Abstract:
An automatic manufacturer switchover function to switch a set of future new, transfer, refill, and/or copy prescriptions to a new manufacturer product for a pharmacy. Furthermore, the claimed method and system may allow for a tiered approach to a manufacturer switch by allowing a corporate entity or owner of a pharmacy network to designate a pharmacy wide preferred manufacturer (or generic product) while giving a local pharmacy the power to decide when to implement a switchover at a local level. In one embodiment, the claimed switching system and process may also provide indications to pharmacists and customers to guide a transition from one manufacturer to another, thereby preserving customer perception of quality and pharmacy reputation.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention generally relates to a process for managing prescription orders in a pharmacy computer network. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Pharmacy networks may fill a prescription with a brand pharmacy product when required by brand companies holding patent rights on that pharmacy product. Generic manufacturer pharmacy products may eventually be used to replace the brand pharmacy products when patent rights expire, however, more than one generic may be available to a particular pharmacy network. In fact, with the purchase of generic drugs often going out to bid, the number of new generic manufacturers presented to pharmacy retail networks may be increasing dramatically. When a new manufacturer is stocked in a pharmacy network warehouse and shipped to local pharmacies, existing pharmacy computer systems may not be able to efficiently manage the switching of multiple new and/or existing prescriptions to a new manufacturer. If a local pharmacy wishes to switch manufacturers for a particular pharmacy product, existing pharmacy systems may enable a per prescription switching process. This per prescription switching process is often performed manually one prescription at a time and may be limited to newly inputted prescriptions. Existing systems may generally be designed in this manner to ensure consistency of prescription service (e.g., providing a customer the same product) and thereby provide a perception of quality and integrity (e.g., because generics may look different, even though the product is effectively equivalent, customers may perceive a quality difference). However, because of the large number of keystrokes needed to accomplish a single manual prescription switch and the volume of prescriptions generated and/or filled per pharmacy in a pharmacy network, manually switching prescriptions when new manufacturers of equivalent pharmacy products arrive may be a time consuming and resource draining task. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The claimed method and system provides an automatic manufacturer switchover function to switch a set of future new, transfer, refill, and/or copy prescriptions to a new manufacturer product for a pharmacy. The claimed method and system provides an easy to use and consistent process for individual pharmacies in a pharmacy network to use when a pharmacy product or drug manufacturer has changed for a prescription. The claimed method and system may decrease the number of keystrokes necessary to implement a manufacturer change on a pharmacy wide or inter-pharmacy wide level. Furthermore, the claimed method and system may allow for a tiered approach to a manufacturer switch by allowing a corporate entity or owner of a pharmacy network to designate a pharmacy wide preferred manufacturer (or generic product) while giving a local pharmacy the power to decide when to implement the switchover at a local level. In one embodiment, the claimed switching system and process may also provide indications to pharmacists and customers to guide a transition from one manufacturer to another, thereby preserving customer perception of quality and pharmacy reputation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIGS. 1-3  illustrate block diagrams of a computing system that may operate in accordance with the described embodiments; 
           [0005]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary pharmacy computer system prescription entry process; 
           [0006]      FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of a pharmacy switchover process that may be implemented in the pharmacy system; 
           [0007]      FIG. 6  illustrates a table of parameters that are used to determine manufacturer switching permissions; 
           [0008]      FIG. 7  illustrates a flow chart relating to activating and listing manufacturer options for a pharmacy product coinciding with the parameters of  FIG. 6 ; 
           [0009]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flow chart relating to trigger implementations based on prescription type; 
           [0010]      FIG. 9  illustrates a change manufacturer screen; 
           [0011]      FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary multiple product list screen; 
           [0012]      FIG. 11  illustrates an exemplary screen indicating to pharmacy personnel that a manufacturer change has occurred and that a customer/patient guidance process may be required; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 12  illustrates an exemplary label that may be used to indicate that a pharmacy product is the same, but appearance may be different; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Although the following text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legal scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims. 
