Patent Publication Number: US-10789803-B2

Title: Beneficial product dispenser

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/669,286 entitled, “Beneficial Product Dispenser,” filed Nov. 5, 2012, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/555,397 entitled, “Systems and Methods for a Beneficial Product Dispenser,” filed Nov. 3, 2011, and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/593,292, entitled “Systems and Methods for Dispensing Beneficial Products,” filed Aug. 23, 2012, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/526,627 entitled, “Systems and Methods for Dispensing Beneficial Products,” filed Aug. 23, 2011, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates to systems and methods for dispensing beneficial products, such as pharmaceuticals to a patient at a dispensing station. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the disclosure are described, including various embodiments of the disclosure with reference to the figures, in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system for dispensing beneficial products; 
         FIG. 1B  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a system for dispensing beneficial products; 
         FIG. 2A  is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for dispensing beneficial products; 
         FIG. 2B  is a flow diagram of another embodiment of a method for dispensing beneficial products; 
         FIG. 3A  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a dispensing station; 
         FIG. 3B  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a dispensing station; 
         FIG. 3C  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a dispensing station; 
         FIG. 3D  depicts embodiments of dispensable units within bins of a dispensing station; 
         FIG. 3E  depicts embodiments of a manipulation unit; 
         FIG. 3F  depicts embodiments of a manipulation unit; 
         FIG. 3G  depicts embodiments of a manipulation unit; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for adding inventory to a dispensing station; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for dispensing beneficial product from a dispensing station. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Health care providers are facing rising costs and regulatory overhead in an increasingly competitive market. Health care providers may be required to maintain secure patient medical records, electronic prescriptions, and the like. Health care providers need innovative ways of offsetting these costs while still meeting the needs of their patients. 
     In some cases, a health care provider dispenses beneficial products, such as prescription medication, directly to its patients. The direct dispensing model provides an additional revenue stream for the health care provider and is convenient for the patients. However, direct dispensing may not be economically feasible for some health care providers due to high infrastructure and regulatory compliance costs, and the relatively low volumes involved. 
     Direct dispensing typically requires the health care provider to act as a “mini pharmacy” to its patients. The health care provider purchases beneficial products from a provider (e.g., manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, etc.), which are dispensed to patients. This model is not particularly efficient for low-volume operations, however, since managing a “mini-pharmacy” involves a significant amount of work. Tasks, such as receiving, storing, securing, tracking, dispensing, regulatory compliance, adjudication, coordination of benefits, and accounting, fall to the health care provider. Although there are services available to streamline these tasks, many health care providers (particularly smaller providers) find that the services are not time and/or cost effective. 
     The embodiments disclosed herein may provide a turn-key solution for automated, in-office dispensing of beneficial products to patients. In some embodiments, beneficial products are dispensed from an automated dispensing machine. When the health care provider writes a prescription for a beneficial product, the patient is given the option of fulfilling the prescription using the disclosed automated dispensing system. The dispensing system provides a current inventory status, which may be used to verify that the patient&#39;s prescription can be fulfilled. The health care provider may create a prescription record for the patient, who may retrieve the beneficial products from the dispensing station. The patient may be required to authenticate his identity to the dispensing machine and/or provide payment for the dispensed beneficial products. The patient may pay for the prescription directly without adjudicating the claim with an insurance carrier or other benefit provider. 
       FIG. 1A  depicts one embodiment of a system  100  for dispensing beneficial products. The system includes a dispensing station  110  located in, for example, the office  102  of a health care provider (e.g., a doctor&#39;s office). The dispensing station  110  may comprise a controller  111 . The controller  111  may be configured to control the operation of the dispensing station  110  and may comprise a processor, memory, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and the like. The dispensing station  110  may be communicatively coupled to a network  130  using a communication interface  112 . The communication interface  112  may comprise one or more wired or wireless interfaces, such as an 802.11 wireless network interface, an Ethernet interface, an Ethernet over powerline interface, a BLUETOOTH® interface, a near-field wireless communication interface, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) interface, or any other suitable communication interface. The network  130  may comprise a local area network, a public network (e.g., the Internet), or any other suitable communication network. 
     The dispensing station  110  may comprise and/or be communicatively coupled to an inventory database  116  that maintains information pertaining to an inventory  120  of beneficial products within the dispensing station  110 . In some embodiments, the database  116  is implemented using a computing device  140  comprising a processor  141 , memory  142 , non-transitory storage media  143 , and so on. The computing device  140  may be a component of the dispensing station  110  (e.g., located within the dispensing station  110 ). Alternatively, the computing device  140  (and database  116 ) may be implemented, in part or in full, in a separate network-accessible computing device, such a health-care provide computing system  150  or server computing device  136 . 
     In some embodiments, the beneficial products in the inventory  120  are packaged in separately dispensable units  122 , each having a respective unique identifier embodied on a unique identifier tag  123 . The unique identifier may be used to track the type and/or quantity of beneficial product within each dispensable unit  122  in the inventory database  116  (using a respective record  117 ). The unique identifier of a dispensable unit  122  may be embodied on a unique identifier tag  123 . The unique identifier tag  123  may comprise any tag capable of storing and/or conveying a unique identifier, including, but not limited to: a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID), an optical code, such as a bar code, a near-field communication (NFC) tag, or other suitable tag. The dispensing station  110  may comprise one or more unique identifier tag reader(s)  119  that are configured to read the unique identifier tags  123  of the dispensable units  122 . 
     The inventory database  116  associates each unique identifier with corresponding inventory information, which may include, but is not limited to: the type of beneficial product in a dispensable unit  122  (e.g., by National Drug Code (NDC), RxNorm, Universal Product Code (UPC), serial number, or other suitable identifier), the quantity of beneficial product in a dispensable unit  122 , inventory status of a dispensable unit  122  (e.g., prescribed to a patient and awaiting dispensing, etc.), the age and/or expiration date of a beneficial product, the manufacturer of a beneficial product, usage and/or dosage instructions pertaining to a beneficial product, the source of a beneficial product, pricing information for the beneficial product, and so on. The inventory information may be maintained in respective records  117  of the database  116 , each record  117  corresponding to a dispensable unit  122  in the dispensing station  110 . 
     A health care provider  152  (e.g., doctor or other health care personnel) may prescribe a beneficial product to a patient  154 . The patient  154  may elect to fill the prescription at the dispensing station  110 . In some embodiments, database  116  may be queried to verify that the dispensing station  110  has sufficient inventory to fulfill the prescription (e.g., has beneficial products of the type and/or quantity prescribed to the patient  154 ). The inventory may be verified before the patient  154  is given the option of fulfilling the prescription using the dispensing station  110 . Alternatively, the inventory may be verified when the patient  154  attempts to fulfill the prescription at the dispensing station  110 . 
     If the dispensing station  110  does not have sufficient inventory, the health care provider  152  may query the inventory of other dispensing stations (not shown) via the network  130  and direct the patient  154  to fulfill the prescription at one or more alternative location(s) of the health care provider  152 . Alternatively, the health care provider  152  may determine when the dispensing station  110  is scheduled to be restocked, and may direct the patient  154  to fulfill the prescription after restocking. 
     If the patient elects to fulfill the prescription using the dispensing station  110 , a prescription record  118  representing the prescription may be created in the database  116 . The prescription record  118  may include information pertaining to the prescription including, but not limited to: the type of beneficial product prescribed to the patient  154  (e.g., by NDC, RxNorm, or other identifier), the quantity and/or dosage of beneficial product prescribed to the patient  154 , a patient identifier (described below), a time to live (TTL) for the prescription record, an identifier of the dispensing station(s)  110  through which the prescription may be fulfilled, and so on. 
     In some embodiments, the step of creating the prescription record  118  may comprise reserving inventory to fulfill the prescription. The inventory reservation may ensure that the inventory needed to fulfill the prescription is available when the patient  154  attempts to fulfill the prescription at the dispensing station  110 . For example, the inventory database  116  may be updated to identify one or more dispensable units  122  needed to fulfill the prescription record  118 . The dispensable units  122  may be marked as “reserved” for the patient  154  in the inventory database  116  and unavailable for other prescriptions and/or patients. Alternatively, the inventory database  116  may be updated to indicate that a particular quantity of beneficial product(s) are reserved for the patient  154  within the inventory  120  without reserving any particular dispensable units  122 . 
     In some embodiments, the prescription record  118  includes and/or references patient identifying information that can be used to associate a patient with a prescription record and/or authenticate the identity of the patient  154 . As used herein, patient identifying information may comprise any information that can be used to identify and/or authenticate a patient. Patient identifying information may comprise descriptive information, such as name, birth date, zip code, age, address, email address, phone number, or the like. Patient identifying information may further comprise one or more credentials established by the patient  154 , such as a password, personal identification number (PIN), the answer to a “secret question” (e.g., street you grew up on), or the like. Patient identifying information may comprise and/or relate to credentialed payment information provided by the patient  154  (discussed below). In some embodiments, patient identifying information may further comprise biometric information, such as a fingerprint, iris scan, voice sample, facial recognition, or the like. The biometric information may be acquired by one or more measurement devices (not shown) of the dispensing station  110  and/or health care provider  152 . 
     Patient identifying information may be entered by a health care provider  152  when the prescription is issued. Alternatively, or in addition, patient identifying information may be referenced in one or more of: a patient database  156  maintained by the health care provider  152 , the database  116 , a third-party payment service  132 , a third-party patient information service  134 , an identity service, such as Microsoft Cardspace®, OpenID®, etc., or the like. 
     The patient  154  may fulfill the prescription using the dispensing station  110 . Fulfilling the prescription may comprise the patient  154  providing a payment, and receiving the prescribed beneficial products from the inventory  120  of the dispensing station  110 . 
     In some embodiments, the dispensing station  110  comprises a fulfillment module  125  that is configured to process prescriptions for patients  154 . The fulfillment module  125  may be configured to fulfill prescriptions for patients  154 , which may comprise identifying prescription record(s)  118  of a patient  154 , authenticating the identity of the patient  154 , processing a payment from the patient  154 , and so on. In some embodiments, processing the payment comprises receiving credentialed payment information from the patient  154 . As used herein, credentialed payment information refers to any information related to a payment transaction, which may include, but is not limited to, credit card information, debit card information, banking information, checking account information, electronic payment information, such as a PAYPAL® credential, or other suitable payment-related information. In such embodiments, the credentialed payment information may be comprised of, or may be used to generate, the patient identifying information. 
     Alternatively, or in addition, the payment may be made using a currency transaction, or any other suitable form of payment. Accordingly, the fulfillment module  125  may comprise one or more payment receiving modules  126 , such as currency receivers, card readers (e.g., magnetic strip readers), near-field communication (NFC) devices, text input devices, or other suitable input devices. 
     The fulfillment module  125  may be configured to identify the prescription record  118  of the patient  154  using information provided by the patient  154 . In some embodiments, the fulfillment module  125  compares credentialed payment information provided by the patient  154  to pay for the prescription (if any), to patient identifying information included within and/or referenced by one or more prescription records  118 , as described above. For example, the fulfillment module  125  may compare a credit card number, billing address, name, or other credentialed payment information to information within and/or referenced by one or more prescription records  118 . Alternatively, or in addition, the payment transaction may comprise a dedicated authentication step. For example, when paying by PAYPAL®, the patient  154  may enter a user identifier and/or password, which may be used to authenticate the patient&#39;s identity to the payment system; this information may be leveraged by the fulfillment module  125  to identify the prescription record  118  of the patient  154  and/or authenticate the patient  154 . 
     In some embodiments, the fulfillment module  125  is configured to acquire patient identifying information instead of and/or in addition to the credentialed payment information described above. The fulfillment module  125  uses the acquired information to identify the prescription record  118  associated with the patient  154  (if any). The fulfillment module  125  may leverage the acquired information to authenticate identity of the patient  154  and/or verify that the patient is authorized to fulfill the prescription. The fulfillment module  125  may authenticate the patient  154  by comparing information acquired from the patient  154  to patient identifying information within and/or referenced by the prescription record  118 . The patient identifying information may include any of the patient identifying information described above (e.g., name, birth date, password, etc.). The patient  154  may be prompted to provide patient identifying information via one or more human-machine interface (HMI) components  127  of the dispensing station  110 , which may include, but are not limited to: display devices, keyboard inputs, touch screen inputs, biometric measurement devices (e.g., fingerprint reader, iris scanner, etc.), card readers, or the like. 
     In response to identifying the prescription record  118  of the patient  154  and/or authenticating the identity of the patient  154 , the fulfillment module  125  may provide for dispensing the prescribed beneficial product(s) from the inventory  120  of the dispensing station  110 . Dispensing may comprise the dispensing station  110  identifying one or more dispensable units  122  in the inventory  120  using a reader  119 . Alternatively, or in addition, the dispensable units  122  may be placed within respective, unique storage locations (e.g., unique bins), as described below. The inventory database  116  may maintain indicators of the storage location of each dispensable unit  122 . The fulfillment module  125  may query the inventory database  116  to determine the storage location of the dispensable units  122  required to fulfill the prescription. 
     The dispensing station  110  may further comprise a dispensing module  129  configured to dispense the identified dispensable units  122  to a patient in response to the fulfillment module  126  determining that the prescription can be fulfilled. As described below, the dispensing module  129  may be further configured to verify the beneficial products before the beneficial products are dispensed to the patient. Verifying the beneficial products may comprise using the reader  119  to re-read identifying information from the beneficial products (e.g., re-scanning a bar code, weighing one or more dispensable units  122 , or the like). 
     Fulfilling the prescription may further comprise the fulfillment module  125  processing a payment for the prescribed beneficial products dispensed to the patient  154 . The payment may be processed using credentialed payment information provided by the patient  154  (e.g., credit card, debit card, etc.) using a third-party payment service  132  accessible via the network  130 . The third-party payment service  132  may include, but is not limited to: a credit card processing service, a banking institution, an electronic payment service (e.g., PAYPAL®), or the like. Alternatively, or in addition, the payment may be made using a non-credentialed payment source, such as currency. 
     The dispensing station  110  may prevent unauthorized access to the beneficial products in the inventory  120  by, for example, authenticating the patient  154  and/or associating the patient with a prescription record  118 , as described above. If the patient  154  cannot be associated with a valid prescription record  118  and/or the identity of the patient  154  is not authenticated (e.g., credentialed payment information and/or other information acquired from the patient  154  do not correspond to any prescription records  118 ), the dispensing station  110  may prevent beneficial products from being dispensed from the inventory  120 . 
     As discussed above, a prescription record  118  may comprise and/or reference patient identifying information. The patient  154  may be authenticated by matching information obtained by the fulfillment module  125  with information of the prescription record  118 . The information may be limited to credentialed payment information, such as a credit card number, and/or may comprise additional patient information obtained from the patient  154 , as described above. 
     In some embodiments, unauthorized access may be prevented by assigning a TTL value to a prescription record  118 . During the TTL period, the prescription record  118  is marked as “valid,” and can be used to obtain beneficial products from the dispensing station  110 . After the TTL expires, the prescription record  118  is marked as “invalid” and can no longer be used. The TTL may be set according to testing and experience. For example, if the dispensing station is located in close proximity to the patient  154  (e.g., in the health care provider&#39;s office  102 ), the TTL may be relatively short (e.g., 30 minutes to an hour). This allows the patient  154  to complete the visit with the health care provider  152  and fulfill the prescription, while making it difficult for an unauthorized person to use the prescription record  118  to obtain the prescribed beneficial products. 
     Alternatively, or in addition, the prescription record  118  may be associated with an identifier of one or more dispensing station(s)  110 . There may be a number of different dispensing stations  110  located throughout a particular area (e.g., within a large hospital, a city-wide heath care network, etc.). The dispensing station identifier associated with the prescription record  118  may restrict fulfillment of the prescription to one or more identified dispensing stations  110  and/or to a particular locale or area. Accordingly, a person at another dispensing station in another area (not shown) may be prevented from accessing the prescribed beneficial products identified in the prescription record  118 . 
       FIG. 1B  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a system  101  for dispensing beneficial products. The system  101  comprises a prescription record database  166  comprising prescription records  118  for patients  154  of the health care provider  152 . The prescription database  166  may be implemented on the server computing device  160 , which may comprise a processor  161 , memory  162 , non-transitory storage  163 , and so on, as described above. 
     A prescription record import module  167  may be configured to import prescription records  118  into the prescription record database  166  in response to messages from the health care provider  152  and/or other, third-party services  138 . As discussed above, in some embodiments, a patient  154  may be given the option of fulfilling a prescription at a dispensing station  110 A-N. In response to the patient electing to do so, a prescription record  118  representing the prescription may be created in the prescription record database  166 . In some embodiments, the prescription record  118  may be created by use of the computing system  150  of the health-care provider  152 , which may comprise and/or be communicatively coupled to, the patient database  156 . Generating the prescription record  118  may comprise transmitting information of the prescription record  118  to the prescription record database  166  over the network  130  (e.g., in a message  155 ). The prescription record import module  167  may be configured to generate a prescription record  118  in the prescription record database  166  in response to the message  155 . 
     In some embodiments, the prescription record import module  167  may be configured to generate prescription records  118  in response to messages  157  from a third-party service, such as a health-care information broker  138 . The computing system  150  of the health care provider  152  may be configured to transmit messages  155  pertaining to patient prescriptions to the health-care information broker  138 . The messages  155  may be transmitted according to one or more data interchange standards, such as the standards promulgated by the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP®). The health-care information broker  138  may be configured to manage health-care information pertaining to the patients  154  of the health-care provider  152 . In response to the message  155 , the health-care information broker  138  may be configured to transmit a message  157  to the prescription record import module  167 , which may generate a prescription record  118  in the prescription record database  166 , as described above. In some embodiments, the computing system  150  may be configured to include additional metadata in the request  155 , such as patient identifying information, references to patient identifying information, or the like. The metadata may be included in the message  157  provided to the prescription import module  166 , which may be configured to incorporate the metadata into the prescription record  118 . 
     In some embodiments, the prescription record import module  167  may be configured to authenticate and/or validate the messages  155  and/or  157 , which may comprise verifying one or more digital signatures on the messages  155  and/or  157 , verifying credentials associated with the messages  155  and/or  157 , and so on. 
     As described above, after generating the prescription record  118  for the patient  154 , the patient  154  may be able to fulfill the prescription at one or more of the dispensing stations  110 A-N. The patent  154  may provide patient identifying information to a dispensing station  110 A via the HMI module  127 . In response to the patient identifying information, the fulfillment module  125  may identify a prescription record of the patient  154 , which may comprise transmitting a prescription record query  159  to the server computing device  160  via the network  130 . The server computing device  160  may comprise a prescription query module  169  configured to identify a prescription record  118  in the prescription database  166  in response to the query  159  and/or transmit information pertaining to the prescription record  118  to the dispensing station  110 A (via the network  130 ). The prescription query module  169  may be configured to authenticate and/or verify the query  159 , as described above (e.g., using one or more digital signatures, credentials, or the like). 
     In response to receiving the prescription record  118  from the server computing device  160 , the fulfillment module  125  may be configured to determine whether the prescription can be fulfilled at the dispensing station  110 A and dispense beneficial product(s) to the patient  154 , as described above. 
       FIG. 2A  is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method  200  for dispensing beneficial products. The methods disclosed herein may be implemented using a computing device comprising a processor, memory, and human-interface components (e.g., input/output devices, displays, etc.). Steps of the disclosed methods may be embodied as instructions stored on a non-transitory storage medium, such as a hard disk, optical storage media, non-volatile memory, or the like and/or may be tied to particular machine components, such as communication interfaces, HMI components, processors, non-transitory machine-readable storage media, and the like. The method  200  may, therefore, comprise loading instructions from a non-transitory storage medium, initializing machine resources, such as communication interfaces and human-machine interface components, and the like. 
     A health care provider, such as a doctor, may issue a prescription to a patient at step  220 . Issuing a prescription may comprise the health care provider creating a prescription record that identifies the beneficial products prescribed to the patient and specifies a quantity of beneficial products prescribed to the patient. The prescription record may also include and/or reference patient identifying information, as described above. In some embodiments, the prescription record may include a TTL value, a location perimeter within which the prescription may be fulfilled, and/or may designate one or more dispensing stations at which the prescription may be fulfilled. Step  220  may comprise generating a persistent prescription record on a non-transitory storage medium, such as a database. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, step  220  may comprise generating a tangible prescription record, which may comprise a physical token or record (e.g., receipt). 
     Step  220  may further comprise querying an inventory database to determine whether the one or more designated dispensing stations have sufficient inventory to fulfill the prescription. When the designated dispensing stations do not have sufficient inventory, alternative dispensing stations may be identified. Alternatively, fulfillment of the prescription may be delayed until the inventory of the dispensing station(s) is restocked. When the designated dispensing stations have sufficient inventory, the inventory may be reserved for the prescription, as described above. In some implementations, a patient may be automatically notified by any suitable methodology, such as telephone, email, text message, or the like, when the inventory has been restocked and/or the prescription is available for fulfillment. 
     In some embodiments, step  220  comprises indicating a payment amount for the prescription. The payment amount may represent the cost to the patient to fulfill the prescription at a dispensing station. The payment amount may not include health insurance and/or other benefits. Accordingly, the prescription may be fulfilled without adjudicating the prescription through health insurance adjudication and/or coordination of benefits programs. The payment amount may be set by the health care provider, or other entity (e.g., the owner of the dispensing station). 
     At step  230 , the dispensing station receives information from the patient attempting to fulfill the prescription. The information may comprise credentialed payment information and/or other patient identifying information, as described above. 
