Method for selectively enabling or blocking the use of medical equipment
First Claim
1. A method for selectively enabling or blocking usage of a medical implement selected from the group consisting of medical equipment and a system option in said medical equipment, comprising the steps of:
- for a customer of a vendor of said medical implement, said customer having a facility at which said medical implement is located, storing a compilation at a computer of said vendor which designates whether said customer is permitted to use said medical implement and to which extent said customer is permitted to use said medical implement;
when said customer desires to use said medical implement, establishing communication between a computer of said medical implement and said computer of said vendor and communicating usage data from said computer of said medical implement to said computer of said vendor;
based on said usage data, reviewing said compilation at said computer of said vendor to determine whether said customer is authorized to use said medical implement;
additionally reviewing, dependent on said compilation at said computer of said vendor, whether said customer has an economic relationship with said vendor permitting said use of said medical implement; and
automatically enabling said use of said medical implement by said customer by communicating enabling data from said computer of said vendor to said computer of said medical implement when, based on said review, said authorization and said economic relationship exist, and automatically communicating blocking data from said computer of said vendor to said computer of said medical implement if, based on said review, either of said authorization or said economic status does not exist.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a method for selectively enabling or blocking the use of medical equipment made available by a vendor or a system option in the medical equipment, for a customer, wherein the equipment is arranged in a facility of the customer, a compilation is created and stored at a vendor'"'"'s computer from which it proceeds whether the customer is permitted to use the medical equipment overall or which system option of the medical equipment the customer is permitted to use. Given a desired utilization of the medical equipment or a system option of the medical equipment by the customer, a check is made at the vendor'"'"'s computer as to see whether the customer is authorized for the use and whether costs arising from previous use are to be paid. The use is automatically enabled when the authorization still exists and no costs are outstanding, or the use is automatically inhibited when there is no authorization or costs are still outstanding.
17 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A method for selectively enabling or blocking usage of a medical implement selected from the group consisting of medical equipment and a system option in said medical equipment, comprising the steps of:
-
for a customer of a vendor of said medical implement, said customer having a facility at which said medical implement is located, storing a compilation at a computer of said vendor which designates whether said customer is permitted to use said medical implement and to which extent said customer is permitted to use said medical implement;
when said customer desires to use said medical implement, establishing communication between a computer of said medical implement and said computer of said vendor and communicating usage data from said computer of said medical implement to said computer of said vendor;
based on said usage data, reviewing said compilation at said computer of said vendor to determine whether said customer is authorized to use said medical implement;
additionally reviewing, dependent on said compilation at said computer of said vendor, whether said customer has an economic relationship with said vendor permitting said use of said medical implement; and
automatically enabling said use of said medical implement by said customer by communicating enabling data from said computer of said vendor to said computer of said medical implement when, based on said review, said authorization and said economic relationship exist, and automatically communicating blocking data from said computer of said vendor to said computer of said medical implement if, based on said review, either of said authorization or said economic status does not exist. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification