Medication record-keeping package

The cover sheet of a medication record-keeping package provides a chart on which a record is made of medication prescribed for administration to a patient. Pressure sensitive transfer sheets of increasing width are stacked beneath the cover sheet to provide duplicate records of the information recorded within various time periods. The transfer sheets are successively removed and attached to a retention sheet to form a periodically updated supplemental record.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the keeping of medical records, and more 
particularly to a package of forms for keeping records relating to the 
medication administered to an individual patient. 
The periodic administration of medication to patients in accordance with 
the instructions of their physicians is an important nursing function of 
modern hospitals. Accurate and readily available records of the medication 
prescribed and administered is essential to the performance of this 
function. 
According to the conventional record-keeping techniques, physicians enter 
the medication prescribed, the dosage, and other such information on 
standardized charts, one such chart being provided for each patient. All 
the current charts pertaining to patients in a particular area of the 
hospital are collected in a loose leaf binder or the like and carried on a 
medication cart that is wheeled along a route from patient to patient. The 
physician's instructions are available for the nurse's reference at the 
patient's bedside, and she can immediately record the administration of 
the medicine to the patient to update appropriate columns on the chart. 
Since the original medication charts are carried about on the medication 
cart and are not readily available to all nurses or physicians, it is 
conventional to maintain a periodically updated supplemental medication 
record at a nursing station or other fixed location. The copying of 
information from the chart carried on the medication cart to the 
supplemental record is time consuming and is a potential source of serious 
errors. 
The principal objective of the present invention is to provide for the 
efficient and substantially error free transfer of information from the 
original medication record to the supplemental record. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a record-keeping package for hospital use 
in which information recorded on the cover sheet of the package is 
duplicated on underlying pressure sensitive transfer sheets. Periodically, 
a transfer sheet is detached from the cover sheet and attached to a 
retention sheet to provide a progressively updated supplemental record. 
The cover sheet containing the original record of the information can be 
carried on the medicine cart, while the supplemental record is maintained 
at a fixed location. 
More specifically, the cover sheet of the package is in the form of a chart 
having a medication column on which information relating to the medication 
prescribed by a physician is recorded. Information relating to the 
administration of the medication to the patient is entered in 
administration columns parallel to the medication column, with all 
information relating to the administration of medication within the 
designated time period being entered in a single administration column. 
The transfer sheets are releasably attached to the cover sheet by a binding 
means and held beneath the cover sheet to underlie the various 
administration columns. The supplemental record is generated by 
periodically detaching a transfer sheet from the cover sheet and attaching 
it to a retention sheet. The retention sheet includes a plurality of 
parallel adhesive strips by which the transfer sheets can be attached. 
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the 
accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles 
of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
An exemplary medication record-keeping package 10, constructed in 
accordance with the present invention and illustrated in the accompanying 
drawings, includes a plurality of sheets arranged in an overlying stacked 
relationship and bound together along one edge 12. A bottom sheet 13 
protects the package 10 so that it is easily handled. 
A chart 14 (FIG. 1) that determines the format in which medication 
information relating to a particular patient is to be recorded is printed 
on the top sheet 16, known as the cover sheet. The same chart 14, or a 
portion of the chart appears, on the sheets beneath, each of which has a 
pressure sensitive coating applied to it to duplicate the information 
recorded on the cover sheet. The coating may be of a well known type using 
microencapsulation or ordinary carbon paper (not shown) can be used 
instead. 
The full chart 14, as it appears on the cover sheet 16 (FIG. 1), includes a 
series of parallel columns. The widest column 18, which is near the 
left-hand edge 12, is called the medication column and is divided 
horizontally into a series of rectangular blanks 20. Each item of 
medication ordered by a physician, along with information pertaining to 
the dosage, frequency of administration and the like is recorded in one of 
these blanks 20. The data on which the medication is ordered can be 
entered in a narrow data column 22 extending along the left-hand edge of 
the chart 14. Charges to the patient are entered in a column 23 on the 
right-hand edge. 
Immediately to the right of the medication column are administration 
columns 24 through 28 in which information relating to the administration 
of medication to the patient is recorded. This administration information, 
which might include the manner in which the medication was administered, 
e.g., injection or oral, and the time of day, is entered in the 
appropriate administration columns 24 through 28. Proceding from left to 
right away from the medication column 18, each such column corresponds to 
a successive day, nursing shift or other such period, as determined by the 
hospital administration. 
The administration columns 24 through 28 are of equal width, although 
narrower than the medication column 18, and are divided horizontally into 
rectangular blocks 30, so that each block 20 of the medication column 12 
has a corresponding block in each of the administration columns. Although 
six administration columns 24 through 28 are included in this exemplary 
record-keeping package 10, the optimum number will vary with the 
administrative practices and average patient stay of a particular 
facility. The margins of the cover sheet 16 provide space for additional 
information such as the patient's name, number and allergies, the number 
of the nursing station responsible for the patient's care and the name of 
the attending physician. 
Each sheet of the package 10, including the cover sheet 16, is joined along 
its left-hand edge to a tab 32. The sheets are divided from the tabs 32 by 
perforation lines 34 so they can easily be separated from the package 10. 
All the tabs 32 are interconnected by glue to serve as a binding for the 
package 10, and holes 36 are punched in the tabs 32 at evenly-spaced 
intervals so that the package can be readily inserted in a loose leaf 
notebook (not shown). 
Beneath the cover sheet 16 is a retention sheet 38 (FIG. 2) on which the 
full chart 14 appears again. Since a pressure sensitive coating is applied 
to the retention sheet 38, information recorded on the cover sheet 16 is 
duplicated on the retention sheet in corresponding locations. A plurality 
of parallel spaced-apart adhesive strips 42 extend along the centers of 
each of the administration columns of the retention sheet 38, except for 
the two end columns, 24 and 28, closest to the medication column 18 on one 
side and the unbound edge 41 of the retention sheet on the other side. The 
adhesive strips 40 are covered by elongated protective strips 44 that are 
easily peeled away to permit attachment of other sheets so that the record 
maintained on the retention sheet 38 can be periodically updated as 
explained more fully below. 
Underlying the retention sheet 38 is a series of transfer sheets 46, 47 and 
48 of progressively increasing width with the smallest sheet on top (FIG. 
3). The transfer sheets are aligned with the other sheets of the package 
10 along their respective bound left-hand edges 12 so that their unbound 
right-hand edges 50 are parallel but not contiguous. 
Each transfer sheet 46 through 48 is imprinted with that portion of the 
chart 14 which overlies it. Due to the pressure sensitive coating, the 
information recorded on the overlying portion of the cover sheet 16 is 
duplicated on the corresponding portions of the transfer sheets 46 through 
48. The narrowest transfer sheet 46 is large enough to include the data 
column 22, the medication column 18 and the first two administration 
columns 24 and 25. Each successively larger transfer sheet, 47 and 48, 
extends beyond the preceding transfer sheet by the width of one 
administration column. The last and widest transfer sheet 48 includes the 
entire chart 14 with the exception of the last administration column 28 
that extends along the unbound right-hand edge of the chart. 
On the first day that the chart 14 is in use, the entire record-keeping 
package 10 is carried on the medication cart, there being no completed 
administration columns 24 through 28 to be made available by way of a 
supplemental record at the nursing station. Once the period covered by the 
first administration column 24 adjacent the medication column 18 has 
expired, the retention sheet 38 is removed from the package 10 and kept at 
the nursing station. Information regarding the administration of 
medication during the expired period is then available from the retention 
sheet 38. 
After the second administration column has been completed, the first and 
smallest transfer sheet 46 is removed from the package 10 and attached to 
the retention sheet 38 so that it overlies the medication column 18 and 
the first two administration columns 24 and 25. In this way, the 
supplemental record at the nursing station is updated to include the now 
completed second administration column 25. To aid in positioning the 
transfer sheets 46 through 48, indicia 52 appear on the administration 
columns 24 through 28 corresponding to indicia carried by the 
administration columns 24 through 28 of the retention sheet 38 beneath the 
protective strips 44. The transfer sheet 46 is held in place by the 
adhesive strip 42 after the removal of the overlying protective strip 44. 
The left-hand edge of the transfer sheet 46 remains unbound so that the 
retention sheet 34 below can be referred to in the event that any record 
on the transfer sheet is not clearly legible. 
Upon the completion of each of the next two administration columns 25 and 
26, the remaining transfer sheets 47 and 48 are removed from the package 
10 and attached to the retention sheet 38 in like manner. After the 
completion of the last administration column 28 on the chart 12, a new 
record-keeping package 10 is assigned to the patient and inserted in the 
binder carried on the medication cart. The completed cover sheet 16 is 
then available for use at other locations as a record of the patient's 
medication, and the retention sheet 38 with the attached transfer sheets 
46 through 48 can be disposed of if desired. 
In this embodiment, an additional pressure sensitive sheet 54 is included 
in the package 10 immediately beneath the cover sheet 16 to provide 
another complete record of the patient's medication used for 
pharmaceutical or accounting purposes. This additional sheet may, of 
course, be omitted, depending upon the requirements of a particular 
hospital. If desired, an additional transfer sheet (not shown), can 
underlie only the medication column 18 and the first administration column 
26 so that the retention sheet 38 can be removed from the package 10 
before the completion of the first administration column 24. 
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the record-keeping package 
10 of the present invention conveniently provides a progressively updated 
supplemental record of a patient's medication. The time consuming process 
of recopying information onto a second chart is eliminated. In addition, 
the possibilities of human error are substantially reduced since the 
supplemental record is made simultaneously with the original record. 
While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and 
described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made 
without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.