     At step  240 , the dispensing station determines whether the prescription can be fulfilled (by use of the fulfillment module  125 , as described above). Step  240  may comprise identifying a prescription record associated with the patient by matching information provided at step  230  with patient identifying information of a prescription record. Step  240  may further comprise prompting the patient for additional information, as described above. The additional information may be used to identify a prescription record and/or to authenticate the identity of the patient. In some embodiments, step  240  comprises verifying a TTL and/or dispensing station identifier of an identified prescription record. The prescription may be fulfilled when the TTL of the prescription record has not expired and/or the dispensing station identifier of the prescription record corresponds with the identifier (or location) of the dispensing station accessed at step  240 . Step  240  may further comprise processing a payment for the prescribed beneficial product and/or verifying that the payment was successfully transferred. 
     If the prescription can be fulfilled, the flow continues to step  250 ; otherwise, the flow continues to step  260 . 
     At step  250 , the dispensing station fulfills the prescription for the patient by dispensing the prescribed beneficial products to the patient (by use of the dispensing module, as described above). Step  250  may comprise determining the storage locations of dispensable units comprising the prescribed beneficial product by querying an inventory database, and dispensing the identified dispensable units to the patient. Step  250  may further comprise validating the dispensable units in the identified storage locations using a reader (e.g., RFID reader) before the dispensing. 
     Step  250  may further comprise updating the inventory database to indicate that the beneficial products have been dispensed and/or updating the prescription record to indicate that the prescription has been fulfilled. 
     At step  260 , the patient is notified that the prescription cannot be fulfilled. The notification may include the reason(s) for the failure, such as the expiration of a TTL, invalid dispensing station, payment failure, authentication failure, lack of inventory, etc. In some embodiments, the notification may direct the patient to another dispensing station, which is capable of fulfilling the prescription (e.g., has sufficient inventory to satisfy the prescription). 
       FIG. 2B  is a flow diagram of another embodiment of a method  201  for dispensing beneficial products. Step  221  comprises obtaining a prescription record for a patient. Step  221  may comprise acquiring patient identifying information at a dispensing station  110 . Step  221  may further comprise using the patient identifying information to identify a prescription record  118  in a prescription record database  116 . Alternatively, step  221  may comprise requesting a prescription record from a server computing device  160  (via a query  159  comprising the patient identifying information), as described above. 
     Step  240  comprises determining whether the prescription can be fulfilled at the dispensing station  110 . As described above, step  240  may comprise authenticating the patient using, inter alia, the patient identifying information received at step  221 , enforcing one or more restrictions of the prescription record (e.g., TTL, location, dispensing station, and so on), determining whether the dispensing station  110  has sufficient inventory to fulfill the prescription, transferring a payment for the beneficial products, and so on. If the prescription record can be fulfilled, the flow continues to step  250 ; otherwise, the flow continues at step  260 . 
     Step  250  comprises fulfilling the prescription for the patent, which may comprise completing a payment for the prescription (e.g., verifying the payment of step  240 ), identifying beneficial products of the prescription in the inventory  120 , and dispensing the beneficial products from the dispensing station  110  (via the dispensing module  129 ), as described above. Step  260  may comprise notifying the patient that the prescription cannot be fulfilled, as described above. 
       FIG. 3A  depicts one embodiment of a dispensing station  310 . The dispensing station  310  may comprise a controller  311 , which may be configured to control the operation of the dispensing station  310 . The controller  311  may comprise one or more processors, memory units, non-volatile storage devices, or the like. In some embodiments, the dispensing station comprises one or more HMI components  327 , such as displays printers, keyboard inputs, or the like. The HMI components  327  may be used to acquire information from and/or present information to a patient  154 . 
     The dispensing station comprises an inventory compartment  360  and a separate loading compartment  362 . The inventory compartment  360  may be separated from the loading compartment  362  by a separator  363  and an inventory access port  364 . The inventory access port  364  may be selectably opened by the controller  311 . In other embodiments, new inventory may be loaded directly into the inventory compartment  360 . 
     The inventory compartment  360  may comprise a plurality of bins  321 , each configured to hold one or more dispensable units  322 . Each dispensable unit  322  may comprise a respective unique identifier tag  323 , as described above. Although  FIG. 3A  shows the bins  321  of the inventory compartment  360  arranged in a 2-dimensional grid, the disclosure is not limited in this regard and could be adapted to comprise bins  321  in any arrangement or configuration, including but not limited to a 3-dimensional grid, a cylindrical arrangement, or the like. 
     In some embodiments, inventory may be loaded into the dispensing station  310  through the loading access port  366 . The loading access port  366  provides secure access to loading bins  365  of the loading compartment  362 . Each of the loading bins  365  may be configured to receive one or more dispensable units  322 , each comprising a respective unique identifier tag  323 . Although  FIG. 3A  shows a single row of loading bins  365 , the disclosure is not limited in this regard and could comprise loading bins in any arrangement or configuration. 
     The loading access port  366  may be secured using a locking mechanism  367 , which may include, but is not limited to: a key lock, a combination lock, an electronic lock, a biometric security device, or the like. Alternatively, or in addition, the loading access port  366  may be controlled by the controller  311 . For example, the controller  311  may open the loading access port  366  and/or release the locking mechanism  367 , in response to validating access credentials input via one or more HMI components  327 . The access credentials may include, but are not limited to: a username, password, PIN, digital certificate, biometric, or the like. The dispensing station  310  may further comprise one or more monitoring devices  313  configured to monitor accesses to the dispensing station  310 . The monitoring devices  313  may include, but are not limited to: cameras, microphones, motion detectors, or the like. The monitoring devices  313  may monitor accesses to any portion of the dispensing station  310  including, but not limited to: the inventory compartment  360 , the loading compartment  362 , the access ports  364  and  366 , the HMI components  327 , and so on. In some embodiments, the controller  311  is configured to transmit information acquired by the monitoring devices  313  via the network  130  and/or activate one or more alarms in response to detecting unauthorized access to the dispensing station  310 . 
     In some embodiments, the controller  311  may be configured to close the inventory access port  364  while the loading access port  366  is open to prevent unauthorized access to the beneficial products in the inventory compartment  360 . Accordingly, the beneficial products in the inventory compartment  360  may be secure while new inventory is being loaded into the dispensing station  310 . Upon placing new inventory into the loading compartment, the loading access port  366  may be closed and/or secured. 
     In some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  validates the new inventory placed in the loading compartment  362 . As discussed above, each dispensable unit  322  may comprise a respective unique identifier tag  323 , and the dispensing station  310  may comprise one or more unique identifier tag readers  319  that are configured to read the unique identifiers therefrom. In some embodiments, the unique identifier tags  323  comprise RFID tags, and one or more of the readers  319  are configured to read the unique identifier tags  323  of all of the dispensable units  323  in the inventory compartment  360  and/or loading compartment  362 . After inventory is placed in the loading compartment  362 , the readers  319  may read the unique identifier tags  323  of the new dispensable units  322 . The new dispensable units  322  may be identified by comparing a listing of the dispensable units  322  in the dispensing station  310  before and after loading the new inventory into the loading compartment  362 . In other embodiments, the dispensing station may simply identify a number of dispensable units  322  of a particular type that are added to the station rather than uniquely identifying each unit with an RFID tag or other similar unique identifier. For example, some dispensing stations, or some sections of some dispensing stations, may be configured to dispense only units of a single kind, in which case only the number of units added may be assessed upon restocking. 
