Medication dispensing system
A medication dispensing system is provided with several cooperating components which help to accommodate the responsible handling of medications. These systems include a user interface to receive input from the user and to present appropriate information/notices/alarms. Further, physical controls and multiple sensors are provided to detect tampering, misuse, and attempts to inappropriately access medications contained within the dispensing system. This misuse can thus be detected, and appropriate notifications can be provided, where appropriate. Further, by adding network communications capabilities, notices can be widely communicated to others, and operation of the medication dispensing system can be controlled and/or monitored remotely.
1. A medication dispensing cassette comprising:
a plurality of separated chambers, with each chamber being configured to contain a plurality of medications;
an identification module configured to provide a set of identification data relating to each of the plurality of separated chambers;
wherein the cassette is configured to engage with and be received by a housing, the housing including an identification reader, and the identification module is arranged to be read by the identification reader when received by the housing; and
wherein the cassette includes an engagement feature configured to engage with a drive mechanism of a control system to facilitate controlled access to a predetermined chamber of the plurality of separated chambers based upon a dispensing schedule having a plurality of dispensing events stored in the control system, based on the identification data relating to the cassette as read by the identification reader.
2. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the identification module comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and the identification reader comprises an RFID interrogator.
3. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the control system provides an alert when the identification reader receives unapproved identification data from the identification module.
4. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 3 , wherein the alert includes an audible alarm.
5. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 3 , wherein the alert includes a visual alarm.
6. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the control system disables access to the plurality of separated chambers when the identification reader receives unapproved identification data from the identification module.
7. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the control system includes a memory, the memory configured to store data relating to occurrences of the identification reader receiving unapproved identification data from the identification module.
8. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the identification module comprises a near field communication transmitter and the identification reader comprises a near field communication receiver.
9. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the identification module comprises a wireless transmitter and the identification reader comprises a wireless receiver.
10. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the identification module comprises a series of markings and the identification reader comprises an optical reader configured to receive and interpret the series of markings.
11. The medication dispensing cassette of claim 1 , wherein the identification module comprises a barcode and the identification reader comprises a bar code reader.