A medication adherence system that records in electronic records contents of vended medication packages which contain medications that were previously dispensed, the electronic records storing records for a plurality of patients, the electronic records including the following fields (i) a patient identifier, (ii) schedule of dose times, (iii) contents of medication packages to be dispensed at the appropriate dose time in the dose schedule, the system comprising: (a) a plurality of vending medication devices, each vending medication device being associated with only one patient, each vending medication device being adapted to be configured with a dosing schedule to queue vending events at which a dose packet is to be vended, and each vending medication device being adapted to generate an electronic message whenever a vending event occurs at the vending medication device, the electronic message including at least a unique identifier of the patient; and (b) a medication administration computer that maintains an electronic record for a plurality of patients, each electronic record having an associated patient identifier, the medication administration computer adapted to: (i) receive from the vending medication devices the electronic messages generated at the vending medication devices whenever a vending event occurs at one of the vending medication devices, wherein the electronic messages do not include patient names or vended medications; (ii) detect for each received electronic message whether an electronic record exists in the medication administration computer for a patient identifier that matches the unique identifier of the patient for which the scheduled dose time can be properly inferred in the electronic message, by comparison of the actual time of vending and the schedule of dose times, and (iii) record in a vended medications indicator field of the electronic record that the dispensed medications were vended if it is detected that an electronic record exists in the medication administration computer for a patient identifier that matches the unique identifier of the patient, and wherein all of the medication packages vended from a particular vending machine are for the same patient, wherein the vending medication device is adapted to be pre-programmed to prompt vending events in accordance with the dosing schedule without prompts being sent from the medication administration computer. (a) a plurality of vending medication devices, each vending medication device being associated with only one patient, each vending medication device being adapted to be configured with a dosing schedule to queue vending events at which a dose packet is to be vended, and each vending medication device being adapted to generate an electronic message whenever a vending event occurs at the vending medication device, the electronic message including at least a unique identifier of the patient; and (b) a medication administration computer that maintains an electronic record for a plurality of patients, each electronic record having an associated patient identifier, the medication administration computer adapted to: (i) receive from the vending medication devices the electronic messages generated at the vending medication devices whenever a vending event occurs at one of the vending medication devices, wherein the electronic messages do not include patient names or vended medications; (ii) detect for each received electronic message whether an electronic record exists in the medication administration computer for a patient identifier that matches the unique identifier of the patient for which the scheduled dose time can be properly inferred in the electronic message, by comparison of the actual time of vending and the schedule of dose times, and (iii) record in a vended medications indicator field of the electronic record that the dispensed medications were vended if it is detected that an electronic record exists in the medication administration computer for a patient identifier that matches the unique identifier of the patient, and wherein all of the medication packages vended from a particular vending machine are for the same patient, wherein the vending medication device is adapted to be pre-programmed to prompt vending events in accordance with the dosing schedule without prompts being sent from the medication administration computer. (i) receive from the vending medication devices the electronic messages generated at the vending medication devices whenever a vending event occurs at one of the vending medication devices, wherein the electronic messages do not include patient names or vended medications; (ii) detect for each received electronic message whether an electronic record exists in the medication administration computer for a patient identifier that matches the unique identifier of the patient for which the scheduled dose time can be properly inferred in the electronic message, by comparison of the actual time of vending and the schedule of dose times, and (iii) record in a vended medications indicator field of the electronic record that the dispensed medications were vended if it is detected that an electronic record exists in the medication administration computer for a patient identifier that matches the unique identifier of the patient, and wherein all of the medication packages vended from a particular vending machine are for the same patient, wherein the vending medication device is adapted to be pre-programmed to prompt vending events in accordance with the dosing schedule without prompts being sent from the medication administration computer.