     The unique identifier tag readers  319  may have a limited range. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  may comprise a plurality of unique identifier tag readers  319  placed at various locations within the inventory compartment  360  and/or loading compartment  362 . The placement of the plurality of unique identifier readers  319  may be configured such that the readers  319  are capable of reading unique identifier tags of all of the dispensable units  322  in the inventory and/or loading compartments  360 ,  362 . The placements may be configured to prevent the readers  319  from reading unique identifier tags  323  within the isolation zone  370  (e.g., tag  323 A), as discussed below. The controller  311  (or a selected one of the plurality of unique identifier readers  319 ) may combine the information acquired by each of the readers  319  to determine a complete list of the unique identifier tags  323  in the dispensing station (excluding a unique identifier tag  323 A in the isolation zone  370 ). 
     Alternatively, or in addition, one or more of the unique identifier tag readers  319  may be mobile within the dispensing station  310 . The mobile unique identifier tag readers  319  may move in a pre-determined movement pattern that is configured to place the readers  319  in range of each of the dispensable units  322  (and corresponding unique identifier tags  323 ) in the inventory compartment  360  and/or the loading compartment  362 . The movement pattern may comprise an “S” pattern within the compartments  360  and/or  362 . The movement pattern may be configured to prevent the one or more unique identifier tag readers  319  from reading a unique identifier tag  323 A of a dispensable unit  322 A within the isolation zone  370 . The unique identifier readers  319  may be moved within the dispensing station  310  using any suitable mechanism. In some embodiments, one or more unique identifier readers may be placed on (and moved by) the manipulation unit  328 . 
     In some embodiments, the controller  311  may access an inventory database  116  comprising inventory records  117  pertaining to the beneficial products of the new dispensable units  322 . The inventory database  116  may operate on a computing device  340  that is accessible via the network (and communication interface  312  of the dispensing station  310 ) and/or may be implemented using computing resources of the dispensing station  310 . The inventory in the loading compartment  362  may be compared to invoice and/or ordering information (accessible via the network  130 ) to validate the supply chain flow from a provider of the beneficial products to the dispensing station. For example, the controller  311  may access records  117  pertaining to the new dispensable units  322  to determine the beneficial products in the new inventory and/or verify that the new beneficial products conform with order or invoice information. In some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  generates an electronic and/or physical receipt identifying the new dispensable units  322  in the loading compartment  362 . 
     The dispensable units  322  in the loading compartment  362  may be transferred from the loading compartment  362  to bins  321  in the inventory compartment  360 . The transfers may occur when the loading access port  366  is closed and/or secured, as described above. The controller  311  may prevent the loading access port  366  from opening while inventory is transferred into the inventory compartment  360 . In some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  comprises a manipulation unit  328  that is configured to transfer dispensable units  322  from the loading compartment  362  into respective bins of the inventory compartment  360 . The manipulation unit  328  may be configured to access any one of the bins  321  in the inventory compartment  360  and/or loading bins  365  of the loading compartment  362 . The manipulation unit  328  may be implemented using one or more electrical motors, articulators, servos, hydraulic actuators, or the like. The manipulation unit  328  may access the loading compartment  362  through the inventory access port  364  to selectively transfer dispensable units  322  in the loading bins  365  to bins  321  in the inventory compartment  360 . 
     The dispensing station  310  may be configured to associate each dispensable unit  322  in the inventory compartment  360  with a respective bin  321 . In some embodiments, these associations are established as the dispensable units  322  are transferred from the loading compartment  362  to the inventory compartment  360 . The unique identifier of a dispensable unit  322  may be determined using the isolation zone  370 . As used herein, an isolation zone refers to a location (or container) capable of preventing a unique identifier tag  323  from being scanned or read by the readers  319 . Accordingly, when a particular dispensable unit (e.g., unit  322 A) is within the isolation zone  370 , the readers  319  may not be capable of reading the unique identifier tag  323 A thereof. The unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A may be determined by reading the unique identifier tags  323  of the dispensable units  322  while the unit  322 A is within the isolation zone  370 , and comparing these unique identifiers to unique identifiers read while the dispensable unit  322 A was outside of the isolation zone  370 . The unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A may appear in the “full” set of unique identifiers and may be absent from the set of unique identifiers read while the unit  322 A was in the isolation zone  370 , thereby verifying its presence in the isolation zone  370 . 
     Accordingly, in some embodiments, determining the unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A comprises performing a first scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units  322  in the dispensing station  310 ; placing the dispensable unit  322 A into the isolation zone  370 ; and performing a second scan of the unique identifier tags  323  while the dispensable unit  322 A is in the isolation zone  370 . The unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A may be determined by comparing the unique identifiers obtained during the first scan to the unique identifiers obtained during the second scan; the unique identifier that appears in the first scan, but not the second scan, is the unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3B , in some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  may verify the unique identifier of a particular dispensable unit  322 A using a unique identifier reader  359  within the isolation zone  370 . The dispensing station  310  of  FIG. 3B  comprises one or more unique identifier tag readers  319 , which are configured to read unique identifier tags  323  of the dispensable units  322  within the dispensing station (with the exception of the isolation zone  370 ), as described above. The isolation zone  370  may comprise a separate unique identifier tag reader  359  that is configured to read the unique identifier tags  323  of dispensable units  322  within the isolation zone  370  (e.g., unique identifier tag  322 A of unit  322 A). In some embodiments, the isolation zone  370  and/or unique identifier tag reader  359  may be configured to prevent the reader  359  from reading unique identifier tags  323  of dispensable units  322  outside of the isolation zone  370 . 
     In the  FIG. 3B  example, determining the unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A may comprise placing the dispensable unit  322 A within the isolation zone  370 , and reading the unique identifier tag  323 A using the isolation zone reader  359 . Alternatively, or in addition, the unique identifier may be verified by performing a first scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units  322  in the dispensing station  310  using the reader(s)  319 ; placing the dispensable unit  322 A into the isolation zone  370 ; and performing a second scan of only the unique identifier tag  323 A using the isolation zone unique identifier tag reader  359 . The unique identifier tag  323 A may be determined by comparing the first scan to the second scan and verifying that the unique identifier of the second scan appears in the first scan. Alternatively, or in addition, the second scan may comprise determining a second list of unique identifier tags using the reader(s)  319 , while the dispensable unit  322 A is within the isolation zone  370 . The unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A may be further verified by determining that the unique identifier of the dispensable unit  322 A appears in the first list, and not in the second list, and corresponds to the unique identifier read by the separate, unique identifier reader  359 . 
     In some embodiments, dispensable units  322  may be further verified during transfer based upon inventory information (e.g., an inventory record  117  associated with the dispensable unit  322 A). For example, an inventory record  117  associated with the dispensable unit  322 A may indicate that it should have a particular weight, be of a particular size, or the like. In some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  comprises one or more measurement devices  371  (e.g., scales, optical scanners, electromagnetic scanners, magnetic resonance imaging, x-ray, etc.), to verify that the dispensable unit  322 A corresponds to information of its corresponding inventory record  117 . Such features may be provided as secondary (or, in some embodiments, primary) means for preventing dispensing errors or, as described below, “safety checks.” 
     In response to determining the unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit  322 A (and/or verifying inventory information of the unit  322 A), the manipulation unit  328  may transfer the dispensable unit  322 A into a selected bin  321 A of the inventory compartment  360 . The controller  311  and/or inventory database  116  may be updated to associate the dispensable unit  322 A with the selected bin (e.g., bin  321 A). 
