Management, reporting and benchmarking of medication preparation

A method for managing dose orders, comprising:

• receiving a dose order;
• providing a protocol corresponding with the dose order at a medication preparation station;
• preparing a dose at the medication preparation station in accordance with the protocol, including following a recipe comprising at least one discrete drug preparation step;
• capturing information at the medication preparation station that relates to following the recipe during the preparing of the dose, wherein the information is captured at, corresponds to, and confirms a performance of a discrete drug preparation step in which the dose is not completely prepared and ready for delivery to the patient, and wherein each discrete drug preparation step must be verified in accordance with the protocol as having been completed;
• storing the captured information at a database;
• accessing the captured information from a remote site using a portal in communication with the database;
• inspecting the prepared dose through the portal;
• reviewing the captured information in order to verify whether the dose has been prepared in accordance with the protocol;
• and
• approving release of the dose if the reviewing step confirms that the dose has been prepared in accordance with the protocol.

A system for preparing and managing dose orders that have been entered into a first system, comprising:

• an order processing server executing software on a processor thereof and connected by a network to the first system and configured to receive the dose orders from the first system, the order processing server including a database configured to store the dose orders and information that relates to the dose orders in a dose record, the order processing server being configured to generate a dose order queue listing all dose orders received by the order processing server;
• a dose preparation station for preparing a plurality of doses based on received dose orders, the dose preparation station being in bi-directional communication with the order processing server and having an interface for providing an operator with a protocol associated with each received drug order and specifying a set of steps to fill the drug order,
• the dose preparation station being configured to present the protocol and having one or more data input devices to capture dose preparation information that relates to at least one step of the protocol to fill the drug order in accordance with the protocol and communicate the dose preparation information to the order processing server for association with the dose record, wherein the dose preparation information includes confirmation data entered by the operator to confirm that at least one step of the protocol was successfully completed and further includes indicia associated with the dose that permits the contents of the dose to be confirmed;
• and
• a portal that is accessible remotely from the dose preparation station and in communication with the database that is configured to access the dose preparation information from the dose record of the database for presentation of the dose preparation information on a display to a remote user for inspection of the prepared dose by review of the dose preparation information in order to verify whether the dose has been prepared in accordance with the protocol, wherein the portal is configured to receive an approval of the release of the dose if the remote user confirms that the dose has been prepared in accordance with the protocol.