Managing re-use of returned medications

A method, comprising:

• receiving, at a pharmacy server wirelessly from a portable scanner, first information scanned from a first barcode;
• identifying at least one medication, at a first location within a healthcare facility, to be returned to a second location within the healthcare facility;
• providing, for display at a computing device associated with the first location and remote from the pharmacy server, instructions to retrieve the identified at least one medication from the first location;
• receiving, from a reader device after providing the instructions, at the pharmacy server based on second information scanned from an active identification device affixed to the at least one medication and received wirelessly from the reader device without a scanning action taken by a participant, an indication of the at least one medication and that the at least one medication is available for re-use before it is returned to the second location, wherein the reader device is configured to automatically retrieve the indication via a signal generated and transmitted wirelessly from the active identification device when the active identification device is within a proximity of the reader device;
• receiving, with the pharmacy server, an order for another medication, the order including a delivery deadline and a delivery location;
• determining, based on the delivery location and the received indication, a delivery time to deliver the order to the delivery location from the second location;
• determining, based on the received indication and the second information, an expiration time of the at least one medication;
• determining, with the pharmacy server based on the expiration time of the at least one medication, the delivery time, and the delivery deadline, whether the at least one returned medication is usable for completing the order of the other medication by the delivery deadline;
• and
• when the determination indicates that the at least one returned medication is usable for completing the order of the other medication, providing a notification on a display device indicating that the at least one returned medication is usable for completing the order of the other medication.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising machine-readable instructions for causing a processor to execute a method for managing a return of a prepared medication, the method comprising:

• determining, by a server, at least one medication at a first location within a healthcare facility, to be returned to a second location within the healthcare facility;
• providing, for display at a computing device associated with the first location and remote from the server, instructions to retrieve the at least one medication from the first location;
• receiving, from a reader device after providing the instructions, based on second information scanned from an active identification device affixed to the at least one medication and received wirelessly from the reader device without a scanning action taken by a participant, an indication that the at least one medication is available for re-use before it is returned to the second location, wherein the reader device is configured to automatically retrieve the indication via a signal generated and transmitted wirelessly from the active identification device when the active identification device is within a proximity of the reader device;
• receiving an order for another medication, including a delivery deadline and a delivery location;
• determining, based on the delivery location and the received indication, a delivery time to deliver the order to the delivery location from the second location;
• determining, based on the received indication and the second information, an expiration time of the at least one medication;
• determining, based on the expiration time, the delivery time, and the delivery deadline, whether the at least one returned medication is usable for completing the order of the other medication by the delivery deadline;
• and
• when the determination indicates that the at least one returned medication is usable for completing the order of the other medication, providing, to a display device, a notification indicating that the at least one returned medication is usable for completing the order of the other medication.