System and method for transmitting information between doctors and hospitals

• US 20020013714A1
• Filed: 05/18/2001
• Published: 01/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sanalink AG
• Original Assignee: Sanalink AG
• Inventors: Perren, Heinz G., Dubler, Andreas M., Scherrer, Felix E.
• Application Number:
  US09/861,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20020013714A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of exchanging information between one of a plurality of doctors and one of a plurality of hospitals is disclosed. According to this method, on an operating platform, a data set containing hospital related information including information about hospital occupancy is maintained. On a client system of said one doctor, information relating to at least some of the plurality of hospitals including information from said data set is displayed. The doctor may then send a request signal to the operating platform, thereby generating a reservation order created by said operating platform. This reservation order is then sent to one of said plurality of hospitals, the hospital being specified by information contained in the request signal. Finally, depending on the successful transmittal of said reservation order, said data set containing hospital occupancy information is modified.

Claims

1. A method of exchanging information between one of a plurality of doctors and one of a plurality of hospitals comprising the steps of

maintaining, on an operating platform, a data set containing hospital related information including information about at least one of hospital occupancy and of services available from the hospital,

displaying, on a client system of said one doctor, information relating to at least some of the plurality of hospitals including information from said data set

in response to an action being performed by the doctor, sending a request signal to said operating platform

generating a reservation order by said operating platform

sending said reservation order to one of said plurality of hospitals, the hospital being specified by information contained in the request signal, and

depending on the successful transmittal of said reservation order, modifying said data set.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein further to the reservation order a request for a payment precertification is generated by the operating platform and wherein this request is sent an insurance company specified upon information contained in said request signal.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the operating platform can be configured in a manner that said reservation signal is only transmitted if the request for a payment precertification is positively answered to by the insurance company.

4. A method as claimed claim 1 wherein said operating platform is implemented by a server system.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein further to the reservation request also medical data such as diagnosis, x-ray or CT images etc. are transmitted.

6. A system for exchanging information between a plurality of doctors and a plurality of hospitals comprising

an operating platform comprising data storage means and data processing means for maintaining a data set with hospital related information including information about hospital occupancy and communication means for establishing a communication link to each of said doctors and hospitals

for each doctor, a system comprising communication means for establishing a communication link to said operating platform, a display component and means for generating a request signal to said operating platform,

and, for each hospital, a client system comprising communication means for establishing a communication link to said operating platform, and means for receiving a reservation signal from said operating platform.

7. A server system for establishing an operating platform system for exchanging information between a plurality of doctors and a plurality of hospitals comprising data storage means, data processing means and communication means for establishing a communication link to each of said doctors and hospitals wherein the data storage means comprise computer program code for implementing means for maintaining a data set with hospital related information including information about hospital occupancy, means for transmitting hospital related information to a doctor, means for receiving a request signal from a doctor, means for generating, depending on the request signal, a reservation signal and sending the same to a hospital and means for modifying said data set with hospital related information depending on the successful transmission of said reservation signal.

8. A method of exchanging information between a plurality of doctors, a plurality participants, at least some of them being hospitals and other ones of them being doctors, comprising the steps of

maintaining an operating platform and communication means linking said operating platform to the doctors and hospitals,

transmitting message data containing a destination information from a participant to said operating platform,

distributing, using multiplexing means and data contained in the destination information, said message data to at least one of a plurality of channels, the channels being at least distinct in the information destination and in the security and/or urgency levels, and

transmitting said message data to at least one participant via said channels using said communication means.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein, before message data containing a destination information is transmitted from a participant to said operating platform, destination information is sent to the platform and an encryption key is requested, wherein an encryption key associated with a message recipient specified in the destination information is read from an encryption key database of the platform and transmitted to the participant, and wherein the message to be sent is encrypted by the participant using this one encryption key.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the message data to be transmitted is compiled by the participant in several steps, wherein for at least some of the steps, a communication link to the operating platform is established, and after the step the entire data transmitted so far is stored in the operating platform'"'"'s storage means and the communication link is closed.

11. A method of exchanging information between one of a plurality of doctors and one of a plurality of hospitals comprising the steps of

maintaining a set of encryption keys individually relating to each of the plurality of hospitals by the operating platform

opening a communication link between a client system of said one doctor and an operating platform

sending an encryption key request signal specifying said one hospital from the said client system to said operating platform

sending an encryption key specific to said one hospital from the operating platform to the doctor

encrypting the data to be transmitted using said specific encryption key

sending the thus encrypted data from the doctor'"'"'s client system to the operating platform and forwarding the data from the operating platform to a client system of the hospital.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein on the operating platform, a data set containing hospital related information including information about hospital occupancy is maintained and wherein said one hospital is selected by the doctor according to information from said data set and transmitted to the doctor'"'"'s client system.

13. A server system for establishing an operating platform system for exchanging information between a plurality of doctors and a plurality of hospitals comprising at least one computer server with data storage means, data processing means and communication means for establishing a communication link to each of said doctors and hospitals wherein the data storage means comprise computer program code implementing in the server system the following means:

means maintaining and regularly actualizing a data set containing hospital related information including information about hospital occupancy and/or available hospital services

means for transmitting data in including data about hospital occupancy and/or available hospital services to a client system of a doctor

multiplexing means for message data to at least one of a plurality of channels, the channels being at least distinct in the information destination and in the security and/or urgency levels, and

means for transmitting said message data to at least one participant via said channels using said communication means.