and administration. Such prediction and staging of medication may increase the efficiency of an authorized medical person, such as a nurse. (discloses updated medical workflow comprising transactions to be performed during each trip) For example, staging a medication proximate a patient and dispensing a medication to an authorized medical person proximate the patient may reduce the time needed for the authorized medical person to walk to retrieve medications and wait for their delivery. By reducing the time spent retrieving medications, additional time is afforded to an authorized medical person for administration of the medication or for care of a patient. This additional time may allow for higher quality patient care and less time spent in non-value added tasks of tracking down needed medications and supplies for a patient. Additionally, automating all or part of the distribution of medication in a healthcare facility may increase medication accuracy by providing automated verification of the medication type and dose at various stages of the distribution process), (Id., ¶ 99, Transporting or moving medications and supplies within a healthcare facility is inefficient when the medications are moved individually or without regard for other medications that are bound for the same or a similar destination. As such, logistics may be implemented to optimize transport and to efficiently move groups of medications to common locations, such as unit storage devices, within a healthcare facility. Software may be used to group together a plurality of medications or supplies in overpacks to be sent to the same location. The software may be implemented on a user terminal, as described further below, or across a network of a healthcare facility. The software may determine which overpacks are to be grouped, and route them to their appropriate destination. As described herein "routing" of medication and supplies within a healthcare facility includes generating a route or a planned route for the medication and supplies (discloses updated workflow comprising a route through the medical facility). Routing is generally provided by software, while the physical transport of the medication and supplies is performed by hardware, or in some cases, people. For example, a route may be established for an individual unit dose in an overpack; however, that overpack may be transported together with other overpacks that have the same, or a portion of the same route).
Regarding Claim 94, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those in claims 81, and is rejected for the same reasons as stated above.
Regarding Claim 95, Henderson anticipates …The method of claim 87…
Henderson further anticipates …wherein the predicting comprises: determining an inflection value from the set of input values; (Henderson, ¶ 234, nurse servers may include temperature controlled areas. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 48, one or more of the drawers 564 may include a refrigerated compartment to maintain refrigerated medications at the appropriate temperature until dispensed. In such an embodiment, a printer may be configured to print a label for the medication upon dispensing which identifies the time at which it was dispensed, which may correspond to the time the medication was removed from refrigerated storage. In such an example, the medication may have a maximum shelf-life outside of refrigerated storage after which the medication is no longer fit for administration to a patient. The time after which the medication must be disposed may be printed to the label (discloses an inflection value for perishable medication) when the medication is dispensed from the nurse server. Optionally, "printing" may be performed by writing to an RFID tag or writing to an electronic ink label);
determining that the unique trip is the scheduled trip when the inflection value is greater than or equal to a threshold value; and determining that the unique trip is the ad hoc trip when the inflection value is less than the threshold value (Id., ¶ 71, While the aforementioned criteria are primarily historical correlations used for prediction of medication anticipated to be needed, additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the invention may implement an algorithm to predict the medication which may be needed by a patient over a predefined period of time. For example, if a patient has a combination of symptoms and/or particular abnormal vital statistics (e.g., pulse, temperature, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.), an algorithm may take each of these variables into consideration to determine a predicted medication or medication regimen that the patient will need over a particular period of time), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips)), (Id., ¶ 76, Healthcare facilities may include a central pharmacy in which medications are stored and dispensed to areas throughout the healthcare facility. Some healthcare facilities may rely on a supplier, distribution center, or remote central pharmacy which stores medications and supplies at a remote location and delivers the medications and supplies on an as needed basis. In such an embodiment, the medications from the supplier, distribution center, or remote central pharmacy may be received by a healthcare facility at a receiving area. While embodiments of the present invention may be described as transporting and dispensing medication from a central pharmacy, embodiments in which central pharmacies are located remotely or embodiments using distribution centers may implement embodiments of the inventions from the area in which medications and supplies are received from the central pharmacy or distribution center. The indication of medications anticipated to be needed may be provided to the central pharmacy or distribution center with sufficient lead time such that the healthcare facility may receive the medications in advance of when they are anticipated to be needed (discloses threshold lead time for planned trips)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 76, 78-79, 81, 89, 91-92 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Braun et al., U.S. Publication No. 2014/0262690 [hereinafter Henderson] in view of Hussain, U.S. Publication No. 2006/0282302 [hereinafter Hussain].
