Managing medications at the bedside
Modular automated dispensing systems for dispensing secured medications in a medical environment are provided. The system includes a compact enclosure configured to be disposed in a medical treatment area without taking up valuable floor space. The system includes lockable drawers having one or more compartments for storing and dispensing medications or medical supplies. The system is unlocked by use of an access control interface internally or externally connected directly to the system, or networked to the system through a medical center network.
1. A modular automated dispensing system for dispensing secured medications in a medical environment, the modular automated dispensing system comprising:
a compact enclosure configured to be disposed on a support surface in a medical treatment area, wherein the compact enclosure does not require floor space in the medical treatment area;
a lock assembly;
one or more drawers for storing medications, each drawer configured to be secured in the compact enclosure when locked by the lock assembly, and each drawer configured to be slideably openable from the compact enclosure when unlocked by the lock assembly;
one or more compartments disposed within one of the drawers;
an access control interface operatively coupled to the lock assembly, the access control interface configured to provide an unlock signal to the lock assembly based on received authorization input; and
a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read an RFID tag on a medication stored in a first drawer, wherein removal of the RFID tag from the first drawer automatically clears the removed medication from an electronically displayed dispensing queue and updates the inventory information of the modular automated dispensing system.
2. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more compartments is removable, wherein the removable compartment is configured to be replaced with a similarly sized removable compartment pre-loaded with medications.
3. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 2 , further comprising an external scanning device configured to scan and enter information associated with the removable compartment upon removing or adding the removable compartment from or to the at least one of the drawers.
4. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein the access control interface comprises a biometric input device.
5. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 4 , wherein the biometric input device comprises one of a fingerprint scanner, a retinal scanner and a voice recognition device.
6. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 4 , further comprising a key lock assembly configured to provide access to the compact enclosure if the biometric input device is not operable.
7. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 4 , further comprising a key lock assembly, wherein access to the compact enclosure requires operation of both the biometric input device and the key lock assembly.
8. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein the access control interface comprises a network interface configured to unlock the lock assembly upon receiving authentication from a mobile device of an authorized user.
9. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 1 , further comprising a lockable return bin externally connected to the compact enclosure, the lockable return bin configured to receive and store previously dispensed medications.
10. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 1 , wherein one of the one or more compartments is a return compartment configured to receive and store previously dispensed medications.
11. The modular automated dispensing system of claim 1 , further comprising a remote management device interface, wherein the remote management device interface is configured to communicate with a remote management device on a storage cabinet.
12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a mobile device interface configured to display a dispensing queue of the modular automated dispensing system on a display of a mobile device.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein one of the one or more compartments is a lockable compartment comprising one of a secure compartment configured to contain a single item and a controlled compartment configured to contain a plurality of items.
14. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of compartments, wherein at least one compartment has a lock and is individually unlockable, and wherein the remaining compartments are openable because they do not have locks.
15. A system for dispensing secured medications in a medical environment, the system comprising:
a plurality of modular automated dispensing devices, each modular dispensing device comprising:
a compact enclosure configured to be disposed on a support surface in a medical treatment area, wherein the compact enclosure does not require floor space in the medical treatment area;
a lock assembly;
a plurality of drawers for storing medications, each drawer configured to be secured in the compact enclosure when locked by the lock assembly, and each drawer configured to be slideably openable from the compact enclosure when unlocked by the lock assembly;
a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read an RFID tag on a medication stored in a first drawer, wherein removal of the RFID tag from the first drawer automatically clears the removed medication from an electronically displayed dispensing queue and updates the inventory information of the modular automated dispensing system;
a plurality of compartments disposed within one of the drawers, wherein at least one compartment is one of a secure compartment configured to contain a single item and a controlled compartment configured to contain a plurality of items; and
an access control interface operatively coupled to the lock assembly, the access control interface configured to provide an unlock signal to the lock assembly based on received authorization input,
wherein each modular automated dispensing device is configured to unlock one or more of the drawers based on an authenticated dispensing request.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the external access control device comprises one or more of a fingerprint scanner, a retinal scanner, and a voice recognition device.
17. The system of claim 15 , further comprising one or more communication cables directly connecting the plurality of modular automated dispensing devices together in a daisy chain, wherein one of the daisy chained plurality of modular automated dispensing devices is configured as the master device and the remaining daisy chained modular automated dispensing devices are configured as slave devices.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the master device is configured to authenticate a user, and wherein any of the plurality of modular automated dispensing devices may be unlocked based on the authentication by the master device.
19. The system of claim 15 , further comprising an external access control device operatively connected to the plurality of modular automated dispensing devices, the external access control device configured to provide user authentication to each of the connected modular automated dispensing devices.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the plurality of compartments has a lock and is individually unlockable, and wherein the remaining compartments are openable because they do not have locks.