     Since the dispensing station  310  maintains information pertaining to the unique identifier and location of each dispensable unit  322 , the dispensing station  310  may “serialize” the inventory of beneficial products. As used herein, inventory serialization refers to finely-grained inventory management that tracks medication by “type” (e.g., UPC code, NDC code, RxNorm, etc.) as well as manufacture date, supplier, sell-by date, expiration date, lot, packaged date and time, and so on. Accordingly, the dispensing station  310  may dispense beneficial products in a particular order and/or based upon a particular preference. For example, dispensable units  322 A and  322 B may both comprise the same type of beneficial product. The beneficial product in dispensable unit  322 A may have an earlier “sell-by” date than the beneficial product of dispensable unit  322 B. Accordingly, the dispensing station  310  may be configured to ensure that unit  322 A is dispensed before dispensing  322 B. 
     The dispensing station  310  may comprise a fulfillment module  325  to dispense beneficial products to a patient  154 . The fulfillment module  325  may be configured to process a prescription request from a patient  154 , which may comprise authenticating the identity of the patient  154 , identifying a prescription record  118  associated with the patient  154 , validating restrictions associated with the prescription record  118  (e.g., TTL, location, dispensing station identifier, etc.), processing a payment for the prescription, and so on, as described above. 
     Upon successfully processing the prescription request, the dispensing station  310  may dispense one or more dispensable units  322  to the patient  154 . In some embodiments, the dispensing station  310  selects dispensable units  322  based upon the type of beneficial product prescribed to the patient, as indicated by the prescription record  118  (e.g., by UPC, NDC, RxNorm, or other suitable identifier). The selection may be based on inventory serialization factors, such as the age of the dispensable units  322 , a “sell-by” date of the dispensable units  322 , or the like. 
     In some embodiments, dispensing beneficial products to the patient  154  comprises one or more safety checks. As discussed above, the dispensing station  310  maintains a location (e.g., bin) of each dispensable unit  322  in the inventory compartment  360 . However, the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit  322  to be dispensed to the patient  154  may be re-verified before being dispensed. In some embodiments, the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit  322  may be re-verified using the isolation zone  370  as described above. The reader  319  may perform a first scan of the unique identifier tags  323  of the dispensable units  322 , the manipulation unit  328  may transfer the selected dispensable unit  322  into the isolation zone  370 , and the reader  319  may perform a second scan of the unique identifier tags  323  while the selected dispensable unit  322  is within the isolation zone  370 . The unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit  322  may be re-verified by comparing the unique identifiers obtained during the first and second scans. In some embodiments, the unique identifier tags  323  may be further verified using a reader within the isolation zone  370 , as described above. 
     Re-verifying may further comprise verifying inventory information associated with the selected dispensable unit  322 . For example, re-verification may comprise accessing an inventory record  117  in the inventory database  116  to verify that the unique identifier of the selected dispensable unit  322  corresponds with the beneficial products prescribed to the patient  154 . Other properties of the selected dispensable unit  322 , such as weight, size, and so on, may be verified using the measurement devices  371 . 
     In response to re-verifying the selected dispensable unit  322 , the unit  322  may be placed within a dispenser  329  for the patient  154 . The dispenser  329  may comprise a secure, one-way opening in the inventory compartment  360 . In some embodiments, dispensing may further comprise generating an electronic and/or physical receipt of the transaction, updating the inventory database  116  (e.g., marking the prescription record  118  as “fulfilled”), and so on. The receipt may comprise information captured by one or more of the monitoring devices  313  validating that the beneficial products were retrieved from the dispensing station  310  by the patient  154 . 
     In some embodiments, dispensing may further comprise printing dispensing information on a label of a dispensable unit  322 . The dispensing information may comprise, but is not limited to: a name of the beneficial product, usage instructions, expiration date, receipt information, health care provider contact information, and so on. The dispensing information may comprise patient-specific information, such as drug interaction warnings, patient-specific usage directions, and so on. The dispensing information may be obtained from the inventory database  116  and/or patient database  156  via the network  130 , as described above. 
     In some embodiments, the dispenser  329  comprises a printer  339 , which is configured to print dispensing information on a dispensable unit  322 . The printer  339  may be configured to print the dispensing information on a printable area  324  (e.g., label) of the dispensable unit  322 . In some embodiments, the printer  339  is configured to print on the printable area  324  (e.g., label) and/or to apply a label to a dispensable unit  322 . 
     Alternatively, or in addition, the printer  339  may be configured such that it does not require consumables, such as labels, ink, and the like. The dispensable units  322  may each have a pre-existing label (or other surface) comprising a printable area  324 . The printable area  324  may be capable of being printed upon by the printer  339  without consumables, such as ink. Accordingly, the printable area  324  may comprise a heat transfer surface, an etchable surface, or other suitable printing surface. The printer  339  may print dispensing information on the printable area  324  as dispensable units  322  are dispensed to patients  154  through the dispenser  329 . 
       FIG. 3C  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a dispensing station  310 . The dispensing station  310  may comprise a movable separator  373  configured to prevent unauthorized access to the inventory compartment  360  from the loading compartment  362 . The manipulation unit  328  and the separator  373  may be repositioned by a control mechanism  375 , which may comprise one or more motors, actuators, drives, or the like. The controller  311  may be configured to position the separator  373  within the region  376  while the access port  366  to the inventory compartment  362  is open (and/or the locking mechanism  367  is disengaged). The controller  311  may be configured to maintain the position of the separator  373  by use of the control mechanism  375  (e.g., locking the motor or other movement mechanism(s) of the control mechanism  375 ), or the like. Alternatively, or in addition, separator  373  may be maintained within region  376  by use of a blocking mechanism  377 . The blocking mechanism  377  may be selectively configured to prevent the control mechanism  375  from being moved outside of the region  376 . The blocking mechanism  377  may comprise a dead bolt, control pin, or other physical block. The blocking mechanism  377  may be selectively configurable to either block or allow movement of the control mechanism  377  (e.g., by one or more motors, servos, switches, or other mechanisms). The blocking mechanism  377  may be configured to prevent the separator from being forcibly moved (e.g., pushed) into the region  378 . The controller  311  may configure the blocking mechanism  377  to secure the separator  373  in region  376 , and may disengage the blocking mechanism  377  in response to determining that the access port  366  has been closed and/or the locking mechanism  367  has been secured. When the blocking mechanism  377  is disengaged, the movement controller  375  may be capable of positioning the manipulation unit  328  within both the loading compartment  362  and the inventory compartment  360 , such that new inventory can be loaded into the dispensing station  310 , as described above. 
     As disclosed above, the dispensing station  310  may be configured to dispense dispensable units  322  of different sizes, configurations, and/or packaging types.  FIG. 3D  depicts different embodiments of dispensable units  322 C and  322 D, each of which may comprise respective unique identifier tags  323  and printable areas  324 , as described above. As illustrated in  FIG. 3D , the configuration of the bin  321  is such that both the box disenable unit  322 C and the bottle dispensable unit  322 D are automatically positioned within the bottom middle portion of the bins  321  (e.g., settle to the bottom middle portion of the bins). The consistent positioning and/or orientation of the dispensable units  322 C and  322 D may enable the manipulation unit  328  to access the units  322 C,  322 D within the dispensing station  310 . 
     In some embodiments, the manipulation unit  328  is configured to determine the size and/or orientation of dispensable units  322  as the units  322  are loaded into the dispensing station  310  (e.g., during inventory loading, as described above).  FIG. 3E  depicts embodiments of a manipulation unit  328 . The manipulation unit  328  may comprise a base  390  and arms  393 A and  393 B. As shown in  FIG. 3E , the bins  321  may be configured such that end portions  380 C and  380 D of the dispensable units  322 C and  322 D protrude therefrom. Accordingly, the length of the bins  321  may be configured to be less than the length of the dispensable units  322 . 
     The manipulation unit  328  may comprise a base  390  and one or more arms  393 A and  393 B. The manipulation unit  328  may be configured to move the base  390  and arms  393 A-B towards and/or away from the bins  321 . The base  390  may comprise a sensor  391  configured to determine the proximity and/or location of a dispensable unit  322 . In some embodiments, the sensor  391  comprises one or more of a pressure sensor, touch sensor (e.g., resistive, capacitive, or the like). The manipulation unit  328  may be used to determine the length of a dispensable unit  322  by moving the base  390  towards a bin  321  until the sensor  391  is triggered. Alternatively, the sensor  391  may be configured to determine the length and/or proximity of a dispensable unit using, inter alia, an electro-optical sensor (e.g., IR sensor), audio sensor, or the like. 
     Upon determining the length of the dispensable unit  322 , the manipulation unit  328  may be configured to position the arms  393 A and  393 B in proximity to the end dispensable unit  322  (e.g., at the end portion  380 C and/or  380 D of dispensable units  322 C,  322 D). The arms  393 A and/or  393 B may comprise respective sensors  395 A and  395 B, which may be used to determine the orientation and/or size of a dispensable unit  322 . 
       FIG. 3F  is a cut-away view of the arms  393 A and  393 B. The arms  393 A and  393 B may be capable of being positioned in an open configuration  398 , in which the arms  393 A and  393 B are expanded to encompass the width of the bin  321 . As disclosed above, the arms  393 A and  393 B may comprise respective sensors  395 A and  395 B, which may be configured to emit and/or detect electro-optical radiation (e.g., infrared radiation). Accordingly, the arms  393 A and/or  393 B may comprise respective openings configured to allow sensing to pass to/from the respective sensors  395 A and/or  393 B. The sensors  395 A and  395 B may be configured to measure the width of a dispensable unit  322  between the arms  393 A and  393 B. The sensors  395  and  395 B may be further configured to obtain width measurements while the arms are moved in an angular sweep  396  around the dispensable unit  322 . The configuration of the dispensable unit  322  may be determined based upon changes (if any) in the width measurements during the angular sweep  396 . For example, the width measurements obtained by the sensors  395 A and/or  395 B will change during rotation around the box-shaped dispensable unit  322 D. By contrast, the width will not significantly change during the angular sweep  396  of the bottle dispensable unit  322 D. 
     The measured length, size, and/or configuration of the dispensable units  322  may be stored in the inventory database  116  and/or in other local, computer-readable storage resources of the dispensing station  310 . The manipulation unit  328  may be configured to grasp various types of dispensable units  322  using the length, size, and/or configuration. In some embodiments, the inner surface  394 A and  394 B of the arms  393 A and  393 B may be configured to grasp different types of dispensable units  322 , such as cylindrical units, box shapes, and the like. The inner surface  393 A and/or  394 B may be comprised of textured and/or deformable material configured to grip various types of surfaces, such as rubber, polymer, or the like. 
     Stored information pertaining to the measured length, size, and/or configuration of the dispensable units  322  may be used to determine a “closed” or “gripped” configuration  399  of the manipulation unit  328  for different dispensable units. The manipulation unit  328  may be configured to close the arms  393 A and/or  393 B to different positions and/or orientations in accordance with the stored length, size, and/or configuration information. The manipulation unit  328  may be further configured to adapt a grip strength (e.g., grip pressure) in accordance with a weight and/or strength of the dispensable unit  322 . Dispensable units  322  that are heavy and/or are formed of strong, resilient materials may be gripped with an increased pressure than lightweight dispensable units  322  and/or dispensable units  322  formed of more fragile materials (e.g., paper boxes). 
     The manipulation unit  328  may be configured to position dispensing units  322  in particular areas and/or determine the location of the unique identifier tag  323  and/or printable area  324 . As depicted in  FIG. 3G , the manipulation unit may be configured to position a dispensable unit  322 D in a scanning area  379  of a scanner  359 . The scanner  359  may comprise an optical scanner, such as a bar code scanner. Alternatively, the scanner  359  may comprise an RFID scanner, or other electro-optical reader. 
     The manipulation unit  328  may be configured to move and/or reposition the dispensable unit  322 D within the scanning area  379  until the unique identifier tag  323  is scanned. The repositioning may comprise rotating  397 A the dispensable unit  322 D until the unique identifier tag  323  (e.g., printed barcode) can be scanned by the scanner  359 . The scanner  359  may comprise a plurality of scanning modules, which may reduce the time required to scan the unique identifier tag  323 . The position of the unique identifier tag  323  may be stored with the length, size, and/or configuration information pertaining to the dispensable unit  322 D. 
     The position and/or size of the printable area  324  on the dispensable unit  322 D may be determined in a similar way; for example, the manipulation unit  328  may be configured to rotate  397  the dispensable unit  322 D until the printable area  324  is identified (by the scanner  359 , optical reader, or the like). Information pertaining to the printable area may be stored with the length, size, and/or configuration information. The manipulation unit  328  may use the stored information to position the dispensable unit  322 D for printing, which may comprise rotating  397 B the dispensable unit  322 D such that the printable area  324  is accessible to the printer  339 . 
     Referring back to  FIG. 3C , dispensable units  322  may be loaded into the loading compartment  362 , as described above, which may comprise opening the loading access port  366 , placing dispensable units  322  into bins  321  within the loading compartment  362 , and closing the access port  366  (and/or securing the locking mechanism  367 ). While the loading access port  366  is open, the controller  311  may be configured to position the separator  373  to prevent access to the inventory compartment  360 , which may comprise configuring the control mechanism  375  to position the separator in region  376  and/or actuating the blocking mechanism  377 . 
     After loading the dispensable units  322  and closing the loading access port  366  (and/or securing the locking mechanism  367 ), the manipulation unit  328  may be configured to verify the dispensable units  321  and place the dispensable units  321  into the inventory compartment  360 . Verifying the dispensable units  321  may comprise determining the length, size, and/or configuration of the dispensable units  321 , as described above. Verifying may further comprise identifying the location of the unique identifier tag  323  and/or printable area  324  on the dispensable units  321  (e.g., by rotating and/or repositioning the dispensable units within a scan area of a scanning device  359 , optical reader, or the like). The controller  311  may be configured to store length, size, and/or configuration information in the inventory database  116  and/or other computer-readable storage. The controller  311  may use the length, size, and/or configuration information to perform other operations on the dispensable units  321 , such as scanning and/or re-scanning the units  321  before the units  321  are dispensed to patients  154 , printing information to the printable area  324 , and so on, as described above. 
     Dispensable units  321  that cannot be verified (e.g., do not correspond to inventory in the inventory database  116 , cannot be scanned, or the like) may be placed in a quarantine compartment  361 . The quarantine compartment  361  may be accessible via the loading compartment  362  and/or may be secured by a separate locking mechanism. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method  400  for managing an inventory of beneficial products using a dispensing station, such as the dispensing station  310  described above. 