Regarding Claim 76, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
Henderson further discloses … receiving a message requesting a second plot of trips showing at least two trip types for the medical facility, the at least two trip types comprising an unscheduled trip and a scheduled trip (Henderson, ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips)), (Id., ¶ 160, a request for medication and/or supplies may be received at the unit storage device 960. The request may be received automatically from a network entity configured to request medications in anticipation of their need. Requests may also be received from the user interface 966 of the unit storage device 960, a nurse server, patient server, nurse cart, workstation, or mobile device (discloses request to plot delivery of medicine). Upon receipt of the request, the unit storage device may be configured to fill the medication order by retrieving each of the medications and supplies that are requested. The EOAT may be moved into alignment with a compartment 964, 974 containing one or more of the requested medications or supplies. The EOAT may retrieve the overpacks 972 of the compartment, which may include overpacks that do not contain medication or supplies that are part of the order. The EOAT 970 may move the retrieved overpacks 972 to a dispensing area 976 of the unit storage device 960. The dispensing area 976 may include a mechanism for removing the overpacks 972 containing medications or supplies that are part of the order from the EOAT 970. Overpacks 972 containing medications or supplies that are not part of the order may remain on the EOAT 970. The EOAT 970 may then return the overpacks 972 not needed, and retrieve any additional overpacks from any additional compartments which may contain medication or supplies that are part of the medication order. The additional overpacks may be grouped with the previously retrieved overpacks until all of the overpacks containing medication or supplies in the request are retrieved);
predicting, based on the identification of the unique trip and a model that accepts a set of input values characterizing a trip and provides a set of output values identifying a trip type for of the trip, the trip type of each trip of the plurality of trips (Id., ¶ 71, While the aforementioned criteria are primarily historical correlations used for prediction of medication anticipated to be needed, additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the invention may implement an algorithm to predict the medication which may be needed by a patient over a predefined period of time. (discloses model for characterizing a trip type) For example, if a patient has a combination of symptoms and/or particular abnormal vital statistics (e.g., pulse, temperature, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc.), an algorithm may take each of these variables into consideration to determine a predicted medication or medication regimen that the patient will need over a particular period of time), (Id., ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips)).
While suggested in at least Fig. 1 and related text, Henderson does not explicitly disclose …wherein the operations further comprise: causing presentation of a first plot of trips representing a plurality of trips at the medical facility, the plurality of trips comprising the unique trip; and causing presentation of the second plot of trips, the second plot of trips comprising: a first visualization for at least one trip of the plurality of trips identified as the unscheduled trip; and a second visualization for at least one trip of the plurality of trips identified as the scheduled trip.
However, Hussain discloses …wherein the operations further comprise: causing presentation of a first plot of trips representing a plurality of trips at the medical facility, the plurality of trips comprising the unique trip (Hussain, ¶ 23, FIG. 7 depicts a conventional physical workflow path overlaying an emergency department floor plan (discloses presentation of trips comprising a unique trip)), (Id., ¶ 109, FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 provide various graphic representations of a complex workflow in an emergency department. FIG. 7 depicts an emergency room operating conventionally, without the inventive workflow management system, where several patients are being handled simultaneously over the course of several hours. Events are depicted in text boxes, and the paths associated with tasks and healthcare workers are represented by dashed lines. For example, A patient (1) arrives in the waiting room with an ankle injury requiring an x-ray, which is then ordered within the department after the patient has been waiting for 45 minutes. A patient (2) with appendicitis leaves the ED before being seen, thus representing a revenue loss as well as incurring a potential liability. In another part of the ED, a patient is brought in from critical care (3) waits for a bed that is occupied by a patient waiting to be discharged, putting that patient at risk for walking away. A heart patient (4) destabilizes, an ECG is run, but the service is not documented, incurring another loss. In still another corner of the ED, a patient (5) requests pain medication, but the physician nearby is too busy, and the patient leaves. In another corner of the ED, a patient (6) is undergoing chest pain, but it is unrecognized by staff. The event is later detected, flagged as a sentinel event, triggering review, press coverage, and legal inquiry);
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and causing presentation of the second plot of trips, the second plot of trips comprising: a first visualization for at least one trip of the plurality of trips identified as the unscheduled trip; and a second visualization for at least one trip of the plurality of trips identified as the scheduled trip (Id., ¶ 24, FIG. 8 depicts a physical workflow path, as optimized by an embodiment of the inventive system, overlaying an emergency department floor plan), (Id., ¶ 25, FIG. 9 isolates the physical workflow paths of FIGS. 7 and 8, and displays them side by side), (Id., ¶ 111, FIG. 9 schematically depicts the combined paths of patients, healthcare workers, and tasks in the conventionally operated ED as in FIG. 7 (on the left) and the same paths of the same patients, healthcare workers, and optimized tasks as in FIG. 8 (on the right). (discloses presentation of scheduled and unscheduled trips) The effect, when reduced to this simple representation is quite plain. The same workload of patients and tasks is handled with significantly reduced traffic, and is further accompanied by favorable metrics such as decreased length of stay, higher quality of care, and reduced liability for the healthcare unit).
