Method, system and apparatus for controlling patient access to medicaments

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus for controlling and tracking patient access to medicaments. A patient is provided with medication in locked pill containers that must be unlocked with an access code before the patient can access a limited quantity of medication in each container. Thus the patient is forced to go 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 and follow a treatment regimen. The patient may be assessed during each interaction with the master system. That assessment can include various questions, including questions about status codes that may optionally be displayed on each medication container. These status codes may optionally encode detail about the patient's pattern of accessing medication. The general rate of medication usage can also be deduced by 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, typically if the patient meets certain criteria that indicate overuse of the medication. Conversely, the master system can elect to proactively contact the patient if the patient fails to make contact with the master system at an expected time, as this lack of contact suggests that the patient is underusing the medication and requires a reminder.