Method and apparatus for accounting and billing for telecommunicatively rendered services

• US 20030028482A1
• Filed: 07/03/2002
• Published: 02/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Carl S. Burak, Karl O.W. Steen
• Original Assignee: Carl S. Burak, Karl O.W. Steen
• Inventors: Burak, Carl S., Steen, Karl O.W.
• Application Number:
  US10/189,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20030028482A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/51 for resellers, retailers or service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/54 Resellers-retail or service providers billing, e.g. agreements with telephone service operator, activation, charging/recharging of accounts

Abstract

A method preferably implemented using a digital computer provides payments to a provider rendering service individually and sequentially to a plurality of patients via telephone based on the individual time duration for performance of the telephone consultation services.

Claims

1. A data collating, correlating and processing method for providing payments to providers rendering services individually and sequentially to patients via telecommunication means, based on individual timed service performances, third party guarantor-payors, comprising:

a. generating a display of visually discernable information corresponding to calls from patients seeking consultative service with said provider queued in accordance with a pre-established call priority scheme for call selection by a provider;

b. making a call to a patient selected by said provider by dialing a number corresponding to the selected queued call;

c. generating a display of patient medical history from said database and providing said display to a provider;

d. recording the length of completed calls as initiated by said provider;

e. computing a charge for each of said completed calls and entering information for such charge in the database for the called patient

f. recording the provider'"'"'s voice generated clinical notes and instructions and entering those into the database indexed against the relevant patient;

g. providing a display of calls received, calls made and billings generated as a result thereof for inspection by said provider.

2. A method for accounting and billing for telephone and other remote service provision comprising the steps of.

a. collecting and collating data for a patient user to whom such services are to be rendered, said data including telephone and/or Internet contact specifications, payment mode(s) and account numbers and, optionally, patient insurance payment information and, independently optionally, patient service history and background;

b. in response to an asserted patient request for service comparing data provided by said asserted patient to said collected and collated data to determine whether said asserted patient is legitimate;

c. in the event the patient is determined to be non-legitimate, abandoning the current request for service and commencing processing a subsequent request for service;

d. upon verification of said asserted patient being legitimate as a result of said data comparison satisfying at least one preselected criterion, placing a marker respecting the patient'"'"'s call in a ordered queue together with markers for other patient calls according to at least one preselected ordering protocol;

e. determining whether said request for service may satisfied without voice communication between said patient determined to be legitimate and said provider;

f. providing the requested service for said patient in the event provider voice communication is not required;

g. telecommunicatively attempting to connect said patient with a service provider of whom said patient has requested service be furnished via telecommunicative means;

h. upon failure to telecommunicatively connect said patient with said requested service provider, marking a record to memorialize the fact of attempted unsuccessful communication and commencing processing a subsequent request in said ordering queue for service;

i. upon successful telecommunicative connection of said patient with said requested service provider, maintaining such connection for a duration needed for the desired service to be provided

j. upon completion of service provision, updating data for the patient to reflect provision of the service and computing a charge for the service rendered during such time in accordance with instructions specified by the provider;

k. determining according to prespecified criteria whether the services provided during such time are chargeable;

l. if such services provided during such time are not chargeable, commencing processing the next request for service in such ordering queue;

m. if such services provided during such time are chargeable, eliciting provider input as whether a charge should be issued for such services;

n. if a charge is to be issued for such services, generating such charge according to preselected criteria which my include the length of time the patient and the provider were in telecommunicative contact and placing the generated charge data in the database marked for the patient to whom the services were rendered.

3. A method for providing payments to a provider rendering services individually and sequentially to a plurality of patients via telephone, based on the individual time duration for performance of said services, comprising the steps of:

a. collecting, collating and correlating into a machine-readable digital database individual data for a plurality of patients individually seeking personal services, said data including telecommunicative contact specifications, payment mode(s) and, optionally, payment guarantor account numbers;

b. in response to individual putative patient generated requests for service, electronically comparing data provided by said requesting putative patient to said collected and collated data to determine whether said putative patient is within said database;

c. upon finding said putative patient, and the putative patient is within said database, placing a telecommunicative request for service from such patient into an ordering queue according to at least one preselected ordering criterion;

d. telecommunicatively connecting said patient with a service provider by whom said patient has requested service be furnished;

e. upon conclusion of service, updating said database to reflect furnishing of the service and computing a charge for the service rendered based on, elapsed time for the provision of those services and optionally in accordance with any instructions received from the provider;

f. updating the database to reflect the generated charge for the patient to whom the services were rendered;

g. telecommunicatively furnishing said charge to the patient to a payment guarantor for said patient as identified in said database;

h. upon receipt of payment updating the database to reflect the degree of satisfaction of said generated charge by said patient or by any guarantor for said patient.