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the medical workflow elements of Henderson to include the trip visualization elements of Hussain in the analogous art of managing healthcare work flow.
The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a system which “enables users to manage and optimize their own day-to-day workflow; this provides benefits to the healthcare unit in general, but more specifically, it improves important healthcare metrics of clinical and financial performance” (Hussain, ¶ 37), wherein such improvements would benefit Henderson’s method which seeks to “provide various apparatuses, systems, and methods for improving the efficiency of medication distribution within a healthcare facility” [Hussain, ¶ 37; Henderson, ¶ 4].
Regarding Claim 78, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 71…
While suggested in at least Fig. 1 and related text, Henderson does not explicitly disclose …wherein the operations further comprise: displaying, based on the at least one trip metric, a visualization indicating the effectiveness of the medical workflow comprising a plurality of trips, the plurality of trips comprising the unique trip.
However, Hussain discloses …wherein the operations further comprise: displaying, based on the at least one trip metric, a visualization indicating the effectiveness of the medical workflow comprising a plurality of trips, the plurality of trips comprising the unique trip (Id., ¶ 25, FIG. 9 isolates the physical workflow paths of FIGS. 7 and 8, and displays them side by side), (Id., ¶ 111, FIG. 9 schematically depicts the combined paths of patients, healthcare workers, and tasks in the conventionally operated ED as in FIG. 7 (on the left) and the same paths of the same patients, healthcare workers, and optimized tasks as in FIG. 8 (on the right). The effect, when reduced to this simple representation is quite plain. The same workload of patients and tasks is handled with significantly reduced traffic, and is further accompanied by favorable metrics such as decreased length of stay, higher quality of care, and reduced liability for the healthcare unit), (Id., Fig. 9, figure depicts a visualization indicating the effectiveness of the medical workflow).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the medical workflow elements of Henderson to include the trip visualization elements of Hussain in the analogous art of managing healthcare work flow for the same reasons as stated for claim 76.
