Automated system for medical item dispensing, billing, and inventory management

1. An inventory system for managing information regarding medical items dispensed in conjunction with medical treatment of patients of a medical facility, wherein the medical items have RFID tags attached thereto that identify the medical items to which the RFID tags are attached, the inventory system comprising:

a secured limited-access inventory space in which the medical items are stored;

a door for providing user access to the inventory space; and

an inventory management system provided by an inventory management service provider, which is an entity that provides the inventory management system for use by the medical facility and that is also a medical item supplier for the medical facility, the inventory management system comprising:

an inventory access control system comprising an entry-access device that authorized personnel use to enter credentials for gaining access to the inventory space;

one or more RFID sensors for sensing the presence of RFID tags attached to medical items in the inventory space and for sensing removal of one or more medical items from the inventory space to be dispensed to a patient, and for generating item usage information indicative of an identity and quantity of the one or more medical items removed;

one or more computers in communication with the one or more RFID sensors and the inventory access control system, the one or more computers configured to store and manage the item usage information and billing information for the one or more medical items dispensed to the patient;

an authorized user database in communication with the one or more computers for storing records for authenticating the credentials of personnel seeking access to the inventory space;

one or more databases in communication with the one or more computers, the one or more databases for storing the billing information including:

information regarding the patient, medical insurance providers and medical item suppliers, wherein the medical item suppliers are entities that supply medical items to the medical facility, and wherein the medical insurance providers are entities that pay for medical expenses incurred by patients of the medical facility;

information that associates the patient with a medical insurance provider to which medical expenses incurred by the patient are to be billed;

information that associates various medical item suppliers as preferred billers for various medical insurance providers, wherein a preferred biller is a medical item supplier that a medical insurance provider prefers to pay for medical expenses incurred by a patient, wherein a preferred biller may be the inventory management service provider or another of the medical item suppliers, and wherein the billing information may indicate that a preferred biller is an entity other than the inventory management service provider; and

one or more software applications executed on the one or more computers associated with the medical facility, the one or more software applications including computer-executable instructions which, when executed:

compare the credentials entered using the entry-access device to the records stored in the authorized user database, and upon authentication of the credentials, send a command to unlock the door of the inventory space;

upon the RFID sensors sensing removal of the medical items from the inventory space, associate the item usage information of medical items removed from the inventory space with information identifying the personnel that removed the medical items from the inventory space, thereby providing for user accountability for the removed medical items;

associate the item usage information with patient information that identifies the patient to which the one or more medical items are dispensed;

process the billing information to identify a medical insurance provider to which medical expenses incurred by the patient are to be billed;

access the one or more databases to identify a medical item supplier that is the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider;

determine whether the inventory management service provider is the medical item supplier identified as the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider;

generate an invoice from the inventory management service provider to bill the patient's medical insurance provider when it is determined that the inventory management service provider is the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider; and

send the billing information to the medical item supplier identified as the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider when it is determined that the inventory management service provider is not the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider.

2. The inventory system of claim 1 wherein the one or more software applications include computer-executable instructions which, when executed, generate a billing-only invoice directed to the medical item supplier identified as the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider when it is determined that the inventory management service provider is not the preferred biller for the patient's medical insurance provider, wherein the billing-only invoice is to be paid to the inventory management service provider.

3. The inventory system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computers comprise a customer computer associated with the medical facility and a service provider computer associated with the inventory management service provider that is in communication with the customer computer through a communication network, and wherein the one or more software applications are executed on one or both of service provider computer and the customer computer.