Abstract:
A method of and system for labeling containers of prescribed medicine is provided wherein a photograph of a patient is taken using a camera. The photograph is then stored on a computer as a computer software object. When a prescription is filled for the patient, the photograph is printed on the label along with prescription information and the label is attached to the container.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/384,819 filed Mar. 21, 2006, which will issue as U.S. Pat. No. 7,257,456 on Aug. 14, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/466,282 filed Dec. 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,752, and claims the benefit of both parent applications, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to prescription medicine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of and system for labeling containers of prescribed medicine.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0005]     Those of ordinary skill in the art and laypersons alike are well aware of labels which are found on containers of prescribed medicine. Typically, a label on a container of prescribed medicine will contain information such as the name of the patient; the name of the medicine and the dosage particulars; the name of the prescribing doctor; the quantity of medicine in the container; the expiration date of the medicine; a code which identifies the medicine manufacturer; a prescription number; the prescription date; the name and address of the pharmacy which filled the prescription; and a UPC code which can be used by the pharmacy to automatically identify the prescription in its computer system.  
         [0006]     Despite the specific patient identifying information found on containers of prescribed medicine, when distributing medicine to a large number of patients, such as in hospitals and nursing homes, patients often receive the wrong medicine. To combat this serious problem, some hospitals and nursing homes take photographs of their patients and include the photographs in the medication administration record (MAR) used to record the administration of medicine. In this way the nurses administering the medicine are provided with means to help ensure that a patient does not receive the wrong medication. These photographs are also sometimes attached to the medication cart itself, such as on a drawer, or on the divider cards used to segregate the patients&#39; medicine. These methods, however, are laborious, time consuming, highly inefficient and potentially dangerous.  
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0007]     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and system for labeling containers of prescribed medicine which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of and system for labeling containers of prescribed medicine wherein the label includes a photograph of the patient.  
         [0008]     The foregoing and other objects are achieved by providing a method of and system for labeling containers of prescribed medicine wherein a photograph of a patient is taken. The photograph is then stored on a computer as a computer software object. When a prescription is filled for the patient, the photograph is printed on the label along with the patient&#39;s prescription information and the label is attached to the container.  
         [0009]     The present invention will now be described in greater detail, with frequent reference being made to the drawings identified below. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     In the accompanying drawings:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a labeling system in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart which illustrates the operation of the labeling system of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart which illustrates the operation of the label algorithm; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a sample label in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]     The following description is presented to enable any person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present invention. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown, but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.  
         [0016]     The present invention is designed specifically for use by pharmacies which distribute prescriptions to patients in nursing homes, hospitals, or other large medical institutions. However, it will be realized by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be used by any pharmacy in distributing prescribed medicine. Thus, the present invention is in no way limited to use in nursing homes and hospitals.  
         [0017]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the system  10  in accordance with the present invention includes a digital camera  12  for taking digital photographs of the patients, such as a Kodak™ digital camera; a secondary computer  14 , such as an IBM compatible personal computer, for downloading the digital photographs from the digital camera  12  and converting the photographs into software objects; a primary computer  16 , such as a midrange computer, for creating the labels; and a printer  18  attached to the secondary computer  16  for printing the labels.  
         [0018]     For purposes of this discussion, it will be assumed that the system  10  will be used by a pharmacy to distribute medicine to patients in a nursing home.  
         [0019]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , using the digital camera  12 , a pharmacist, or an agent or employee of the pharmacist, first takes a digital photograph of each nursing home patient. The digital camera  12  is then attached, via an appropriately configured port, to the secondary computer  14  which contains processing software  20  stored in a memory  21  for converting the digital photographs into software objects  22 , such as JPEG files. The photographs are then uploaded to the secondary computer  14  from the digital camera  12  and converted into software objects  22 . Digital cameras are generally sold with processing software which will run under popular operating systems, such as Windows 95™, which do this conversion. Depending on the number of patients and the capacity of the digital camera  12 , this process may need to be repeated a number of times. Additionally, as new patients enter the nursing home, their photographs must be taken as well.  
         [0020]     After conversion, the software objects  22  are temporarily stored on the secondary computer  14  in memory  21 . It will be realized by those of ordinary skill in the art that the secondary computer  14  may be any type of computer which is capable of performing the functions described herein. However, the secondary computer  14  will typically be an inexpensive IBM™ compatible personal computer having a central-processing-unit (CPU), a hard drive for storing the processing software and the software objects, a random-access-memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse, all running under Windows 95™ or the like.  
         [0021]     The software objects are next uploaded from the secondary computer  14  to the primary computer  16  via appropriately configured ports on each computer, where they are indexed and stored in a photograph database  24  which is stored in a memory  25 . The primary computer  16  also includes stored in memory  25  a prescription database  26  which contains the prescription information of each patient, including the name of the patient, the name of the medicine and the dosage particulars, the name of the prescribing doctor, the name of the nursing home and the quantity of medicine in the prescription, and an inventory database  28  which contains information relating to the medicine which the pharmacist has in stock, including the identity of the manufacturers and the expiration date of the various medicines. The prescription database  26  and the inventory database  28  will be periodically updated as the prescription information of the patients change and as the pharmacist&#39;s inventory changes. The primary computer  16  also includes a label algorithm  30  which will create the labels.  
         [0022]     While the primary computer may also be an IBM™ compatible computer, it will generally be a more business oriented computer, such as an IBM AS/400™, having a more powerful CPU, more RAM, more ROM, and a hard drive having sufficient memory to hold the various databases described herein. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, however, that the primary computer  16  may be any type of computer capable of performing the functions described herein.  
         [0023]     Before any prescriptions are filled, the photographs should be confirmed by sending a grid sheet having the name and photograph of every patient to the nursing home, who will ensure that the names and photographs are correctly matched. In this way any errors which may have occurred during the photographing process can be corrected.  
         [0024]     When it comes time to fill a prescription for a patient, a pharmacist or a pharmacist&#39;s technician or the like will run the label algorithm  30  using a terminal  32  connected to the primary computer  16 . Typically, the label algorithm  30  will be launched through a master software module  33  which is used to control the overall operation of the primary computer  15   16 , including updating of the various databases. Such master software modules are commercially available and are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , which illustrates how the label algorithm functions, the pharmacist or pharmacist&#39;s technician or the like will enter information which identifies the patient, such as the patient&#39;s name or a prescription number. The label algorithm  30  will then  20  retrieve the prescription information from the prescription database  26 , the corresponding photograph from the photograph database  24  and the medicine information from the inventory database  28  and combine the data to create a label. The label will then be printed on the printer  18 , which is preferably a laser printer for clarity, but which may be any type of printer. The printed label is then attached to the medicine container, preferably through an adhesive on the back of the label. It will be appreciated that a label algorithm in accordance with the present invention may be readily implemented by one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0026]     A sample label  34  in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 4 . As is clear from  FIG. 4 , the label contains a photograph of the patient, as well as the patient&#39;s prescription information. Additionally, the label contains the expiration date of the medicine; a code which identifies the medicine manufacturer; the name and address of the pharmacy which filled the prescription; and a UPC code generated by the label algorithm  30  which can be used by the pharmacy to automatically identify and track the prescription.  
         [0027]     It will be realized by those of ordinary skill in the art that the functions performed by the primary and secondary computers may in fact be performed on one computer instead of two, and thus the present invention is not limited to two separate computers. It will also be realized by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention is also not limited to use of a digital camera. For example, photographs may be taken using an ordinary camera. After developing, the photographs may be converted to computer software objects using a scanner or the like.  
         [0028]     Nor, as discussed above, is the present invention limited to use in nursing homes, hospitals and the like. Rather, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be used in any type of pharmacy, including a consumer&#39;s neighborhood pharmacy. For example, when a consumer goes to his neighborhood pharmacy to fill a prescription for the first time, the pharmacist can take his/her photograph and store the photograph in the pharmacist&#39;s computer. Each time the consumer fills a prescription, his/her photograph will be printed on the label.  
         [0029]     Thus, in accordance with the foregoing the objects of the present invention are achieved. Modifications to the above would be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art, but would not bring the invention so modified beyond the scope of the appended claims.