Queue management system

An apparatus for increasing queue throughput, comprising:

• a cellular network communication system configured for data communication via a cellular network;
• a non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store executable programmed modules;
• a user interface configured to receive first information corresponding to a prescription drug purchase and present second information including at least a discount price indicator for the prescription drug purchase;
• a processor communicatively coupled with the non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to execute programmed modules stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium, the processor further configured to control the cellular network communication system to carry out data communication over the cellular network and to control the user interface to receive the first information and provide the second information;
• wherein the processor is further configured to,
• initiate an execution state of a queue management application,
• in response to initiating the execution state, selectively restrict access to hardware resources associated with (i) WIFI functions of the apparatus and (ii) camera functions of the apparatus,
• thereby enforcing exclusive access by the queue management application to a cellular network communication interface during the execution state,
• wherein enforcing exclusive cellular communication and restricting access to WIFI functions enables parallel processing of the plurality of queries via the cellular network;
• and
• during the execution state and subsequent to restricting access to WIFI and camera functions of the apparatus,
• control the user interface to obtain profile information from a pharmacy benefits manager service, the profile information corresponding to the prescription drug and comprising a plurality of first data elements including at least one of a brand name, a generic name, a drug form, one or more dosage amounts, and one or more quantity amounts;
• generate a plurality of queries, each query comprising at least a portion of the profile information,
• route each of the plurality of queries to one of a plurality of pharmacy discount services exclusively via the cellular network while preventing routing via an alternate network interface,
• receive a response to each of the plurality of queries via the cellular network, each response including second information comprising a plurality of second data elements including at least a discount price indicator for the prescription drug;
• sort the responses to each of the plurality of queries by discount price indicators;
• control the user interface to present a sorted list of responses to each of the plurality of queries;
• monitor the execution state of the queue management application;
• and
• upon detection of (i) a request to switch to a different application or (ii) a request to capture an image, automatically terminate the queue management application and remove associated data from memory to prevent access to queue management application data outside the execution state.

A method for increasing queue throughput performed by a processor-enabled device, where one or more processors of the processor-enabled device are programmed to perform steps comprising:

• initiate an execution state of a queue management application;
• in response to initiating the execution state, selectively restrict access to hardware resources associated with (i) WIFI functions of the processor-enabled device and (ii) camera functions of the processor-enabled device,
• thereby enforcing exclusive access by the queue management application to a cellular network communication interface during the execution state,
• wherein enforcing exclusive cellular communication and restricting access to WIFI functions enables parallel processing of the plurality of queries via a cellular network;
• and
• during the execution state and subsequent to restricting access to the WIFI and camera functions of the processor-enabled device,
• control a user interface to obtain profile information from a pharmacy benefits manager service, the profile information corresponding to a prescription drug and comprising a plurality of first data elements including at least one of a brand name of the prescription drug, a generic name of the prescription drug, a delivery form of the prescription drug, one or more dosage amounts of the prescription drug, and one or more quantity amounts of the prescription drug;
• generate a plurality of queries, each query comprising at least a portion of the profile information;
• route each of the plurality of queries to one of a plurality of pharmacy discount services exclusively via the cellular network while preventing routing via an alternate network interface;
• receive a response to each of the plurality of queries via the cellular network while preventing routing via an alternate network interface, each response including second information comprising a plurality of second data elements including at least a discount price indicator for the prescription drug;
• sort the responses to each of the plurality of queries based on the discount price indicators;
• control the user interface to present a sorted list of responses to each of the plurality of queries;
• monitor the execution state of the queue management application;
• and
• upon detection of (i) a request to switch to a different application or (ii) a request to capture an image, automatically terminate the queue management application and remove associated data from memory to prevent access to queue management application data outside the execution state.

A system comprising at least one processor communicatively coupled with at least one non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the processor is programmed to:

• control a user interface to obtain profile information from a pharmacy benefits manager service, the profile information corresponding to a prescription drug and comprising a plurality of first data elements including at least one of a brand name of the prescription drug, a generic name of the prescription drug, a delivery form of the prescription drug, one or more dosage amounts of the prescription drug, and one or more quantity amounts of the prescription drug;
• generate a plurality of queries, each query comprising at least a portion of the profile information;
• initiate an execution state of a queue management application;
• in response to initiating the execution state, selectively restrict access to hardware resources associated with (i) WIFI functions and (ii) camera functions,
• thereby enforcing exclusive access by the queue management application to a cellular network communication interface during the execution state,
• wherein enforcing exclusive cellular communication and restricting access to WIFI functions enables parallel processing of the plurality of queries via a cellular network;
• and
• during the execution state and subsequent to restricting access to all WIFI and camera functions,
• route each of the plurality of queries to one of a plurality of pharmacy discount services exclusively via the cellular network while preventing routing via an alternate network interface;
• receive a response to each of the plurality of queries via the cellular network, each response including second information comprising a plurality of second data elements including at least a discount price indicator for the prescription drug;
• sort the responses to each of the plurality of queries based on the discount price indicators;
• and
• control the user interface to present a sorted list of responses to each of the plurality of queries,
• wherein the processor is further programmed to monitor the execution state of the queue management application and upon detection of (i) a request to switch to a different application or (ii) a request to capture an image, automatically terminate the queue management application and remove from memory data corresponding to the application to prevent access to queue management application data outside the execution state.