System and method for pharmaceutical management and tracking

Abstract

A product inventory management system including a cabinet configured to contain an inventory of product units having RFID tags and further configured to monitor the inventory by wirelessly detecting the RFID tags, and a server system configured to communicate over a network with the cabinet, the server system capable of managing the inventory of the cabinet. There is also a method for product inventory management, including receiving, in a server system and via a network, inventory data from a cabinet, the inventory data corresponding to an inventory of product units stored in the cabinet, and generating an order to have additional product units added to the cabinet according to the cabinet inventory.

1 .- 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . A product inventory management system, comprising:
 a cabinet configured to contain an inventory of product units, each product unit having an RFID tag, the cabinet comprising a reader configured to monitor the inventory by wirelessly detecting the RFID tags; and   a server system configured to communicate over a network with the cabinet, the server system configured to manage the inventory of the cabinet, the server system configured to create an order to have additional product units added to the cabinet according to the cabinet inventory,   wherein the product units in the cabinet inventory are consignment product units, and the server system is configured to create an invoice when the product units are removed from the inventory.   
     
     
         33 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the cabinet is configured to notify the server system that product units have been added or removed from the cabinet inventory. 
     
     
         34 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the cabinet is configured to perform a periodic wireless scan to determine the current product units in the inventory. 
     
     
         35 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the cabinet is configured to determine that a product unit has been removed from the inventory when the RFID tag corresponding to the product unit is not detected for a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         36 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the order is one of a purchase order and a transfer purchase order. 
     
     
         37 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the server system is further configured to receive cabinet status data from the cabinet. 
     
     
         38 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the server system is further configured to send cabinet control instructions to the cabinet. 
     
     
         39 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the server system is further configured to analyze product consumption data according to inventory data received from the cabinet. 
     
     
         40 . The product inventory management system of  claim 32 , wherein the product units are pharmaceuticals. 
     
     
         41 . A product inventory management network, comprising:
 a first cabinet and a second cabinet, wherein each cabinet is configured to contain an inventory of product units, each product unit having an RFID tag, each cabinet comprising a reader configured to monitor the inventory by wirelessly detecting the RFID tags; and   a server system configured to communicate over a network with the first cabinet and the second cabinet, the server system configured to manage the inventory of at least one of the first cabinet and second cabinet, the server system configured to create an order to have additional product units added to the at least one cabinet according to the cabinet inventory,   wherein the product units in the cabinet inventory of at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet are consignment product units, and the server system is configured to create an invoice when the product units are removed from the inventory.   
     
     
         42 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet is configured to notify the server system that product units have been added or removed from the cabinet inventory. 
     
     
         43 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet is configured to perform a periodic wireless scan to determine the current product units in the inventory. 
     
     
         44 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet is configured to determine that a product unit has been removed from the inventory when the RFID tag corresponding to the product unit is not detected for a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         45 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein the order is one of a purchase order and a transfer purchase order. 
     
     
         46 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein the server system is further configured to receive cabinet status data from at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet. 
     
     
         47 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein the server system is further configured to send cabinet control instructions to at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet. 
     
     
         48 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein the server system is further configured to analyze product consumption data according to inventory data received from at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet. 
     
     
         49 . The product inventory management network of  claim 41 , wherein the product units are pharmaceuticals. 
     
     
         50 . An inventory management system, comprising:
 a plurality of cabinets, each cabinet configured to contain an inventory of product units, each product unit having an RFID tag, each cabinet comprising a reader configured to perform a periodic wireless scan of the RFID tags to determine the inventory; and   a server system configured to communicate over a network with the plurality of cabinets, the server system configured to manage the inventory of at least one of the cabinets, the server system configured to create an order to have additional product units added to the at least one cabinet according to the cabinet inventory,   wherein at least one of the cabinets is configured to notify the server system that product units have been added or removed from the cabinet inventory,   wherein the product units in the cabinet inventory of at least one of the cabinets are consignment product units, and the server system is configured to create an invoice when the product units are removed from the inventory.   
     
     
         51 . The inventory management system of  claim 50 , wherein at least one of the first cabinet and the second cabinet is configured to determine that a product unit has been removed from the inventory when the RFID tag corresponding to the product unit is not detected for a predetermined amount of time.