qwickmeds by medapptic, LLC, World’s First In-Hospital
Self-Dispensed Personal Medication Dispenser, Receives US Patent
Germantown, MD
Necessity—as the Saying Goes—is the Mother of Invention
While treating hospitalized patients, inventor Cheryl Lohman, MD noticed a significant time lapse between patients’ requests for as-needed (PRN) pain medications and the time those medications were administered by a nurse. Then, she ended up as a patient herself, and she experienced firsthand what it was like to wait for medication. “I’m prone to migraine headaches,” Dr. Lohman notes, “and while I was in the hospital, I felt one coming on.” By taking Tylenol within 5-10 minutes of the headache’s onset, Dr. Lohman can effectively ward off a migraine. “I asked my nurse for Tylenol, and though she did her best to get it to me quickly, it took her 30 minutes. By that time, it was too late for the Tylenol to be effective, and the headache lasted all day. I knew there had to be a better solution for myself—as well as for the millions of patients in similar situations at hospitals all over the world.”
The World’s First In-Hospital Personalized Medication Dispenser
Enter QwickMeds by MedApptic, LLC, the world’s first in-hospital personalized medication dispenser, which gives patients self-administration capabilities for as-needed medications. The device also ensures hospital staff knows about all medication intake—reducing the risk of unsafe dosages and dangerous drug interactions. Intended to boost patient satisfaction and improve patient outcomes with timely medication administration, QwickMeds can also relieve overextended nursing and medical staff by reducing interruption and patient demands, and save hospitals money by improving staff efficiency and medication dispensing.
Dr. Lohman is the inventor of QwickMeds, which was issued USPTO patent number 9,465,918 on October 11, 2016.
Related patents are pending.
QwickMeds Opens Up Possibilities for Patients—and Improved Patient Outcomes
“Though I first conceived of the idea in my own personal discomfort,” Dr. Lohman says, “I soon expanded my idea for QwickMeds to an array of other uses, all of which improve patient outcomes and relieve nursing staff and hospital systems.”
Those include:
In inventing QwickMeds, Dr. Lohman recognized that hospitalized patients are often capable of deciding when they need medication—and successfully self-administering their dosages, often beneath hospital staff’s radar. “I see wonderful applications in QwickMeds' future,” Dr. Lohman says. “This device, in hospital settings, can do so much: relieve patients and give them control over their medication dosage and dispensing, protect nursing staff, assist an overburdened system, and, above all, ensure medication is delivered safely and on time.”
Advantages for Extenuating Circumstances
And, while the device blends digital technology with the organizational behaviors of the existing healthcare system, it also has some advantages over electronic equipment. “It has compartments for hot and cold-packs,” says Dr. Lohman, “which can provide patients some self-directed relief without having to hit the call button. And—this is really important in an increasingly technologically dependent system—it can be a stand-alone medical tool. That’s of crucial value when an EHR system goes down, or in a situation where medical personnel are handling the fallout from a catastrophic disaster.”
Nothing Else Like It in the Hospital Setting
QwickMeds is the only device of its kind. “We did an international patent search before initiating the patent application,” notes Dr. Lohman, “and while there are dispensers for in-home medications as well as for use in nursing home situations, QwickMeds is the only device of its kind for use in hospital settings.”
Dr. Lohman foresees a bright future for her device. “I see it being used in hospital settings here as well as around the world.
It’s a positive for patients, staff, and administrators.”
About QwickMeds' Inventor
An experienced practicing physician, Dr. Cheryl Lohman has worked in both hospital and outpatient settings in family practice for over 15 years. She is board-certified in family medicine by the ABFM and is licensed to practice in the state of Maryland. Dr. Lohman’s background in research compliments her deep expertise in clinical settings: she has served as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and is published in the medical literature. She also nurtures a passion for creativity and innovation, as evinced by her many successful entrepreneurial ventures, of which QwickMeds is one. She received her MD from the top-tier School of Medicine at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and holds a BS in electrical engineering from the world-class engineering college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Lohman is the sole patent owner. QwickMeds is available for licensing to companies well established in healthcare in-hospital drug dispensing. For more information, to discuss QwickMeds, or to discuss patent licensing,
please contact Dr. Lohman or MedApptic, LLC.
While treating hospitalized patients, inventor Cheryl Lohman, MD noticed a significant time lapse between patients’ requests for as-needed (PRN) pain medications and the time those medications were administered by a nurse. Then, she ended up as a patient herself, and she experienced firsthand what it was like to wait for medication. “I’m prone to migraine headaches,” Dr. Lohman notes, “and while I was in the hospital, I felt one coming on.” By taking Tylenol within 5-10 minutes of the headache’s onset, Dr. Lohman can effectively ward off a migraine. “I asked my nurse for Tylenol, and though she did her best to get it to me quickly, it took her 30 minutes. By that time, it was too late for the Tylenol to be effective, and the headache lasted all day. I knew there had to be a better solution for myself—as well as for the millions of patients in similar situations at hospitals all over the world.”
The World’s First In-Hospital Personalized Medication Dispenser
Enter QwickMeds by MedApptic, LLC, the world’s first in-hospital personalized medication dispenser, which gives patients self-administration capabilities for as-needed medications. The device also ensures hospital staff knows about all medication intake—reducing the risk of unsafe dosages and dangerous drug interactions. Intended to boost patient satisfaction and improve patient outcomes with timely medication administration, QwickMeds can also relieve overextended nursing and medical staff by reducing interruption and patient demands, and save hospitals money by improving staff efficiency and medication dispensing.
Dr. Lohman is the inventor of QwickMeds, which was issued USPTO patent number 9,465,918 on October 11, 2016.
Related patents are pending.
QwickMeds Opens Up Possibilities for Patients—and Improved Patient Outcomes
“Though I first conceived of the idea in my own personal discomfort,” Dr. Lohman says, “I soon expanded my idea for QwickMeds to an array of other uses, all of which improve patient outcomes and relieve nursing staff and hospital systems.”
Those include:
- Dispensing medications that require more frequent administration than the current recommended timelines—such as those medications used to treat Parkinson’s disease, among others
- Delivering dosages in a timely and predictable manner—non-critical dosage times include two hours’ leeway on either side of a prescribed dose, meaning a patient could potentially be waiting up to four hours for standard dosing
- Treating pain with less dangerous medications before pain becomes established, thus potentially decreasing the need for stronger, more addictive pain medications such as opioid analgesics—a boon in a nation beset by an opioid epidemic
- Protecting medical staff against highly infectious diseases in situations where staff is at risk but patients require care—and medication
In inventing QwickMeds, Dr. Lohman recognized that hospitalized patients are often capable of deciding when they need medication—and successfully self-administering their dosages, often beneath hospital staff’s radar. “I see wonderful applications in QwickMeds' future,” Dr. Lohman says. “This device, in hospital settings, can do so much: relieve patients and give them control over their medication dosage and dispensing, protect nursing staff, assist an overburdened system, and, above all, ensure medication is delivered safely and on time.”
Advantages for Extenuating Circumstances
And, while the device blends digital technology with the organizational behaviors of the existing healthcare system, it also has some advantages over electronic equipment. “It has compartments for hot and cold-packs,” says Dr. Lohman, “which can provide patients some self-directed relief without having to hit the call button. And—this is really important in an increasingly technologically dependent system—it can be a stand-alone medical tool. That’s of crucial value when an EHR system goes down, or in a situation where medical personnel are handling the fallout from a catastrophic disaster.”
Nothing Else Like It in the Hospital Setting
QwickMeds is the only device of its kind. “We did an international patent search before initiating the patent application,” notes Dr. Lohman, “and while there are dispensers for in-home medications as well as for use in nursing home situations, QwickMeds is the only device of its kind for use in hospital settings.”
Dr. Lohman foresees a bright future for her device. “I see it being used in hospital settings here as well as around the world.
It’s a positive for patients, staff, and administrators.”
About QwickMeds' Inventor
An experienced practicing physician, Dr. Cheryl Lohman has worked in both hospital and outpatient settings in family practice for over 15 years. She is board-certified in family medicine by the ABFM and is licensed to practice in the state of Maryland. Dr. Lohman’s background in research compliments her deep expertise in clinical settings: she has served as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and is published in the medical literature. She also nurtures a passion for creativity and innovation, as evinced by her many successful entrepreneurial ventures, of which QwickMeds is one. She received her MD from the top-tier School of Medicine at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and holds a BS in electrical engineering from the world-class engineering college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Lohman is the sole patent owner. QwickMeds is available for licensing to companies well established in healthcare in-hospital drug dispensing. For more information, to discuss QwickMeds, or to discuss patent licensing,
please contact Dr. Lohman or MedApptic, LLC.