Regarding Claim 79, Henderson anticipates …The system of claim 72…
Henderson further discloses … identify the trip type (Henderson, ¶ 144, The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 22 may further include storage of as-needed medication. Such storage may be in the form of magazines (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9) or as-needed medication may be stored in compartments in the overpack bins. For example, aspirin may not be a medication that is specified on a medication order, but may be administered to patients on an as-needed basis. As such, one or more compartments of blister pack storage may be configured to hold unit-doses of aspirin. Such as-needed medication may be dispensed on request, with or without other medication orders (discloses determination of scheduled or unscheduled trips))
While suggested in at least Fig. 1 and related text, Henderson does not explicitly disclose …wherein the model comprises a machine- learning model trained to…
However, Hussain discloses …wherein the model comprises a machine- learning model trained to… (Hussain, ¶ 132, Similar pattern recognitions can also be analyzed for any data entry the user initiates (e.g., documentation on patients for billing). Physicians typically have habits that serve them well in their practice. For example, physicians typically go to a set of favorite" orders or sets of orders, or "favorite" prescriptions. A physician tends to have a certain way of documenting each patient visit type (for example, a heart attack), and the UI will learn to reflect that pattern the next time a similar patient arrives. (discloses learning model) So the next time the physician is about to document a patient with a heart attack, the inventive task management system can recognize the presenting medical circumstance as consistent with a previous pattern, and bring up what was done in the previous 3-5 cases of heart attacks. This pattern recognition capability minimizes the user need to enter data and hastens workflow), (Id., ¶ 146, Based on the ability of embodiments of the inventive task management system to recognize user behavioral patterns, the system learns that one physician typically wants to see new information after his shift is complete in the emergency department; while another physician is typically more open to new ideas when he is at home and has time to read about new interventions. This feature of the task management system offers the benefit of providing an approach for influencing and training physicians to perform at higher levels of professional performance by virtue of its ability to turn pattern recognition into activation of features in a contextually appropriate manner, and thereby supporting and enhancing individual learning habits. Such benefits do not accrue from conventional workflow management solutions, which tend to force users to mold to them, rather than the application molding to the user. This aspect of the invention has important implications as it takes an average almost two decades for new medical evidence to be broadly applied in general medical practice. The inventive task management system thus may accelerate the evolution of medical practice in desirable directions, and may be able to significantly reduce individual learning curves, as well as have an effect on the rate of implementation of improved medical practice within the medical community as a whole).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the medical workflow elements of Henderson to include the learning model elements of Hussain in the analogous art of managing healthcare work flow for the same reasons as stated for claim 76.
Regarding Claim 81, the combination of Henderson and Hussain discloses…The system of claim 78…
Henderson further discloses …wherein the updated medical workflow comprises a route for a robot to deliver a medication to the ADC (Henderson, ¶ 92, Overpacks according to embodiments of the present invention may also facilitate automation of medication order fulfillment. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, empty bins 160 of various sizes but of a common profile may be configured to be transported along a conveyor 162 and be filled by a robot 164 or other form of automation. The robot 164 may place a medication or supply 166 into the bin 160 for dispensing to a patient. Embodiments of the present invention may also be used with existing automated pharmacy dispensing systems, such as Robot-Rx.TM. from McKesson.RTM. which may distribute medications from an inventory to an overpack for transport to a location proximate a patient).
Regarding Claim 89, Henderson anticipates …The method of claim 86…
While suggested in at least Fig. 1 and related text, Henderson does not explicitly disclose …filtering, based on the identifier of the trip type, a plurality of trip records, wherein each of the plurality of trip records represents an independent trip.
However, Hussain discloses …filtering, based on the identifier of the trip type, a plurality of trip records, wherein each of the plurality of trip records represents an independent trip (Hussain, ¶ 14, The databases in communication with the database sever include those focused on patient state data, resource state data, and work flow state data. The patient state data include typically include data on vital signs, medications, procedures, and subjective data. The resource data include data on user preferences, laboratory services, transport data, and department data. The the workflow data include data focused on task queing, task filtering (discloses filtering), task sorting, agents, tasks, and metering), (Id., ¶ 111, FIG. 9 schematically depicts the combined paths of patients, healthcare workers, and tasks in the conventionally operated ED as in FIG. 7 (on the left) and the same paths of the same patients, healthcare workers, and optimized tasks as in FIG. 8 (on the right) (discloses trip/task type identifiers). The effect, when reduced to this simple representation is quite plain. The same workload of patients and tasks is handled with significantly reduced traffic, and is further accompanied by favorable metrics such as decreased length of stay, higher quality of care, and reduced liability for the healthcare unit).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the medical workflow elements of Henderson to include the filtering elements of Hussain in the analogous art of managing healthcare work flow for the same reasons as stated for claim 76.
Regarding Claim 91, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those in claims 76, and is rejected for the same reasons as stated above.
Regarding Claim 92, this claim recites limitations substantially similar to those in claims 78, and is rejected for the same reasons as stated above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Crooks et al., U.S. Publication No. 2016/0260035, discloses pharmacy workflow management with integrated alerts.
Mallett et al., U.S. Publication No. 2008/0195247, discloses a method for combined disposal and dispensing of medical items.
Vahlberg et al., U.S. Publication No. 2008/0319790, discloses management of patient transfer systems, methods, and devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS D BOLEN whose telephone number is (408)918-7631. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM PST.
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/NICHOLAS D BOLEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3624 /PATRICIA H MUNSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3624