Multiple Medication Production Process
Difficulties caused by patients improperly taking medications cause hundreds of billions of dollars in excess medical expenses every year. As the population ages the magnitude of this problem grows. Many senior citizens take over 10 medications per day, and each medication generally has specified times for consumption. There has been a need for a system which would make the consumption of multiple medications easier and less stressful for patients and caregivers.
Edge Medical developed new technology that allows a pharmaceutical organization to supply an improved product to retail customers.
The product provides enhanced functionality by packaging of pills into familiar plastic pouches and to create better concepts for packaging, delivery and process.
This required innovations in many areas. Pouches were to be filled with all medications which are to be taken together, so that a pouch might have four different tablets that are to be taken at lunch time. New boxes were designed to hold strips of pouches and the interconnected pouches themselves were altered to be more easily separated by patients.
Labeling was improved and a variety of consumer and manufacturing features integrated.
Critical to this process was the creation of a new software system which would drive the packaging process. Dubbed EPPA (Edge Patient Pharmaceutical Application), the new software would reside between an existing pharmacy system and a pouch packaging machine.
EPPA creates the concept of a patient order, which can constitute any number of medications and dosing periods (morning, afternoon, bedtime, etc.), and directs the production and assembly process.
In order to accomplish the product goal Edge had to develop new concepts in packaging, labeling and process. The final product for customer deliver consists of well labeled pouch strips in boxes which are clearly labeled, easy to use and professional in appearance.
