Patent ID: 8073563

Claim:
A system for designating multi-use items for a plurality of dispensing devices at a healthcare facility, the system comprising: the plurality of dispensing devices for medications, each dispensing device including a plurality of bins for storage of medication; and a central server computer system, communicatively coupled with at least a subset of the plurality of dispensing devices, and configured to: receive a set of data identifying an unused dispenser of medication, the dispenser of medication configured for multiple administrations to a same patient; associate the dispenser of medication with a designation indicating the dispenser of medication is a multi-use item; transmit a first set of instruction data directing storage of the dispenser of medication in an item-specific bin at a dispensing device of the subset, the item-specific bin configured to store one or more items each available to a plurality of patients; receive a set of use data indicating a use of the dispenser of medication by a first patient; and transmit, in response to the received set of use data, a second set of instruction data directing storage of the used dispenser of medication in a patient-specific bin assigned to the first patient at the dispensing device.