         [0015]    It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined in this patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ is hereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intent to limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication, beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not be interpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in any section of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To the extent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent is referred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning, that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader, and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implication or otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element is defined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recital of any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim element be interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph. 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of a data network  10  including a first group of pharmacies  20  operatively coupled to a network computer  30  via a network  32 . The plurality of pharmacies  20  may be located, by way of example rather than limitation, in separate geographic locations from each other, in different areas of the same city, or in different states. The network  32  may be provided using a wide variety of techniques well known to those skilled in the art for the transfer of electronic data. For example, the network  32  may comprise dedicated access lines, plain ordinary telephone lines, satellite links, combinations of these, etc. Additionally, the network  32  may include a plurality of network computers or server computers (not shown), each of which may be operatively interconnected in a known manner. Where the network  32  comprises the Internet, data communication may take place over the network  32  via an Internet communication protocol. 
         [0017]    The network computer  30  may be a server computer of the type commonly employed in networking solutions. The network computer  30  may be used to accumulate, analyze, and download pharmacy data. For example, the network computer  30  may periodically receive data from each of the pharmacies  20  indicative of information pertaining to a prescription order, billing information, employee data, etc. The pharmacies  20  may include one or more facility servers  36  that may be utilized to store information for a plurality of customers/employees/accounts/etc. associated with each facility. 
         [0018]    Although the data network  10  is shown to include one network computer  30  and three pharmacies  20 , it should be understood that different numbers of computers and pharmacies may be utilized. For example, the network  32  may include a plurality of network computers  30  and dozens of pharmacies  20 , all of which may be interconnected via the network  32 . According to the disclosed example, this configuration may provide several advantages, such as, for example, enabling near real time uploads and downloads of information as well as periodic uploads and downloads of information. This provides for a primary backup of all the information generated in the process of updating and accumulating pharmacy data. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of one possible embodiment of the network computer  30  shown in  FIG. 1 . The network computer  30  may have a controller  50  that is operatively connected to a database  52  via a link  56 . It should be noted that, while not shown, additional databases may be linked to the controller  50  in a known manner. 
         [0020]    The controller  50  may include a program memory  60 , a microcontroller or a microprocessor (MP)  62 , a random-access memory (RAM)  64 , and an input/output (I/O) circuit  66 , all of which may be interconnected via an address/data bus  70 . It should be appreciated that although only one microprocessor  62  is shown, the controller  50  may include multiple microprocessors  62 . Similarly, the memory of the controller  50  may include multiple RAMs  64  and multiple program memories  60 . Although the I/O circuit  66  is shown as a single block, it should be appreciated that the I/O circuit  66  may include a number of different types of I/O circuits. The RAM(s)  64  and programs memories  60  may be implemented as semiconductor memories, magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, for example. The controller  50  may also be operatively connected to the network  32  via a link  72 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of one possible embodiment of several components located in one or more of the pharmacies  20  from  FIG. 1 . Although the following description addresses the design of the pharmacies  20 , it should be understood that the design of one or more of the pharmacies  20  may be different than the design of other pharmacies  20 . Also, each pharmacy  20  may have various different structures and methods of operation. It should also be understood that the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  illustrates some of the components and data connections present in a pharmacy, however it does not illustrate all of the data connections present in a typical pharmacy. For exemplary purposes, one design of a pharmacy is described below, but it should be understood that numerous other designs may be utilized. 
         [0022]    The pharmacies  20  may have a facility server  36 , which includes a controller  80 , wherein the facility server  36  is operatively connected to a plurality of client device terminals  82  via a network  84 . The network  84  may be a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or any other type of network readily known to those persons skilled in the art. The client device terminals  82  may also be operatively connected to the network computer  30  from  FIG. 1  via the network  32 . 
         [0023]    Similar to the controller  50  from  FIG. 2 , the controller  80  may include a program memory  86 , a microcontroller or a microprocessor (MP)  88 , a random-access memory (RAM)  90 , and an input/output (I/O) circuit  92 , all of which may be interconnected via an address/data bus  94 . As discussed with reference to the controller  50 , it should be appreciated that although only one microprocessor  88  is shown, the controller  80  may include multiple microprocessors  88 . Similarly, the memory of the controller  80  may include multiple RAMs  90  and multiple programs memories  86 . Although the I/O circuit  92  is shown as a single block, the I/O circuit  92  may include a number of different types of I/O circuits. The RAM(s)  90  and programs memories  86  may also be implemented as semiconductor memories, magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, for example. 
         [0024]    The client device terminals  82  may include a display  96 , a controller  97 , a keyboard  98  as well as a variety of other input/output devices (not shown) such as a scanner, printer, mouse, touch screen, track pad, track ball, isopoint, voice recognition system, etc. Each client device terminal  82  may be signed onto and occupied by a pharmacy employee to assist them in performing their duties. Pharmacy employees may sign onto a client device terminal  82  using any generically available technique, such as entering a user name and password. If a pharmacy employee is required to sign onto a client device terminal  82 , this information may be passed via the link  84  to the facility server  36 , so that the controller  80  will be able to identify which pharmacy employees are signed onto the system and which client device terminals  82  the employees are signed onto. This may be useful in monitoring the pharmacy employees&#39; productivity. 
         [0025]    Typically, facility servers  36  store a plurality of files, programs, and other data for use by the client device terminals  82  and the network computer  30 . One facility server  36  may handle requests for data from a large number of client device terminals  82 . Accordingly, each facility server  36  may typically comprise a high end computer with a large storage capacity, one or more fast microprocessors, and one or more high speed network connections. Conversely, relative to a typical facility server  36 , each client device terminal  82  may typically include less storage capacity, a single microprocessor, and a single network connection. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary pharmacy computer system prescription entry process. In this system, a pharmacy agent or user may begin entering various prescription information into the computer system  401 . In the prescription entry process, a pharmacy product identifier may be used to select a pharmacy product for filling the prescription  402 . This product identifier may correspond to a pharmacy product type (e.g., a drug or medication) that has a single manufacturer (e.g., a brand manufacturer) or multiple manufacturers (e.g., generic and/or brand manufacturers). It is important to note that the pharmacy product identifier may uniquely identify a single pharmacy product type. While the single product type may be produced by different manufacturers and packaged differently (e.g., different colors, labels, boxes, containers, etc.), the products having the same product identifier may be equivalent. 
         [0027]    When the product identifier is associated with only a single manufacturer, the prescription entry portion of a pharmacy system may simply select (by default) the single manufacturer product for filling the prescription. In cases in which there exist multiple manufacturers for a single pharmacy product, the pharmacy system may provide a list of pharmacy product equivalents that are produced by different manufacturers. An example of an equivalent product list is illustrated in  FIG. 10 . In one embodiment, the pharmacy system may select, by default, a preferred manufacturer product for a particular pharmacy product identifier when there exists multiple manufacturers  403 . In this embodiment, if there are no customer or physician designated manufacturers  404 , the preferred manufacturer product may be filled  405  using the selected default whenever the associated pharmacy product identifier is entered for a prescription. Also, if a pharmacy agent needs to change the manufacturer, a change manufacturer screen may be used, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0028]    In cases in which there exist multiple manufacturers for a single pharmacy product, a physician may prescribe a preferred manufacturer for the pharmacy product. For example, in one embodiment, a pharmacy agent inputting a prescription may enter a national drug code (NDC) number that specifies the pharmacy product (e.g., a pharmacy product identifier) and a manufacturer of the pharmacy product. In one embodiment, after entering an NDC code specific to a pharmacy product and manufacturer of the pharmacy product, the pharmacy system may determine whether the designated manufacturer differs from the system preferred manufacturer  406 . If there is a difference, a change manufacturer indication may be displayed  407  to a pharmacy agent. If there is no manual selection or affirmation of a prescribed manufacturer  408 , the pharmacy system may fill the prescription  405  using the preferred manufacturer designated by the pharmacy system instead of the prescribed manufacturer from the NDC  409 . This may be done to provide a cost savings to a customer for an equivalent generic product. In this case, if the preferred manufacturer differs from a prescribed manufacturer  406 , indications may be provided to customers that a manufacturer change has occurred  410  (to be discussed further below). In a further embodiment, while the pharmacy system may automatically select the system preferred manufacturer, the pharmacy system may allow pharmacy personnel to select the NDC manufacturer  409  to fill the prescription  410 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of a pharmacy switchover process that may be implemented in the pharmacy system. In this embodiment, a manufacturer pharmacy product may be designated as a newly available preferred product for a pharmacy network  501 . This designation may be made on a pharmacy-wide level. When a new manufacturer has been designated by, for example, a corporate parent, and other local pharmacy parameters are met (for example, inventory conditions), then a local pharmacy trigger may be configured to switch existing and/or new prescriptions at the local pharmacy to use the network designated manufacturer pharmacy product. The trigger may be set off via a manual operation such as a manual change in a single prescription order fill (at the local pharmacy) from a previously designated preferred manufacture product to the newly designated manufacturer product. For example, when modifying a prescription (e.g., changing an existing prescription or entering a new prescription), pharmacy personnel may bring up an options screen for a plurality of equivalent pharmacy products that have different manufacturers  502 . (This options screen may be displayed only when a default preferred product is to be manually changed.) The plurality of equivalent pharmacy products may include the newly designated manufacturer pharmacy product. The newly designated manufacturer product may be highlighted in the display to indicate that it is designated as a newly available, network preferred manufacturer product (e.g., as “Y (New),” as illustrated in  FIG. 6 ). Next a newly designated manufacturer product may be manually selected for the single prescription  503 . The manual selection may set off a trigger to automatically change all prescriptions having corresponding equivalent pharmacy products to use the newly designated manufacturer product  504 . 
         [0030]    The designation of the preferred manufacturer on the pharmacy wide level may be performed by a corporate entity owning or controlling the pharmacy network. In this situation, the entity owning or controlling the pharmacy network may designate a pharmacy wide manufacturer preference for a particular pharmacy product. However, because of stocking issues for the new manufacturer pharmacy product at a local pharmacy or the need to exhaust existing supplies of old manufacturer pharmacy product, local pharmacy involvement in a manufacturer switch may be beneficial. In other words, it may be detrimental for a corporate entity to force a complete and sudden switchover to a preferred manufacturer without consideration of local pharmacy conditions. In this case, a manufacturer switch across a pharmacy network may be managed more efficiently by allowing a two stage process involving a network wide switching decision and a local pharmacy switching decision. In this manner, a pharmacy company operating a network of pharmacies may be able to take advantages of a negotiated bulk purchasing of product on a network wide scale, while allowing each pharmacy to manage the switchover on a local level to account for local conditions. 
         [0031]      FIG. 6  illustrates a table of parameters that are used to determine manufacturer switching permissions and  FIG. 7  illustrates a flow chart relating to activating and listing manufacturer options for a pharmacy product coinciding with the parameters of  FIG. 6 . A network wide decision may be made by setting a network wide system parameter called, e.g., “New Manufacturer”  602 , to indicate a new network preferred manufacturer. If the new manufacturer is not set  701 , then no trigger may be set  702 . If the network sets the new manufacturer  701 , then a local pharmacy on the pharmacy network may implement, at its own discretion  703 , a computer configured switch (or trigger) on a local scope  704 . The local scope permission may be made by setting a local parameter  606  indicating that the new manufacturer may be displayed as a local pharmacy option. 
         [0032]    One factor that a local pharmacy may consider in determining whether or not to accept the corporate wide or network wide preferred manufacturer product is how much remaining inventory the local pharmacy has in stock of an existing preferred product  705 . If there isn&#39;t sufficient inventory (e.g., past a threshold level), then no trigger may be set  702 . Related to the inventory factor is whether the local pharmacy has an existing contract with a local supplier (different from a network preferred supplier) for an existing preferred product that must expire before any new equivalent products may be stocked in bulk. These factors may be integrated into setting a warehouse level parameter  608  that may determine whether the local parameter  606  may be set. If a pharmacy wide manufacturer is elected by the network  701 , but the local pharmacy has not elected to enable a trigger  703 , the newly designated manufacturer may simply be listed as a fill option  706 , or not listed at all. 
         [0033]    Another factor that may be included in the determination of whether the trigger listing may be displayed is whether the pharmacy product has an associated substitute drug identifier (not shown), indicating that one pharmacy product is related to another pharmacy product in such a manner as to preclude a blanket replacement with a designated preferred pharmacy product. [INVENTORS: please verify this. It is unclear the role of a substitute drug identifier in preventing replacement with a designated/preferred drug] 
         [0034]    As further illustrated in  FIG. 6 , only when a local warehouse indicator  608 , a local scope indicator  606 , and a network wide indicator  602  are set (e.g., set to “Y”), may a “Y (NEW)” indication  614  be displayed in a pharmacy product equivalent listing  604 . A previously designated preferred manufacturer may be listed as a “Y” indication  610 . A non-preferred, non-stocked local pharmacy product may be listed as “N” indication  612 . In one embodiment, products labeled as “N” may be special ordered. 
         [0035]    As discussed above, the “Y (NEW)” may indicate the existence of a newly available, network wide manufacturer product. The “Y (NEW),” may also indicate that a trigger has been set to automatically change over all local pharmacy prescriptions requesting pharmacy products equivalent to the new manufacturer product upon setting off the trigger. In one embodiment, once the newly available manufacturer product has been manually selected and the automatic trigger has been set off, the manufacturer may no longer be listed as new, and may simply be designated as a preferred manufacturer product. For example, “Y(New),” may be relabeled “Y” to indicate that it is no longer a new manufacturer product, but may be the current preferred manufacturer product. In this embodiment, only a single manufacturer may be listed as the preferred manufacturer (i.e., “Y”) and only one manufacturer may be designated as a newly available, potentially preferred, manufacturer (i.e., “Y (New)”) 
         [0036]    The mechanism behind the switchover function may be implemented in a number of ways and may depend on prescription type. As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the trigger may initiate a database query of all unfilled local prescriptions requesting equivalent pharmacy products corresponding to the designated pharmacy product  801 . If the prescription has already been filled  802 , then there may be nothing left to change  803 . For existing prescriptions that have not been filled yet  802 , if a new manufacturer product is designated and the switchover is triggered before the prescription has been filed, then the query can modify those prescriptions to be filled with the new manufacturer  810  (unless a pharmacy service person manually changes the prescription, as described above). 
         [0037]    For future new prescriptions  804 , the selection of a manufacturer product may default to the preferred manufacturer product  805 . As discussed above, this preferred manufacturer product may be the new manufacturer pharmacy product when a pharmacy triggers the switchover. In one embodiment, this portion of the trigger may be implemented as follows. A pharmacy product identifier that corresponds to a particular pharmacy product may be associated with a preferred manufacturer product identifier that designates a manufacturer that produces the pharmacy product. In this embodiment, all future/new prescriptions that request the pharmacy product may be directed to use the newly designated manufacturer pharmacy product by modifying the preferred pharmacy product parameter to reference the newly designated first manufacturer product. As discussed above, however, the preferred pharmacy product may be manually changed, if desired. 
         [0038]    In one embodiment, if a prescription that originated from a first retail store is to be filled at a second retail store (a transfer prescription)  806 , then a pharmacy product corresponding to the prescribed prescription product may be used  807 , regardless of whether a preferred manufacturer product is being used at the second store. For example, in a situation in which a customer has specifically designated a specific manufacturer product at the prescription originating pharmacy (or prescription drop-off pharmacy), prescription fills at different stores will not be changed. In this manner, inter-pharmacy inconsistencies or preferences are respected and may prevent unnecessary complications with customer expectations and instructions. 
         [0039]    If a prescription is a refill prescription  808 , then the switchover may cause the prescription to be filled with the preferred manufacturer product  809 . Because switching over manufacturers may alarm customers, a managed transition process involving the clients may be implemented to alleviate any anxiety in customers and bring goodwill to a pharmacy network. In some cases, the appearance of a pharmacy product (e.g., a drug) may be different based on the manufacturer, even though for medication purposes, the drug is chemically the same. For example, first manufacturer A may make Chlorpropamide in red while a second manufacture B may produce Chlorpropamide in blue. In one embodiment, a warning label may be provided  811  indicating that the product is the same product as previously filled, but with a new manufacturer. In one embodiment, the label may also indicate that it is a generic pharmacy product and that the switchover is made to provide a customer an equivalent product for a better price. In one embodiment, a price difference between two manufacturer products (e.g., the difference between a previously filled manufacturer product and a new manufacturer product) may be shown on the label. 
         [0040]      FIG. 11  illustrates a screen indicating to pharmacy personnel that a manufacturer change has occurred and that a customer/patient guidance process may be required  1101 .  FIG. 12  illustrates a label that may be used to indicate that a pharmacy product is equivalent, but that the appearance of the product may be different  1201  (as a result of a different manufacturer). 
         [0041]    Using the above described switching process, an existing pharmacy network system that is only capable of switching one prescription at a time may be modified to switch multiple prescriptions (both existing and future prescriptions) automatically using a quicker process. This switching system may factor in a tiered decision approach to network switching that accounts for differences in local pharmacy conditions (e.g., inventory levels), thereby realizing efficiencies in product distribution timing. The switching process may also account for differences in prescription type that may make it difficult for previous systems to implement automated switching.