Inventory data management system

An inventory data management system for managing information related to a set of medical items that is at least partially used during a medical procedure in a medical facility, the inventory data management system comprising:

• a container customized for holding the set of medical items as the set of medical items is transported to a procedure room in the medical facility and for holding the set of medical items in the procedure room as one or more of the medical items are removed from the container for use during the medical procedure, the container having a unique container identification code disposed thereon, the container having a plurality of designated positions for holding a plurality of items in the set, each designated position having an optically-readable item identifier code disposed on the container adjacent to the designated position;
• a plurality of sensing devices, including image-sensing devices, for reading the optically-readable item identifier codes and the container identification code from the container, the image-sensing devices provided in a plurality of locations in the medical facility and not on the container, each location associated with a particular status of the container, the image-sensing devices including at least one image-sensing device disposed in the medical facility for reading optically-readable item identifier codes disposed on the container adjacent designated positions in the container that are empty after completion of the medical procedure, the sensing devices in communication with a communication network;
• an inventory management computer for executing an inventory management application to receive the container identification code in an electronic form from the communication network and associate the container identification code with container status information based on the location of the sensing device that read the container identification code, and detecting the designated positions in the container that are empty;
• an electronic data interchange server implementing electronic commerce transactions for used items in the set of medical items, and
• an item inventory database in communication with the inventory management computer, the item inventory database for storing the container identification code in association with the container status information.