Method, system and apparatus for controlling patient access to medicaments

Abstract

Methods, systems and apparatuses are provided for controlling and tracking patient access to medicaments. A patient is provided with medication in locked pill containers that must be unlocked before the patient can access medication. The patient is forced through an interactive session periodically with a master system, via a communicative intermediary, in order to obtain a valid passcode for each batch of medications. The patient may be assessed during each interaction with the master system. That assessment may include questions about status codes displayed on each medication container. These status codes may encode detail about the patient's pattern of accessing medication. A rate of medication usage can also be deduced from the rate at which the patient contacts the master system. After patient assessment, the master system may elect to not provide the patient with an access code, such as if the assessment indicates overuse of the medication.