     Step  420  may comprise a user (e.g., staff or other authorized personnel) accessing a loading access port of the dispensing station to place new dispensable units into one or more loading bins. Step  420  may comprise the user accessing a locking mechanism of the loading access port using an access credential and/or key. Step  420  may further comprise securing an internal, inventory access port to prevent access to existing inventory within the dispensing station. The inventory access port may selectably connect an inventory compartment of the dispensing station to a loading compartment of the dispensing station. Closing the inventory access port may allow new inventory to be loaded while beneficial products in the inventory compartment remain secure. 
     In some embodiments, step  420  comprises maintaining the inventory access port closed until the loading access port is closed and/or secured. Moreover, the method  400  may be configured to maintain the loading access port in a closed and/or secured configuration while the dispensable units in the loading compartment are transferred to the inventory compartment (e.g., during steps  430 - 444 ). 
     In some embodiments, step  420  further comprises monitoring access to the dispensing station using one or more monitoring devices (e.g., cameras, video recorders, microphones, etc.). The monitoring may continue throughout each step of the method  400 . In some embodiments, opening the loading access port activates one or more monitoring devices, such as internal monitoring devices, that are adapted to monitor accesses to interior portions of the dispensing station. 
     At step  430 , the dispensable units loaded into the loading bins may be validated. Step  430  may comprise reading the unique identifier tags of the inventory in the loading bins. In some embodiments, the unique identifier tags are read concurrently using a radio-frequency scanner, such as an RFID scanner, or the like. The unique identifiers may be used to access information about the beneficial products in the dispensable units in an inventory database. Validating the inventory may comprise comparing the unique identifiers (or inventory information) with order information to determine whether the new inventory comprises a complete order. 
     In some embodiments, step  430  comprises generating a physical and/or electronic receipt indicating the unique identifiers of the new inventory. The receipt may comprise additional information about the new inventory, such as beneficial product type, quantity, source, sell-by date, and so on. 
     In some embodiments, the validation of step  430  occurs before the dispensable units are serialized and/or transferred into the inventory compartment at steps  440 - 444 . Alternatively, the validation of step  430  may occur at another time (e.g., after the dispensable units are transferred into the inventory compartment at steps  440 - 444 ). 
     The dispensable units loaded into the loading compartment may be serialized and transferred into the inventory compartment at step  440 . Step  440  may comprise determining the unique identifier of each dispensable unit in the loading compartment, placing each dispensable unit in a respective bin in the inventory compartment, and updating an inventory database to associate each dispensable unit with a respective bin. Accordingly, steps  442  and  444  may be repeated for each dispensable unit in the loading compartment. 
     Step  442  comprises determining a unique identifier of a particular dispensable unit in the loading compartment. Step  442  may comprise performing a first scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units in the dispensing station using one or more unique tag readers (e.g., RFID scanners); placing the particular dispensable unit into an isolation zone wherein its unique identifier tag cannot be scanned by the scanning device; and performing a second scan of the unique identifier tags of the dispensable units in the dispensing station while the particular dispensable unit is in the isolation zone. The unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit may be determined by comparing the unique identifiers obtained during the first scan to the unique identifiers obtained during the second scan; the unique identifier that appears in the first scan, but not the second scan is the unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit. In some embodiments, scanning the unique identifiers may comprise moving one or more unique tag readers within the dispensing station according to a movement pattern, as described above. Alternatively, or in addition, scanning the unique identifiers may comprise combining the unique identifier tags read by a plurality of unique tag readers at different positions within the dispensing station. 
     In some embodiments, step  442  may comprise using a unique identifier reader within the isolation zone, as described above. Accordingly, determining the unique identifier of the particular dispensable unit may comprise placing the particular dispensable unit within the isolation zone and reading the unique identifier thereof using a unique identifier reader in the isolation zone. The unique identifier may be further verified by performing first and/or second scans using other unique identifier readers, as described above. 
     At step  444 , the particular dispensable unit is placed in one of the bins in the inventory compartment. Step  444  may further comprise updating the inventory database (or other data structure) to associate the particular dispensable unit with the bin (by bin location or some other bin identifier). This association may allow the inventory database to determine which bin the particular dispensable unit is located. 
     As described above, in some embodiments, the method  400  may iterate over steps  442  and  444  until all of the dispensable units in the loading compartment have been transferred into bins within the inventory compartment. The method  400  may end until new dispensable units are placed into the loading compartment. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method  500  for dispensing beneficial products using a dispensing station. A request to dispense a particular beneficial product is received at step  520 . The request may be received in response to a patient fulfilling a prescription at the dispensing station. Accordingly, step  520  may comprise receiving patient identifying and/or payment information and determining whether the prescription can be fulfilled, as described above in conjunction with  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     Step  530  comprises selecting one or more dispensable units to dispense to fulfill the request of step  520 . Step  530  may comprise identifying dispensable units comprising beneficial products prescribed to the patient (based upon information in an inventory database). The selection of step  530  may also be based upon inventory serialization information, such as beneficial product sell-by date, supplier, and so on. 
     The selected dispensable units are transferred to a dispenser at step  540 . Step  540  may comprise re-verifying the dispensable units, as described above. The re-verification may comprise verifying the unique identifier of each selected dispensable unit and/or verifying inventory information associated with each selected dispensable unit (e.g. weight, size, etc.). 
     In response to re-verifying the selected dispensable units, the selected dispensable units are dispensed to the patient at step  550 . Step  550  may comprise transferring the selected dispensable units to a dispenser that is accessible to the patient. Step  550  may further comprise updating an inventory database to indicate that the selected dispensable units have been dispensed and are no longer in inventory, updating a prescription record to indicate that the prescription has been fulfilled, and/or generating a receipt indicating fulfillment of the prescription. 
     In some embodiments, step  550  may comprise printing dispensing information on the selected dispensable units, as described above. Step  550  may comprise obtaining dispensing information from an inventory and/or patient database. The selected dispensable units may comprise a pre-applied label having a printable area. The printable area may be capable of being printed upon without the use of consumables, such as ink. The method  500  may end until a next request for a beneficial product is received. 
     The above description provides numerous specific details for a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the specific details may be omitted, or other methods, components, or materials may be used. In some cases, operations are not shown or described in detail. 
     Furthermore, the described features, operations, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It will also be readily understood that the order of the steps or actions of the methods described in connection with the embodiments disclosed may be changed as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, any order in the drawings or Detailed Description is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to imply a required order, unless specified to require an order. 
     Embodiments may include various steps, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer (or other electronic device). Alternatively, the steps may be performed by hardware components that include specific logic for performing the steps, or by a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. 
     Embodiments may also be provided as a computer program product including a machine-readable storage medium having stored instructions thereon that may be used to program a computer (or other electronic device) to perform processes described herein. The machine-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to: hard drives, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, or other types of medium/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. 
     As used herein, a software module or component may include any type of computer instruction or computer executable code located within a memory device and/or non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. A software module may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may be organized as a routine, program, object, component, data structure, etc., that perform one or more tasks or implements particular abstract data types. 
     In certain embodiments, a particular software module may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations of a memory device, which together implement the described functionality of the module. Indeed, a module may comprise a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environment where tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, software modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices. In addition, data being tied or rendered together in a database record may be resident in the same memory device, or across several memory devices, and may be linked together in fields of a record in a database across a network. 
     It will be understood by those having skill in the art that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention.