Lock status notification and next case medication method, apparatus and corresponding medication storage device
View Patent ↗A lock status notification method, apparatus and corresponding medication storage device (e.g., mobile medication dispensing cart, medication cabinet, nurse server, etc.) are provided. In order to generate the notification, a computing device operating on the medication storage device may monitor the status of a manual lock associated with one or more drawers of the medication storage device (e.g., through the use of a sensor associated with the lock). A notification may be generated if it is determined that the medication storage device is unlocked at a certain point in time (e.g., when a user is attempting to log off of an application executing on the computing device). At least one of the drawers of the medication storage device may include a next case medication pocket having an automatic lock and in which medications prepared for the next case or procedure in which the user is participating can be securely stored.
1. A method comprising:
receiving a signal indicating that a lock on a medication storage device has been unlocked;
determining whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred;
determining whether the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked, if it is determined that the predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred; and
generating a notification indicating that the medication storage device is unlocked, if it is determined that the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a signal indicating that a lock on a medication storage device has been unlocked comprises receiving the signal from a sensor associated with the lock.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining whether the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked comprises:
transmitting a request to the sensor for a status of the lock; and
receiving, in response, an indication of whether the lock is locked or unlocked.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining whether the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked comprises accessing a lock status indicator associated with the lock, wherein the lock status indicator is updated each time a signal is received from the sensor associated with the lock.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a request to log into an application associated with the medication storage device, said request comprising user identification information associated with a user;
determining whether the user is authorized to access the medication storage device based at least in part on the user identification information; and
transmitting a signal to the lock on the medication storage device, said signal enabling the lock to be manually unlocked by the user, if it is determined that the user is authorized.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred comprises determining whether the user has transmitted a request to log out of the application.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the notification comprises an alert message, and wherein the method further comprises:
displaying the alert message on a display screen associated with the medication storage device.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the alert message comprises an audio component.
9. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
determining whether the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked after a predetermined period of time after displaying the alert message on the display screen;
generating a second notification; and
transmitting the second notification to an electronic device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred comprises determining whether a current time is substantially equal to a predefined time.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the notification comprises a summary of a lock status of one or more medication storage devices, and wherein the method further comprises:
transmitting the notification to an electronic device.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining if one or more drawers of the medication storage device are open, wherein the notification further indicates whether one or more drawers are open.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred comprises determining whether a predefined period of inactivity has lapsed since receiving the signal indicating that a lock on the medication storage device has been unlocked.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined event is defined by an administrator associated with the medication storage device.
15. An apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive a signal indicating that a lock on a medication storage device has been unlocked;
determine whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred;
determine whether the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked, if it is determined that the predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred; and
generate a notification indicating that the medication storage device is unlocked, if it is determined that the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked.
16. An apparatus of claim 15 further comprising:
a sensor associated with the lock and in electronic communication with the processor, wherein in order to receive a signal indicating that a lock on a medication storage device has been unlocked, the processor is further configured to receive the signal from the sensor.
17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein in order to determine whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred, the processor is further configured to determine whether a user associated with the medication storage device has transmitted a request to log out of an application associated with the medication storage device.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the notification comprises an alert message, said apparatus further comprising:
a display device in electronic communication with the processor, said display device configured to display the alert message.
19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein in order to determine whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred, the processor is further configured to determine whether a current time is substantially equal to a predefined time.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the notification comprises a summary of a lock status of one or more medication storage devices, and wherein the processor is further configured to:
transmit the notification to an electronic device.
21. A medication storage device comprising:
one or more drawers;
a lock associated with the one or more drawers;
a sensor associated with the lock; and
a computing device in electronic communication with the sensor, said computing device configured to:
receive a signal from the sensor indicating that the lock has been unlocked;
determine whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred;
determine whether the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked, if it is determined that the predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred; and
generate a notification indicating that the medication storage device is unlocked, if it is determined that the lock on the medication storage device is still unlocked.
22. The medication storage device of claim 21 , wherein in order to determine whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred, the computing device is further configured to determine whether a user associated with the medication storage device has transmitted a request to log out of an application associated with the medication storage device.
23. The medication storage device of claim 22 , wherein the notification comprises an alert message, said medication storage device further comprising:
a display device in electronic communication with the computing device, said display device configured to display the alert message.
24. The medication storage device of claim 21 , wherein in order to determine whether a predetermined event associated with the medication storage device has occurred, the computing device is further configured to determine whether a current time is substantially equal to a predefined time.
25. The medication storage device of claim 24 , wherein the notification comprises a summary of a lock status of one or more medication storage devices, and wherein the computing device is further configured to transmit the notification to an electronic device.
26. A medication storage device comprising:
one or more drawers, at least one of the one or more drawers comprising one or more pockets;
one or more automatic locks associated with respective one or more pockets; and
a computing device in electronic communication with the one or more automatic locks, said computing device configured to:
receive an instruction to designate at least one of the one or more pockets as a next case medication pocket, said next case medication pocket configured to store a medication prepared in anticipation of a subsequent case or procedure;
receive a request to unlock the next case medication pocket from a user associated with the medication storage device;
determine whether the user is authorized to access the next case medication pocket; and
transmit a signal to unlock the automatic lock associated with the next case medication pocket, in response to determining that the user is authorized to access the next case medication pocket.
27. The medication storage device of claim 26 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
transmit a signal to relock the automatic lock associated with the next case medication pocket after a predefined period of time has expired.
28. The medication storage device of claim 26 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive a signal indicating that the next case medication pocket has been closed; and
transmit a signal to relock the automatic lock associated with the next case medication pocket in response to receiving the signal.
29. The medication storage device of claim 26 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
store user identification information associated with the user from whom the request was received; and
store, in association with the user identification information, a time at which the request was received.